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
David Volosin Katz, editor
Vol II. No 11. March 2024
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The CBA Chorus in Concert
at St James Cathedral—Saturday, March 9, 2024 at 7:30pm
Coming on Saturday, June 1st, 2024
help celebrate the CBA's 150th Birthday
with music by Rossini, Mendelssohn,
and Beethoven's 5th Symphony!
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OUR VERY SPECIAL GUEST ARTIST
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DAVID SCHRADER
organ soloist
Equally at home in front of a harpsichord, organ, piano, or fortepiano, David Schrader is “truly an extraordinary musician . . . (who) brings not only the unfailing right technical approach to each of these different instruments, but always an imaginative, fascinating musicality to all of them” (Norman Pelligrini, WFMT, Chicago).
A performer of wide ranging interests and accomplishments, Schrader has appeared with the Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, and Colorado Symphonies, and appeared as a soloist at four national conventions of the American Guild of Organists (1984, 1994, 1998, and 2006). He has also performed at the prestigious Irving Gilmore Keyboard Festival (playing separate concerts on organ, harpsichord, and clavichord) and at the Ravinia Festival; Aspen Music Festival; Oulunsalo Soi Music Festival in Oulu, Finland; Michigan Mozartfest; Boston Early Music Festival; Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival; Connecticut Early Music Festival; Manitou Music Festival; and as soloist and conductor at the Woodstock (Illinois) Mozart Festival.
A resident of Chicago, Schrader performs regularly with Music of the Baroque, the Newberry Consort, and Bach Week in Evanston. He has also appeared with The Chicago Chamber Musicians, Contempo (f.k.a. the Contemporary Chamber Players), the Chicago Baroque Ensemble, and The City Musick. He is a frequent guest on WFMT’s “Live From WFMT” series of broadcast in-studio performances and a founding member of Baroque Band, Chicago’s period-instrument orchestra.
Schrader is on the faculty of Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts. For over thirty five years, he was the organist of Chicago’s Church of the Ascension.
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About the concert:
During our “season of search” for the next CBASO music director, the CBA Chorus takes center stage for a special concert to feature Chicago organist David Schrader as guest artist. The chorus, under the direction of Stephen Blackwelder, will present works of Haydn, Fauré, Gjeilo, Lewandowski and Lauridsen, plus the Chicago premiere of Jonathan Dove’s Bless the Lord, O my soul. Mr. Schrader will play favorite solo works on the Cathedral Organ and our brilliant staff Pianist Jeremy Vigil will accompany the chorus.
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STEPHEN BLACKWELDER
chorus director
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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.
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Jeremy Vigil
pianist & accompanist
With musical tastes ranging from chiptune to showtune, Jeremy Vigil is known for his versatility and adaptability in many different genres. As a pianist, organist, percussionist, and occasionally 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 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 composers, including Helmut Lachenmann, Lori Laitman, Baljinder Sekhon, and Austin Wintory for performances of their compositions.
Jeremy's love of games has also crossed over to the stage as he performed the music of video games, such as Journey and Undertale, live in concert. Don't be surprised if he pulls out a cover of something from Nintendo. After all, as any collector knows, the covers are the most important part.
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. 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 piano duet partner Florence Mak.
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Playing at Andy's Jazz Club
the Fifth Monday Night in
APRIL, JULY, SEPTEMBER and DECEMBER:
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