The Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra and the CBA Chorus

The Chicago Bar Association

presents

"LAWYER and MUSICIAN"

The new

(and very occasional—promise!)

E-Newsletter from

The Chicago Bar Association

Symphony Orchestra & the CBA Chorus

Vol I. No 1. October 2022

Our 2022-23 Season begins:

at St James Cathedral—Saturday, November 5th at 7:30pm

REDUCED PRICE TICKETS CLICK HERE: https://cbasublime.eventbrite.com

OUR MOZART Requiem SOLOISTS:

Susan Nelson, soprano

Equally at home on the operatic stage or in concert repertoire, soprano Susan Nelson has been praised by critics for her “full, powerful voice – agile and pliant” as well as her interpretations, called both “sensitive and moving” and “full of life and vigor”, showcasing her versatility in repertoire from Bach and Mozart to verismo and contemporary opera, as well as light opera and popular music. A member of the Grant Park Chorus since 2003 and soloist in their 2021 Vivaldi Gloria, this July she also stepped in to sing the soprano solos in Benjamin Britten’s Spring Symphony on 36 hours’ notice.

Susan’s Chicago area solo appearances include Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra, South Bend Symphony Orchestra, Elmhurst Choral Union, and Midwest Mozart Festival. Her 2022-23 season includes Six Characters in Search of Gilbert and Sullivan, Rosalia in West Side Story with the Northwest Indiana Symphony, Handel’s Messiah with the Rockford Choral Union and Elgin Master Chorale, Mozart’s Requiem with the Chicago Bar Association Orchestra and Chorus, a recital featuring women composers in Oak Park, and another Bach cantata at Grace Lutheran Church in River Forest. During the pandemic she also recorded five hundred songs by women composers/songwriters of all different genres and has presented lecture recitals on the topic at universities, clubs and retirement homes.

Sarah Ponder, mezzo-soprano

Hailed as “Deeply expressive” (Chicago Sun Times) and a “first-class soloist” (Chicago Classical Review), Sarah Ponder enjoys a busy career as a soloist and ensemble singer in genres from classical to contemporary to a cappella. Some of Sarah’s favorite performances include featured solo appearances with the Grant Park Music Festival, playing Julia Child in performances of Lee Hoiby’s one-woman opera, Bon Appetit! and a rousing trio rendition of “Row, Row Your Boat” with Yo-Yo Ma at Children’s Memorial Hospital as part of her ongoing work with the Citizen Musician Initiative. Upcoming performances include opera and oratorio performances in Chicago and around the nation.

A dedicated teacher and mentor, Sarah holds positions at Loyola University and University of Illinois Chicago and has helped to establish innovative programs with the Negaunee Music Institute such as Notes for Peace and Chicago’s branch of Lullaby Project (Carnegie Hall). As part of this work, Sarah has also “beguilingly” (Chicago Tribune) performed several solo concerts with famed Maestro Riccardo Muti at the piano. Sarah is featured as a technique model in the award-winning pedagogy book, Vocal Technique: A Guide for Conductors, Teachers, and Singers. In her free time, Sarah loves cooking, reading, and rowing with the breast cancer survivor’s team, Recovery on Water.

Sam Grosby, tenor

Currently based in Chicago, tenor Sam Grosby has performed professionally with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Music of the Baroque, Chicago Opera Theater, Wolf Trap Opera, New York Festival of Song, Opera for the Young, Stare at the Sun and numerous other groups and ensembles. As a Luminarts Fellow and grant recipient, he regularly commissions song cycles from composers he admires. He curates and presents performances of pop and new music alongside standard classical repertoire in an effort to challenge preconceptions surrounding high art.

Sam is also a contributor for the Athenaeum Review, writing reviews and essays on music, and is a regular conferee with the Liberty Fund. This year, Sam looks forward to covering the lead role in Szymanowski’s Krol Roger and singing roles in The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing with Chicago Opera Theater. In June, he will also be performing in the world premiere of Julia Wolfe’s unEarth, a much-anticipated commission featuring The Crossing and the New York Philharmonic. Sam received his BM from the Eastman School of Music and his MM from Northwestern University.

Bill McMurray, baritone

With more than forty operatic roles to his credit, baritone Bill McMurray continues to have success across the country with such noted roles as “Figaro” in Il baribiere di Sivigila, “Count Almaviva” in Le nozze di Figaro, “Marcello” in La Boheme and “Escamillo” in Carmen. He has sung with noted companies such as Florida Grand Opera, Opera North, Knoxville Opera, Mobile Opera, Lyric Opera Chicago and Opera Carolina. He has been seen in several productions with Chicago Opera Theater, most recently as “the Father” in 2018's The Scarlet Ibis. For the 22-23 season he returns to COT to sing the role of “The Vicar” in Benjamin Britten's opera Albert Herring and will be the baritone soloist with the Illinois Philharmonic in both a Porgy and Bess concert and Handel’s Messiah.

Other accomplishments include the role of “King Overall” in the Chicago premiere of Der Kaiser von Atlantis at the Jay Pritzker Pavillion with the New Millennium Orchestra under the baton of Francesco Milioto, his first “Germont” in Verdi's La Traviata with Harbor County Opera in Three Oaks, Michigan, the role of “Mr Greatorex” with Chicago Opera Theater in the world premiere opera Elizabeth Cree, a return to Summer Garden Opera in Virginia to reprise his signature role of “Figaro” in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and the lead role of “Prospero” in Lee Hoiby’s The Tempest with Longleaf Opera in NC, with the composer himself in attendance. Mr. McMurray has also performed several times with the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s “Opera in the Neighborhoods” and “Meet the Artist” outreach programs.

As a concert soloist Bill has found success in oratorio works such as Handel’s Messiah and Mendelssohn's Elijah, Ralph Vaughan Williams' Five Mystical Songs, Aaron Copland's Old American Songs and the Faure Requiem. In the summer of 2017, he was the bass soloist in the final movement of Haydn's The Creation at the Ravinia Festival under the baton of James Levine, former Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera. Orchestral appearances include the New Philharmonic Orchestra, the Elmhurst Orchestra and Choral Society, Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Skokie Valley Symphony, Chicago Arts Orchestra, New Millennium Orchestra and the Waukegan Symphony. Recently Bill won his first Grammy award as a member of the Chicago Symphony Chorus.

OUR NEW CHORUS ACCOMPANIST:

Jeremy Vigil, pianist

With musical tastes ranging from classical-tune to chiptune to showtune, Jeremy Vigil is known for his versatility and adaptability in many different genres. As a pianist, organist, percussionist, and occasional baritone, he has worked across disciplines, performing with dancers, film, and narration, and has performed extensively in contemporary music and large ensembles. In addition to being a choral singer himself, he’s served as organist/pianist for Orange City United Methodist Church (FLA) and as pianist for Eastman School of Music’s summer Choral Institute.

An avid proponent of new music, Jeremy is always looking for opportunities to collaborate directly on new works. He was a founding member of Chicago-based Fifth House Ensemble, and has performed with other organizations, such as New York Composers Circle and Composers Concordance. Jeremy has worked with a variety of composers, including Helmut Lachenmann, Lori Laitman, Baljinder Sekhon, and Austin Wintory for performances of their compositions.

Jeremy recently held a position of Collaborative Pianist at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.

He has also been on faculty for summer festivals, such as Fresh Inc Festival (digital), and Si parla, si canta in Arona, Italy, where he made his operatic debut. With his new friends in the Chicago Bar Association Chorus, Jeremy is excited to bring some of the great choral works to life, and, along the way, gain insight into the composition of the legal world. Jeremy holds a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Stetson University and a Master of Music in Piano Accompanying and Chamber Music from the Eastman School of Music. He currently resides in Chicago with his wife and duo piano partner Florence Mak.

ABOUT OUR CHORUS:

The CBA Chorus

Join the CBA Chorus for a season of masterpieces rehearsed and performed under outstanding professional conductors. The chorus generally has openings in all sections, but it sometimes is necessary to move singers into other sections to obtain the proper balance. Rehearsals are held from 6:00-8:00 p.m. on Wednesdays at the CBA Building, 321 S. Plymouth Court, and occasionally at the Daley Center. To join, contact Sean Hoffman. <seanmichaelhoffman@gmail.com>

No auditions are required. All our members have had previous choral experience and all new members should have vocal experience, preferably choral experience. The chorus fee, which includes music and sectional rehearsal accompanist fees for the season (September to May), is $125 per member, payable at the first rehearsal. The chorus fee for full-time students is $50. Please make your checks payable to The Chicago Bar Association and remit to the CBA Chorus co-chairs. We accept all individuals working in the legal profession, so do not hesitate to contact us about joining the chorus if you are a paralegal, legal assistant or secretary.

ABOUT OUR ORCHESTRA:

The CBASO

The Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra is Chicagoland's unique orchestra of attorneys, judges and law students. Growing from just a handful of musicians at its first rehearsal in 1986, the CBASO now regularly fields an orchestra of 75 musicians or more, virtually all affiliated with Chicago's legal community.

The musical momentum initiated by a small group of lawyers has grown into today's CBASO, a musical group collaborating to present exciting and increasingly challenging musical works each season. Under the direction of professional conductor and founding music director, David Katz, the CBASO has performed in venues ranging from Daley Center courtrooms to Chicago's Symphony Center.

The orchestra performs at many public events for the Chicago Bar Association, its prime sponsor, including annual Law Day celebrations on Daley Plaza. Other notable performances have included the Lincoln Bicentennial Celebration at Navy Pier with famed author Doris Kearns Goodwin, and a 2010 gala for retiring U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. The orchestra is also noted for having presented the very first performances of Gilbert and Sullivan's courtroom operetta, Trial By Jury, in a working courtroom, with a cast, orchestra and chorus made up entirely of legal professionals.

To mark its 20th anniversary in 2006, the CBASO performed Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 at Navy Pier on the final evening of the convention of World Bar Associations. In 2011 the CBASO, CBA Chorus and guest choirs, nearly 300 musicians in all, performed Carl Orff's Carmina Burana at Symphony Center to a sell-out crowd to celebrate the Orchestra's 25th anniversary. The chorus and orchestra returned to Symphony Center in 2015 to present "Something Wonderful!", an evening of music by Rodgers and Hammerstein, and “Ode to Joy” in 2019, a concert featuring the choral finale of the Beethoven 9th Symphony and music by Lowry (premiere), Schumann, Mozart and Saint-Saens. Openings in many sections for new members. Email Emily Fishman for details. <cbaso.cochairs@gmail.com

ABOUT OUR CONDUCTORS:

MAREK RACHELSKI, resident conductor, CBA Symphony

Marek Rachelski appreciates the rich variety in

his musical life as conductor, pianist/organist/ harpsichordist and as collaborative artist in recital. He has appeared with orchestras in the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, Hungary, Canada and the USA.Mr. Rachelski has served on the faculties of Loyola University and De Paul University.He is the Resident Conductor of the ChicagoBar Association Symphony Orchestra, now in its 36thseason. As the Artistic Director of the Musica Lumina Orchestra and Conductor/Founder of the Niles Metropolitan Chorus (2013), in nine seasons the NMC/ML has performed major works of the repertoire: Requiems of Cherubini, Mozart, Faure, and Rutter; the Magnificats of Pärt, Bach, and Pergolesi; Gounod’s St. Cecilia Mass and selections from Faust and Romeo & Juliet, Haydn’s Creation, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Lobgesang, Op. 52, a yearly Handel’s Messiah, the St. Matthew Passion, and the St. John Passion of J. S. Bach. The current season includes Le Deluge by Saint-Saëns, Britten’s The Company of Heaven, and a Vaughan Williams 150th Retrospective, along with a deluge of chamber music. Previously, as Music Director of Opera Las Vegas he conducted complete staged performances of Puccini’s La Bohème, Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, Mollicone’s The Face on the Barroom Floor, a Puccini 150th Retrospective and accompanied aria recitals. While in Nevada he was also the founder and conductor of the Las Vegas Peoples Valley Chorus in Requiems by Faure, Rutter, and Brahms, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Vespers, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans, Handel’s Judas Maccabeus, Messiah, and various Bach Cantatas.As Assistant Conductor at the Prague Ballet Theater he prepared the world premiere choreographed version of Smetana’s Ma Vlast. As Assistant Conductor of the Elgin (IL) Symphony he conducted Young People’s and Holiday Concerts and performed with Victor Borge; he was also Music Director of the Valley Civic Orchestra and conducted the Elgin Area Youth Orchestras. A composer of over 100 works, Marek is published with GIA Publications. He was commissioned for a setting of Psalm 145 for the 1989 Papal Mass in Detroit and for a Magnificat by the Lira Singers for their 25th Anniversary. In addition to awards from the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society, he was presented with the Pulaski Award for his contributions to Polish American Culture.

STEPHEN BLACKWELDER, chorus director

Stephen Blackwelder is currently Director of the DePaul Community Chorus (since 2005), Director of the Chicago Bar Association Chorus (since 2017) and Music Director of North Shore Unitarian Church in Deerfield (since 2016). Previous positions include Music Director of the Waukegan Symphony Orchestra (2000-2018) and Music Director of the Hinsdale Chamber Orchestra (1983-94), plus numerous civic/educational orchestral, opera, and choral ensembles in the greater Chicago area. As a professional singer, he performed frequently under conductors Sir Georg Solti, Claudio Abbado, James Levine, Robert Shaw and Margaret Hillis while a member of the Chicago Symphony Chorus and the Aspen Chamber Choir. Over a number of decades, he served on the conducting staff of Chicago Opera Theater, Opera da Corneto, Opera Illinois, Hinsdale Opera Theater (IL) and Harford Opera Theater of Baltimore. Academic and teaching positions include East Carolina University, Northern Illinois University, Lake Forest College and (currently) DePaul University’s Community Music Division. Blackwelder holds a BM from the University of North Carolina (1978) and a MM from Northwestern University (1979). Professional study included four seasons with the Aspen Music Festival and conducting master classes with Sir Georg Solti, Max Rudolf and Erich Leinsdorf.