All material found in the Press Releases section is provided by parties entirely independent of Musical America, which is not responsible for content.
Press Releases
St. Charles Singers Herald 2026-2027 Concert Season
‘North American Mosaic’ opens season
October 3-4
Choir to collaborate with Kontras Quartet in ‘Candlelight Carols’
December 4-6
‘Choral Connections’ to highlight high school ensembles
from Cook, DuPage, Kane, and Lake counties
at concerts February 12–13
‘Earthly Echoes’ to resound April 17-18
as prelude to Earth Day
‘A national treasure’ — American Record Guide
St. Charles, Ill., July 30, 2026 — The St. Charles Singers, led by founder and music director Jeffrey Hunt, have announced details of their 42nd concert season, featuring programs tied to timely themes, a multitude of musical works new to their repertoire, and a first-time collaboration with Chicago’s Kontras Quartet.
The critically acclaimed mixed-voice chamber choir opens its season in early October with “North American Mosaic,” comprising songs of different eras and cultural perspectives from the U.S. and Canada to be performed at its home venue, Baker Memorial United Methodist Church, 307 Cedar Avenue, St. Charles, Illinois, as will all of the choir’s 2026-2027 concerts.
“The program paints a wide-ranging historical and cultural panorama through songs dating from early America to the present day,” Hunt says.
The choir’s December “Candlelight Carols” program, with guest artists the Kontras Quartet, will present seasonal songs for choir and string quartet, a cappella pieces, and string quartet works.
The St. Charles Singers will host their fourth annual “Choral Connections” concerts in February. The ensemble’s community-outreach initiative will showcase the professional-level choir alongside six accomplished choral ensembles from high schools in Cook, DuPage, Kane, and Lake counties, some of whose choral directors also sing with the St. Charles Singers.
“The experience has proven inspirational and rewarding for the student choristers, the St. Charles Singers, and the entire audience,” Hunt says.
Heralding Earth Day, the choir concludes its season with “Earthly Echoes.” A highlight is “Mass for the Endangered,” a deeply moving, contemporary work for choir and chamber orchestra with an unusual array of instruments.
A “tapestry of American experience” October 3-4
Hunt describes the St. Charles Singers’ season-opener concert, “North American Mosaic,” as “a tapestry of American experience, with a respectful nod to Canada.”
“Gimikwenden Ina” (Do You Remember?) is from Canadian composer Corey Payette’s musical “Children of God,” about indigenous Oji-Cree children forced into boarding schools to erase their native culture and family connections. Payette is a member of the Mattagami First Nation. The St. Charles Singers will perform Elliot Vaughan’s arrangement for four-part choir with piano and drum.
It’s one of eight works on the program that the St. Charles Singers will be performing for the first time.
Another is “The Bird,” by early America’s William Billings, considered the country’s first professional choral composer. Written in 1790 and based on Psalm 11, the score includes Billings’ characteristic fugues, melisma, and tone painting.
New England’s pioneering American modernist composer Charles Ives wrote “The Circus Band” in 1894 while still a student a Yale University. It’s a humorous, nostalgic take on a young boy’s excitement at the chaos and exuberance of a passing circus parade.
William Dawson’s rhythmic arrangement of “Ain’-a That Good News” is a lively 1937 setting of a timeless, joyful Africa American spiritual.
Florence Price wrote both the music and text for “Resignation,” a quiet, poetic reflection on the physical and emotional trauma of slavery. Scholars believe Price composed the undated work in the 1930s. In 1933, she became the first African American woman to have a symphony performed by a major U.S. orchestra when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra gave the world premiere of her Symphony No.1 in E Minor.
Aaron Copland’s “Old American Songs,” Book 1, published in 1950, were famously adapted for mixed-voice choir by Copland’s friend and colleague, composer Irving Fine. The songs are 19th-century folk, minstrel, and religious tunes Copland sourced from historic collections.
Composer, arranger, and singer Ysaye M. Barnwell is a former member of the African American female a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey In The Rock. In “We Are,” she extols the transcendent value of every human life and the interconnectedness of all people. The song, from a 1993 collection, includes the passage, “For each child that’s born, a morning star rises and sings to the universe who we are.”
Concertgoers will hear Arnold Sevier’s celebrated 1996 arrangement of Thomas Dorsey’s 1930s gospel standard “Precious Lord.” Sevier is music director at Transformation Community United Methodist Church in Harvey, Illinois.
Brandon Williams’ stirring, 2022 a cappella arrangement of Daniel Iverson’s hymn “Spirit of the Living God” includes double soprano and bass parts for lush six-part harmonies. An Illinois native, Williams holds music education degrees from Western Illinois University and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He is director of choral activities at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.
Award-winning composer and choirmaster Craig Hella Johnson of Austin, Texas, says “Reaching” is about “cultural and spiritual separation and displacement as well as a soulful yearning to ‘come home’ to one another.” He says it was originally conceived as “a compassionate musical response” to the 2022 Uvalde, Texas, school tragedy.
Kile Smith’s “Northland,” from 2023, includes musical settings of four poems about the immigrant experience by Jamaica-born Harlem Renaissance writer Claude McKay: “The Tropics in New York,” “America,” “On Broadway,” and “To One Coming North.”
“North American Mosaic” will be heard at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, October 3, and 3 p.m. Sunday, October 4, at Baker Memorial United Methodist Church, 307 Cedar Avenue, St. Charles, Illinois.
Christmas carols with Kontras Quartet December 4-6
The 42nd annual edition of the St. Charles Singers’ “Candlelight Carols” features a first-time collaboration with Chicago’s Kontras Quartet.
“They are an exceptional ensemble,” Hunt says. “We’ve had the joy of performing with their cellist, Jean Hatmaker, in previous concerts.”
Formed in 2009, the "superb Chicago-based ensemble" (Gramophone) has become known for its vibrant and nuanced performances, “crisp precision" (Palm Beach Daily News), "superlative artistry" (CVNC Arts Journal), and "enjoyable musical personality" (Fanfare).
Kontras Quartet’s recent engagements include tours of South Africa and Europe, broadcasts on classical radio stations nationwide (including “Performance Today” and a three-month residency with Chicago's WFMT-FM), performances at Chicago's Symphony Center and the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.
The St. Charles Singers and Kontras Quartet will perform together in seven works: J. S. Bach’s “O Little Sweet One,” Ola Gjeilo’s “Sacred Heart” (Ubi Caritas III); R. R. Terry’s “Myn Lyking,” John Rutter’s “Christmas Night,” Carolyn Shaw’s “To the Hands,” and Nate Adams’ “Lux Brumalis,” with the composer’s new arrangement for choir and strings. Adams composed the original version, for voices and piano, on commission from the St. Charles Singers.
In addition to the works for choir with string quartet, the choir will offer a selection of time-honored, audience-favorite carols. Also on tap is a set of pieces for string quartet alone.
For their traditional Candlelight Carols finale, choir members will assemble around three sides of the sanctuary for a surround-sound rendition of “Silent Night,” arranged by England’s David Willcocks and local choral director, composer, and educator Robert Boyd of Westmont, Illinois.
Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Friday, December 4; 7:30 p.m. Saturday, December 5; and 3 p.m. Sunday, December 6, at Baker Memorial United Methodist Church, St. Charles.
“Choral Connections” showcases high school choirs February 12-13
The fourth annual edition of the St. Charles Singers’ February “Choral Connections” concerts, showcasing six area high school choirs, will offer two different programs.
At each concert, the St. Charles Singers will perform a set of songs, as will choruses from three suburban Chicago high schools. For each concert’s finale, they’ll all sing together.
“Choral Connections” is at 7:30 p.m. Friday, February 12, 2027, and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, February 13, at Baker Memorial United Methodist Church, 307 Cedar Avenue, St. Charles.
“The goal is to instill, nurture, and celebrate a lifelong love of the choral arts,” Hunt says.
The February 12 concert includes the St. Charles Singers and choruses from Bartlett High School, Bartlett, directed by Alexa Mount; Kaneland High School, Maple Park, directed by Bryan Kunstman; and South Elgin High School, South Elgin, directed by Amanda Brex-Castillo.
Kunstman sings in the St. Charles Singers tenor section. Brex-Castillo is a past member of the soprano section.
The February 13 roster includes the St. Charles Singers and choruses from Geneva High School, Geneva, directed by Jessica Heinrich; Lyons Township High School, LaGrange and Western Springs, directed by David Hartley and John Musick; and Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, directed by Roland Hatcher.
Heinrich is a member of the St. Charles Singers soprano section, Hartley sings in the bass section.
Four of the six high schools are making their Choral Connections debuts: Bartlett, South Elgin, Lyons Township, and Stevenson, while Kaneland and Geneva are making return appearances.
Concert programs will be announced in early 2027.
“Earthly Echoes” April 17-18
A prelude to Earth Day (April 22), “Earthy Echoes,” the finale of the St. Charles Singers’ 42nd season, will reverberate with themes of environmental awareness and natural conservation.
“All of the music in this program is new to the St. Charles Singers,” Hunt says. “While we’re big on recycling, we’re not recycling any repertoire.”
The centerpiece is Sarah Kirkland Snider’s “Mass for the Endangered,” scored for choir and a chamber orchestra of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, violins, viola, cello, double bass, harp, percussion, and piano.
The six-movement work, written in 2018, “embodies a prayer for endangered animals and the imperiled environments in which they live,” the composer writes. She describes the work, adapted from the Roman Catholic Mass, as “a hymn for the voiceless and the discounted, a requiem for the not-yet-gone.”
BBC Music Magazine called it “luminous and arresting” and said it “conveys its urgent ecological message with power and beauty.”
A companion video created for the work by artist Deborah Johnson, in collaboration with the composer, will be screened during the performance.
Caroline Shaw, winner of multiple Grammy Awards and a Pulitzer Prize, wrote “And the Swallow” for eight-part mixed choir on text from Psalm 84. Inspired by the words ““how beloved is your dwelling place,” Shaw created a comforting work that flows from anxiousness to repose.
Latvian composer Eriks Ešenvalds’ “Rivers of Light” for two solo voices, mixed choir, and jew’s harp creates a kaleidoscopic musical vision of the Northern Lights. It opens with a folk song from the Sámi people of Scandinavia.
Kyle Pederson’s “All Is Miracle” encourages the listener to, in the Minneapolis-based composer’s words, “look at the world through wonder-tinted lenses — seeing both the magnificent and seemingly mundane coursing with sacred energy. Omnia mirabilia…all is miracle.”
“Earthly Echoes” concerts are at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 17, and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 18, at Baker Memorial United Methodist Church, St. Charles.
Tickets and information
Single-admission tickets, on sale August 1, for the October and April concerts are $50 for adults, $45 for seniors, and $12 for students. Single tickets for December’s “Candlelight Carols” are $60 for adults, $50 for seniors, and $12 for students.
Season subscriptions offer savings over single admissions. Group discounts are available.
Admission to each of the February “Choral Connections” concerts is $20 for adults and seniors, $10 for students.
Tickets and information are available at stcharlessingers.com. Tickets may also be purchased at the door on the day of the concert, depending on availability.
St. Charles Singers
Founded and directed by Jeffrey Hunt, the St. Charles Singers is a chamber choir dedicated to choral music in all its forms. Hailed by American Record Guide as “a national treasure,” the mixed-voice ensemble includes professional singers, choral directors, and voice instructors, some of whom perform with other top-tier Chicago choirs. Classics Today has called the ensemble “one of North America’s outstanding choirs,” citing “charisma and top-notch musicianship” that “bring character and excitement to each piece.” Choral Journal proclaimed, “They sing with versatile musicality, vibrant tone, and impeccable diction.” England’s Choir and Organ declared, “With a well-balanced and beautifully blended choral sound, the St. Charles Singers are totally committed to what they perform.” Among the St. Charles Singers’ prominent guest conductors have been renowned English composer Sir John Rutter, founder of the Cambridge Singers; Philip Moore, composer and former music director at England’s York Minster cathedral; and Grammy Award-winning American choir director Craig Hella Johnson. The choir launched in St. Charles, Illinois, in 1984 as the Mostly Madrigal Singers.
The St. Charles Singers’ newest album, “Dancing Tree: Choral Landscapes,” will be released August 21 on Navona Records. It features Rutter’s “Dancing Tree,” written for the St. Charles Singers and heard in its world-premiere performance.
St. Charles Singers
2026-2027 Concert Season
Complete Program Schedule
All performances this season will be at
Baker Memorial United Methodist Church,
307 Cedar Avenue, St. Charles, Illinois.
“North American Mosaic”
Saturday, October 3, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 4, 3 p.m.
“Candlelight Carols”
Friday, December 4, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, December 5, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, December 6, 3 p.m.
Guest artists: Kontras Quartet
“Choral Connections”
Friday, February 12, 7:30 p.m.
St. Charles Singers and choruses from Bartlett,
Kaneland, and South Elgin high schools.
Saturday, February 13, 7:30 p.m.
St. Charles Singers and choruses from Geneva,
Lyons Township, and Stevenson high schools.
“Earthly Echoes”
Saturday, April 17, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 18, 3 p.m.
# # #
Photo credit: Deb Stevenson
Press contact:
Nat Silverman
Nathan J. Silverman Co. PR
Office tel: 847-868-1417
Email: nat [at] njscompany [dot] com
FEATURED JOBS
RENT A PHOTO
