Discover the rich tapestry of American choral music with a program of soulful spirituals and contemporary masterpieces in this free concert.

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American Choral Masterworks with the Grant Park Chorus

South Shore Cultural Center

The centerpiece of this concert is Caroline Shaw’s To The Hands, a work that takes the text of Emma Lazarus’ poem The New Colossus and intermingles it with the chorale Ad Manus from Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri in poignant ways. Filling out the program are works by six other acclaimed contemporary composers, including Jake Runestad’s The Peace of Wild Things, David Lang’s If I Am Silent, and Karen Siegel’s To Be Free, an adaptation of the Shaker/Copland tune Simple Gifts.

A Gift To Be Free

Broadway Presbyterian Church

Philharmonic Choir Nuremberg

Meistersinger Hall

Singing has long been a way for people to express joy, seek refuge, and call for justice. Join the WashU Chamber Choir and Concert Choir with special guest Lindbergh High School A Cappella Concert Choir to celebrate the act of singing and the power it has to bring people together.

WashU Choirs: Because You Sang

560 Music Center

VOCES8, joined by composer-in-residence, Taylor Scott Davis, and choirs from across the United States, collaborate with Vox Anima London in this unique choral offering featuring well-known and recently-composed repertoire, under the direction of Barnaby Smith.

The concert opens with VOCES8 performing alongside the visiting ensembles and culminates with VOCES8’s solo set of beloved repertoire and a return of all performing forces to the stage for a stunning finale.

Vox Anima London

Cadogan Hall 

American Voices

George Washington Masonic National Memorial

We are excited to start the season off with a powerful tribute to one of the greatest composers of all time.

Listening for Beethoven

Newport Performing Arts Center

The Grammy-nominated VOCES8 is the world’s top-streaming classical vocal group. Touring extensively, the group performs repertoire from Renaissance polyphony to contemporary commissions and arrangements; versatility and a celebration of diverse musical expression is central to the ensemble’s performance ethos. In their first Berwaldhallen appearance they will bring their exquisite harmonies from several musical genres and. The Swedish Radio Choir joins for some real choral classics!

VOCES8 feat. Radio Choir

SR Berwaldhallen

Octavo Series (SATB) Amanda Quist & Tim Brent, Guest Conductors

Carnegie Hall

Witness the timeless beauty of Mozart's Requiem, elevated to new heights with a captivating world premiere commission by Pacific Symphony's composer-in-residence, Viet Cuong, in honor of Carl St.Clair's 35th season. Under the baton of Robert Istad and with the acclaimed Pacific Symphony, our dramatic season finale guarantees an exceptional evening.

Mozart's Requiem

Segerstrom Center for the Arts

Feel the joy in the delightful hymns of praise in Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang, perfectly paired with the choral finale from Beethoven’s 9th symphony.

Sing for Joy!

Cathedral of Mary Our Queen

Featuring both our Chamber and Symphonic Choirs, we will highlighting the music of contemporary composers from Hawai'i and the Continent, bringing forth music about preserving the land and the ocean. Featured composers include: Alec Schumacker  (Mass on American Poets: My Cathedral), and Jake Runestad (One Flock, Secret of the Sea).

Malama i ka 'aina (to respect & care for the land)

Kawaiaha'o Church

All University of Texas at Austin students are allowed one free ticket as long as they are available. Student tickets must be picked up at the Box Office with valid student I.D. Seating is unassigned.

Concert Chorale

The University of Texas at Austin

Richard Bjella has distinguished himself as a conductor, clinician, choral pedagogue, and choral arranger around the world. In 2014 Bjella was appointed Artistic Director of the San Antonio Chamber Choir. Their most recent CD, UNFROZEN: A Baltic Christmas received Grammy attention in 2018.

Octavo Series  (SATB) Rick Bjella, Guest Conductor

Jamie Hillman is an American and Canadian musician, active as a conductor, singer, pianist, music educator, and composer. He holds the endowed Elmer Iseler Chair in Conducting at the University of Toronto where he is Director of Choral Studies and an Associate Professor. He conducts the U of T MacMillan Singers and leads the master's and doctoral degree programs in Choral Conducting, as well as the annual summer Choral Conducting Symposium. He is also cross listed as an adjunct faculty member in Emmanuel College's Master of Sacred Music program.

Octavo Series (SATB) Jamie Hillman, Guest Conductor

This performance is free and open to the general public and will be live-streamed on the WIU School of Music's YouTube channel and Facebook page

WIU Fall Choir Concert: Dr. Brian J. Winnie, Dr. Jason Hawkins & Dr. Kristie Halverson, conductors with collaborative pianists Dr. Po-Chuan Chiang and Dr. Yeon-Kyung Kim & WIU Choir Alumni

Western Illinois University

This concert unfolds as a heartfelt tribute through the intimate language of chamber music, featuring Bach’s reflective early cantata, selections by VOCES8 spanning several centuries, and Beethoven’s “Archduke” Trio, a musical note of gratitude to his most devoted patron. This concert embodies a journey of thankfulness, from Baroque introspection to Classical exuberance, celebrating the enduring human spirit of appreciation and connection.

Gratitude

Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center

With Carmina Burana’s huge performing forces, scenes from spring, a tavern, a court of love, and the iconic O fortuna chorus that bookends the work, this blockbuster has become wildly popular ever since its premiere. With a combined chorus of 150 members, this is an experience not to be missed!

Carmina Burana

Folsom Lake College

Now in his third decade of touring worldwide, American pianist Jon Nakamatsu continues to draw critic and public acclaim for his intensity, elegance and electrifying solo, concerto and chamber music performances. Catapulted to international attention in 1997 as the Gold Medalist of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition—the only American to achieve this distinction since 1981—Mr. Nakamatsu subsequently developed a multi-faceted career that encompasses recording, education, arts administration and public speaking in addition to his vast concert schedule. He is making his third appearance with the symphony after his spectacular performances of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2.

National Treble Chorus In Her Image

Our season finale explores music inspired by our own world and worlds that lie beyond. Aaron Copland’s An Outdoor Overture provides a down-to-earth perspective, while Aaron Jay Kernis’s score draws us toward more celestial destinations. Then the orchestra is joined by Ames Chamber Artists for a collaborative performance of Jake Runestad’s 2021 Earth Symphony, a composition that matches hope and struggle in equal measures for an exquisite conclusion. We can think of no better way to bring our 2023-24 season to a more glorious conclusion.

Earth and Sky

Ames City Hall

Pacific Chorale’s first-ever presentation of Vaughan Williams’ powerful plea for peace, Dona Nobis Pacem, honors the composer’s 150th year, and features Deanna Breiwick and Grammy Award-winner Dashon Burton as soloists. This closing program to the Chorale’s 2021-22 season also includes a new work by former Composer-in-Residence Tarik O’Regan, a West Coast premiere by longtime collaborator Frank Ticheli, Pulitzer Prize-winner Caroline Shaw’s playful pairing of choir and string orchestra, and an exuberant Walt Whitman setting by Jake Runestad.

Jake Runestad

Events

Past events

Jul 2, 2026

American Choral Masterworks with the Grant Park Chorus · Grant Park Music Festival

29 - 31 May, 2026

A Gift To Be Free · New Amsterdam Singers

About

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