2019-20 Season: Power & Passion

A cultural cornerstone of Elgin and the Fox Valley, the Elgin Master Chorale creates a thrilling, emotional experience for audiences at each performance. Celebrate great choral music performed with passionate excellence. See for yourself why audiences are saying, “It’s my choir.” Make it yours, too.

 

Operatic Delights

Sunday, November 10, 2019, 7:00 p.m.
Blizzard Theatre, Elgin Community College
Tickets: $24 adults / $19 students and seniors. Call 847.622.0300.

Elgin Master Chorale performs an evening of lush arias, passionate choruses, and soaring melodies from beloved operas of Bizet, Rossini, Verdi, Mozart and Wagner. Whether dancing with Bizet’s Carmen, charging with Rossini’s Swiss Cavalry or on
pilgrimage with Wagner’s Tannhäuser, you will connect with great characters and melodies of opera.

 

Deck the Halls Holiday Concerts

Saturday, December 14, 2019, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, December 15, 2019, 2:30 p.m.
Presented by the Elgin Symphony Orchestra
Featuring the Elgin Master Chorale
Hemmens Cultural Center, Elgin
Tickets: 847.888.4000

An Elgin Holiday Tradition! The Elgin Symphony Orchestra presents the Deck the Halls Holiday Concert, a community sing-along complete with the Elgin Master Chorale, Dancewerks, and a special visit from the man himself - SANTA CLAUS!

 

Beethoven’s Birthday Bash

Friday, February 7, 2020, 10:00 a.m.
Blizzard Theatre, Elgin Community College
For info on special pricing for school and senior groups, call 847.214.7225.

Join us for a morning of music, learning and fun! “Beethoven’s Birthday Bash” is an entertaining and interactive learning experience celebrating Beethoven’s musical influence over the past 250 years. This concert will present students with the stories, history, and music of this great composer who wrote many of his most beautiful melodies while grappling with almost total deafness. Ludwig Van Beethoven’s story is one of inspiration, hardships overcome, and a legacy of beautiful music.

 

Great Romantics: German A Cappella

Sunday, April 19, 2020, 3:30 p.m.
Blizzard Theatre, Elgin Community College
Tickets: $24 adults / $19 students and seniors. Call 847.622.0300 or click here.

Elgin Master Chorale presents a unique concert of German a cappella music. While originally used in religious music, especially church music, a cappella music grew during the German Romantic period into larger, more secular themes of nature, legends, and the supernatural. Come enjoy a night where the Chorale’s voices are on full display.

 

Season Finale: The Planets

Saturday, May 2, 2020, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 3, 2020, 2:30 p.m.
Hemmens Cultural Center, Elgin
Tickets: 847.888.4000 or click here.

Experience the celestial finale to Elgin Symphony Orchestra 70th season featuring the Elgin Master Chorale. Join us for this cosmic performance of the Planets featuring Mars: The Bringer of War, Venus: The Bringer of Peace, Mercury: The Winged Messenger, and more. Opening with Gustav Holst's ethereal "The Hymn of Jesus," this concert will bring you to your knees.

News and Announcements

Audition for 2019-20 Season!

Welcome! Singers of the Fox Valley,

The Elgin Master Chorale is looking for a few good singers! For almost 75 years, the Chorale has provided thrilling live performances of classic choral music to Elgin and Fox Valley audiences. The EMC offers passionate singers the opportunity to perform in a chorus with high professional musical standards, while maintaining their amateur status.

Under the direction of Maestro Andrew Lewis, Assistant Choral Conductor of the Chicago Symphony, the Elgin Master Chorale will allow you to perform some of the greatest choral and symphonic works of all time. Would you to like to expand your vocal capabilities? Would you like to perform with the renowned Elgin Symphony Orchestra? Would you like to perform classic choral music in some of the premier music centers of Europe? Would you like to build friendships that will last for a lifetime?

Elgin Master Chorale is in residence at Elgin Community College, and so, a tuition fee is required. Rehearsals will be held on Tuesday evenings from 7:00 to 9:30 pm, beginning on September 3rd. Our performance home is the beautifully renovated Blizzard Theatre on the campus of Elgin Community College.

We hope you will be interested in this opportunity to sing with the Elgin Master Chorale and will contact us for a short, fear-free audition. Please call us at (847) 214-7225 or email us at smartin@elgin.edu. (Tenors are always especially welcome and are eligible for discounted tuition.) We invite you to join us for an open rehearsal on September 3rd to learn more about being a member of Elgin Master Chorale.

Thank you for your consideration.

Ken Prazak
Board Member
Elgin Master Chorale

A Review of Handel’s Dixit Dominus

The Elgin Master Chorale, conducted by Music Director Andrew Lewis, concluded its 72nd season with a performance of "Dixit Dominus" composed by a twenty-something G.F. Handel, on Sunday, April 14 at 3:30 p.m. in the Blizzard Theatre at Elgin Community College.

From the Elgin Review:

"Year after year, EMC Music Director Andrew Lewis gathers and develops an astonishing amount of talent to take on serious music by important composers in a professionalistic way. These concerts are a rare privilege to experience, and equally amazing is the opportunity to participate in this music making as a singer, board member or volunteer."

 

Click here to read the full review of the concert.