Please join us for our next concert!

3-CONCERT SPRING SERIES TICKETS on SALE NOW!

In time for holiday giving, our three-concert spring series is on sale now—receive the best savings compared to single tickets and enjoy our special reserved seating section. Follow this link and order today! CBASO & Chorus SPRING SERIES

FREE HOLIDAY CONCERT: Classics of Christmas

2012-13 SEASON and SINGLE TIX on sale NOW!

TICKETS online: brownpapertickets.com/profile/80112

SEASON PASS online: best savings, plus reserved seating
INDIVIDUAL TICKETS in advance: $12 online adults/$10 students (plus tiny processing fee) or from any ensemble member!
TICKETS: $15 adults/$12 students at the door
Although there are no refunds, you may exchange tickets for another performance. Simply bring your unused tickets to the ticket table at St James on the day of the performance you wish to attend.  

Scroll down to read more about our 2012-13 season of concerts at St James Cathedral.

CONCERT DATES: Our 2012-2013 Season!

Here's a first look at the 2012-2013 season of the Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Series packages and single tickets go on sale soon.

SUBSCRIPTION CONCERT: A SERENADE to MUSIC
Wednesday, NOVEMBER 7, 2012, 7:30 pm—St James Cathedral (Wabash at Huron)

Rachmaninoff—Cherubic Hymn
Vaughan Williams—Serenade to Music
Beethoven—Symphony No. 3 (Eroica)

HOLIDAY POPS CONCERT: Sunday, DECEMBER 16, 2012, 7 pm—Our Lady of Loudres Church (4640 N. Ashland Ave) 

program tba—tickets at the door.

SUBSCRIPTION CONCERT: ACROSS the POND
Wednesday, MARCH 6, 2013, 7:30 pm—St James Cathedral (Wabash at Huron)
Music from France and America 

Amy Bernon—On Justice, Truth and Peace
Copland—Old American Songs
plus spirituals, folksongs and more

Dukas—Fanfare from La Peri
Ravel—Pavane (Pour une Infante Defunte)
Saint-Saens—Violin Concerto in B minor

          Sara Su Jones, violin

SUBSCRIPTION CONCERT: SPRING SONG
Sunday, APRIL 14, 2013, 3 pm—St James Cathedral (Wabash at Huron)
Vocal and Instrumental Chamber Music by members of the Chicago Bar Association Symphony & Chorus

program TBA

FREE PERFORMANCE: LAW DAY OBSERVANCE (CBA Symphony Orchestra)
Thursday, MAY 2, 2013, 12 noon: Daley Center Lobby

Von Suppe—Boccaccio Overture
Bizet—Selections from Carmen
Offenbach—Can-Can from Orpheus in the Underworld

SUBSCRIPTION CONCERT: MUSIC for a SACRED SPACE
Wednesday, MAY 15, 2013, 7:30 pm—St James Cathedral (Wabash at Huron)

Mozart—Symphony No. 41 (Jupiter)*
Haydn—Te Deum
Bruckner—Te Deum
welcoming winners of The American Prize in Vocal Performance—Chicago Oratorio Award

and coming in November 2013:

Brahms—Variations on a Theme of Haydn
Bartok—Viola Concerto

          Alex Weaver, viola

OPERA/OPERETTA Concert Program Announced

CHICAGO BAR ASSOCIATION SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA and CHORUS
David Katz, founding music director and conductor
Rebecca Patterson, chorus director
Janet Eckhardt, chorus accompanist

26th Season
Orchestra/Choral Concert: A NIGHT of OPERA & OPERETTA FAVORITES

Tickets online: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/e/197828

featuring winners of  

The American Prize—Chicago Opera Award

    Christine Steyer, soprano

    William Bennett, tenor

    Andrew Bawden,  bass-baritone

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 7:30 pm

Saint James Episcopal Cathedral—Chicago

*** 

ACT I

Overture (Boccaccio)          Franz Von Suppe

A rollicking, tuneful overture, sure to become a favorite.

Yours in My Heart Alone  (Land of Smiles)            Franz Lehar

Prince Sou-Chong attempts to reassure his new wife Countess Lisa that she is his only heart's delight.
William Bennett, tenor   

Madamina! Il catalogo è questo (Don Giovanni)        W. A. Mozart

Don Giovanni has asked his servant Leporello to get rid of the pesky Donna Elvira, which he is happy to do by sharing the list he has authored of her husband’s sordid and extensive conquests.
Andrew Bawden, bass-baritone

Vilja (The Merry Widow)                       Franz Lehar
The wealthy widow from Pontevedro, Hanna Glawari, entertains her foreign guests with a traditional song about a Vilja or magical woodcreature who enchants the hunters that encounter her.
    Christine Steyer, soprano

Introduction to Act I (Carmen)                    Georges Bizet

Some of the most famous music in all opera.

Polovtsian Dances (Prince Igor)                    Alexander Borodin
  The Polovtsian slaves entertain Prince Igor and Khan Konchak with songs and dances of praise.
  CBA Symphony & Chorus

INTERMISSION

ACT II

Una furtiva lagrima (The Elixir of Love)            Gaetano Donizetti
Believing that the magic love potion could actually work, Nemorino pours his heart out, thinking of when he will hold Adina in his arms.
    Mr. Bennett

Intermezzo (Carmen)                        Georges Bizet
    Judith Grubner, flute; John Vishneski, III, clarinet; David Perlman, harp

Un bel di (Madama Butterfly)                    Giacomo Puccini
It has been three years since Madame Butterfly's American sailor husband left her without a word.  As she looks over the Nagasaki harbor for his ship, she sings of her certainty in the day that he will return.
    Ms. Steyer

Humming Chorus (Madama Butterfly)                Giacomo Puccini
Seeing Pinkerton's ship, Butterfly waits for him throughout the entire night.

    CBA Symphony & Chorus

March (Carmen)                    George Bizet   

   
Non piu Andrai (Le Nozze di Figaro)                W. A. Mozart

When Count Almaviva consigns the amorous Cherubino to military duty, Figaro is there to tease the young lad with the joys and sorrows of a soldier’s life.
    Mr. Bawden

 

Stamp Your Foot (The Tender Land)                Aaron Copland    

In the rural Midwest in the 1930s, a joyous country dance is held to celebrate Laurie's impending high school graduation.

    The Ensemble 

FINALE 

Promise of Living (The Tender Land)                Aaron Copland
A paean to the joy of life, of work, of the land, and of love.
    The Ensemble

***

“An unprecedented double encore” 

— with apologies to W.S. Gilbert

Can-Can (Orpheus in the Underworld)                Jacques Offenbach

Va, Pensiero (Nabucco)                        Giuseppe Verdi

"Fly, thought, on wings of gold; go settle upon the slopes of our native land."

A NIGHT of OPERA FAVORITES, May 16!

Our season finale, a concert of favorite music from opera and operetta, featuring chorus, orchestra and winners of The American Prize—Chicago Opera Award, is Wednesday, May 16th:

 Tickets online: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/e/197828

Chamber Concert: April 29 at 3 pm

Tickets for both online: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/profile/80112

CHICAGO OPERA AWARD winners announced

The American Prize is pleased to announce the winners of the CHICAGO OPERA AWARD for 2012.

From a field of very strong contenders, Maestro David Katz has selected three vocalists to solo with the Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra and Chorus at their spring opera/operetta favorites concert on Wednesday, May 16, 2012, at 7:30 pm at St James Epsicopal Cathedral, north of the Loop. For tickets, follow this link.

The winners are:
CHRISTINE STEYER, soprano, who will sing arias by Puccini and Lehar.
WILLIAM BENNETT, tenor, who will sing solos by Donizetti and Romberg.
ANDREW BAWDEN, bartione, who will perform arias from Don Giovanni and Le nozze di Figaro.

All three soloists will join chorus and orchestra in selections from Copland's opera, The Tender Land.

Winners of the CHICAGO OPERA AWARD were chosen separately from all other judging for The American Prize in Voice—Friedrich and Virginia Schorr Memorial Awards. The selection of Chicago Opera Award winners has no bearing on final results in the other competitions. Finalists in the opera and art song divisions of The American Prize contests will be announced later. Please "friend" the competition's Facebook page to learn exactly when those announcements will be made.

***

CHRISTINE STEYER

Steyer was the 2011 winner of The American Prize in Art Song, the Mercer Award and was a Bronze Medal winner at American Traditions Competition.  She has performed with opera houses including Lyric Opera of Chicago and has received critical acclaim for Violetta, Butterfly and the Marschallin.  Recently, Christine gave recitals with Philip Morehead.  She can be heard on Caroline Myss' Voices of the Sacred.  Ms. Steyer has performed for 15,000 schoolchildren with Bellissima Opera Outreach, an organization she founded. Christinesteyer.com

WILLIAM BENNETT
For his 2011 debut with Light Opera Works in the demanding title role of the Student Prince, the Chicago Tribune’s Chris Jones praised “the gorgeously voiced young tenor William Bennett.” William Bennett has also performed solo operatic roles with Chicago Symphony Kraft Series, Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Opera in the Neighborhoods program, Chicago Opera Theater Young Artist Program, Ash Lawn Opera, Sugar Creek Symphony & Song, Cedar Rapids Opera, Elgin Opera and DuPage Opera Theater.

ANDREW BAWDEN

Originally from Springfield, Illinois, and now living in Virginia, Andrew Bawden, a doctoral student studying with Professor Kevin McMillan, is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Urbana Center for Alexander Technique, and the Eastman School of Music. In 2007, he was the first place winner and audience favorite winner of the Rochester Classical Idol Competition. Recent credits include roles with Opera Vivente, Ash Lawn Opera Festival, Hubbard Hall Opera Theater and Tri-Cities Opera.
 

Celebrate our BBBBB Sponsors

The Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra and Chorus proudly celebrate the wonderful sponsors who make this year's Barrister's Big Band Benefit Ball possible. Thousands of thanks to:

ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS, Inc.
REED SMITH LLP
LISA SNOW and FRANCO TURRINELLI 
     and DAVIS & HOSFIELD CONSULTING LLC
TODD WEINER
BAKER & MCKENZIE LLP

Join us at the Standard Club on Saturday, April 21, 2012 starting at 6 pm for an evening of swinging sound, dancing, delicious food, dance lessons and silent and live auctions, all in support of the musical activities of the Chicago Bar Association!

CLICK FOR TICKETS!

More about the Ball and upcoming concerts below!

SCHUBERT & more adds vocal chamber music

Sun, April 29, 2012—3 pm 

CHAMBER CONCERT: Schubert & More & MORE!

Alexandra Newman

Following the Barristers Big Band Benefit Ball on April 21st, the Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra and Chorus next presents a springtime chamber concert called Schubert & More. Featuring small ensembles of musicians selected from our unique organizations, the program includes works by Nielsen, Vieuxtemps, Vaughan Williams, Roussel, and, of course, Schubert. Just added to the concert is vocal chamber music by Rimski-Korsakov, Donizetti, Simon, Morley and di Lasso. (The additions are listed first, below.) The concert will take place on the last Sunday afternoon in April, at 3 pm, in the magnificent sanctuary of our performance home, Saint James Episcopal Cathedral, Wabash at Huron.

Here is a link where you can purchase tickets.

And here is the full program as of March 24, 2012:  

Chamber Concert: SCHUBERT and MORE

Sunday, April 29, 2012 at 3:00 pm
Saint James Episcopal Cathedral—Chicago


Angel and Demon    Rimsky-Korsakov   
    Kathleen Loos & Frank Cargle, vocalists
        Janet Eckhardt, accompanist

Deep River    arr. Hogan   
   Frank Cargle, baritone
        Janet Eckhardt, accompanist

Una Furtiva Lagrima    Donizetti   
    Mike Sitrick, tenor
        Janet Eckhardt, accompanist

Lily’s Eyes    Simon   
    Mike Sitrick & Frank Cargle, vocalists
        Janet Eckhardt, accompanist

Sing We and Chant It    Morley   
Good Day Dear Heart    di Lasso
     Acapella Madrigals: Paula Jacobi, Andrea Wood, Dorothy Voight, 
     Skip Harsh, Tom Hazinski
  

Little Suite for Strings, Op. 1                     Carl Nielsen 
The West Oakdale Avenue Chamber Players
Violins—Tod Ballard, Rachel Chapman, Heather Neaveill-Kramer* (and viola),
Emily Chen, Travis Elfers , Gregory Zinkl (and viola)
Viola—Sean Diller*, Dan Makula*
Cello—Scott Beller, Julia Nowicki*

Fair Use Quintet

Divertissement for woodwind quintet and piano, Op. 6     Albert Roussel
Fair Use Quintet
Judith Grubner, flute—Beth Lodal, oboe—John Vishneski, clarinet, Katherine Erwin, bassoon—Michael McVickar, horn—Clark Remington, piano
 
Two English Folksongs       Ralph Vaughan Williams & Rebecca Clarke
Searching for Lambs
The Lawyer
Down by the Salley Gardens
Genevieve Essig, soprano
Alexandra Newman, violin

Souvenir d'Amerique                    Henri Vieuxtemps 
Alexandra Newman, violin
Neil Posner, piano
 

Amicus Curiae Quintet

Quintet in A major, D. 667 (The Trout)            Franz Schubert  
Amicus Curiae Quintet
Patricia Bronte, violin—Alexander Weaver, viola—Natasha White, cello
        Joseph Krzysiak, bass—Neil Posner, piano

All programs and artists subject to change. The listing above is not in program order.

The Barristers Big Band Benefit Ball is Sat, April 21st

Dance lessons and dance demonstrations!

Join us for a wonderful party in celebration of the Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra and Chorus!

11th Annual Barristers Big Band Benefit Ball
Saturday, April 21, 2012 
The Standard Club Main Dining Room, Chicago
Reception - 6 pm; Dance - 7 pm

The 11th Annual Barristers Big Band Benefit Ball on Saturday, April 21st will Honor James H. Wooten, Jr., retiring Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Illinois Tool Works Inc. and raise funds for the CBA Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. It is sure to be a great time. This year's event will be held at the beautiful Standard Club Main Dining Room.

John Vishneski in full swing.

The evening will be filled with great food, great company, the Barristers Big Band’s swinging sound, a dance lesson, a dance contest, a live and silent auction and lots of just plain dancing. Tickets are only $50. The reception begins at 6:00 pm, and the Barristers Big Band will start swinging at 7:00 pm until … whenever. Food and drink will be available throughout the evening.  Dress for dancing!


To purchase ball tickets, follow this link.

To learn about our next concert, read below!

SCHUBERT & MORE, APRIL 29th

Sun, April 29, 2012—3 pm 

CHAMBER CONCERT: Schubert & More 

Alexandra Newman

Following the Barristers Big Band Benefit Ball on April 21st, the Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra and Chorus next presents a springtime chamber concert called Schubert & More. Featuring small ensembles of musicians selected from our unique organization, the program includes works by Nielsen, Vieuxtemps, Vaughan Williams, Roussel, and, of course, Schubert. The concert will take place on the last Sunday afternoon in April, at 3 pm, in the magnificent sanctuary of our performance home, Saint James Episcopal Cathedral, Wabash at Huron.

Here is a link where you can purchase tickets.

And here is the full program:

Chamber Concert: SCHUBERT and MORE

Sunday, April 29, 2012 at 3:00 pm
Saint James Episcopal Cathedral—Chicago

I. Little Suite for Strings, Op. 1                     Carl Nielsen 

The West Oakdale Avenue Chamber Players
Violins—Tod Ballard, Rachel Chapman, Heather Neaveill-Kramer* (and viola),
Emily Chen, Travis Elfers , Gregory Zinkl (and viola)
Viola—Sean Diller*, Dan Makula*
Cello—Scott Beller, Julia Nowicki*

Fair Use Quintet

II. Divertissement for woodwind quintet and piano, Op. 6     Albert Roussel
Fair Use Quintet
Judith Grubner, flute—Beth Lodal, oboe—John Vishneski, clarinet, Katherine Erwin, bassoon—Michael McVickar, horn—Clark Remington, piano

III. Two English Folksongs       Ralph Vaughan Williams & Rebecca Clarke
Searching for Lambs
The Lawyer
Down by the Salley Gardens
Genevieve Essig, soprano
Alexandra Newman, violin

IV. Souvenir D'Amerique                    Henri Vieuxtemps 
Alexandra Newman, violin
Neil Posner, piano

IV. Quintet in A major, D. 667 (The Trout)            Franz Schubert  
Amicus Curiae Quintet
Patricia Bronte, violin—Alexander Weaver, viola—Natasha White, cello
        Joseph Krzysiak, bass—Neil Posner, piano

All programs and artists subject to change.

about Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzes

The Romantic Muse, the CBA Symphony & Chorus's March 7th concert at St James Cathedral, features the orchestra performing music by Schumann (Piano Concerto in a minor, with Neil Posner, soloist) and Schubert (Unfinished Symphony) and the chorus presenting the Brahms Love-Song Waltzes, with duo-pianists Janet Eckhardt and Jennifer Zlotow, Becky Patterson conducting.

Here is some background on the Waltzes, by CBA Chorus member Lucy Kennedy.
And here is a link where you can purchase tickets.

Brahms' Liebeslieder Waltzes, op 52
program note by Lucy Kennedy

First, a little music-technology and anthropological scene setting: In the 19th Century, the pianoforte finally arrived at essentially its modern form with deep lower notes and an array of pedals that enabled even a non-professional to make beautiful sounds. Over this hundred years the middle class finally “arrived” too, with widespread literacy, stable income, free time, and the desire to both partake of the fine arts and “keep up with the Joneses.” An upright or spinet piano became a standard middle-class possession, and family sons and daughters were expected to “improve” themselves with instrumental and vocal lessons and to provide entertainment in the parlor after dinner. A vast market for chamber music that didn’t require professional skill was created, a market that composers like Johannes Brahms (though he is more known now for his big, serious works) strove to capitalize on.

In 1868, Brahms was searching for a new project to equal the popularity of some previous piano-based chamber music. He settled on a romantic song cycle, his sophisticated, delightful Liebeslieder Wälzer. They were written about love, and out of love, for Brahms, as usual, was head-over-heels about a lady, whose attention (and romantic interest) he is reputed to have been trying to entice with this musical bouquet.

For lyrics on which to wrap his musical confections, Brahms chose selections from Polydora: A World-Poetic Songbook, a collection of German translations and imitations of folk poetry from Eastern Europe (Russia, Poland, and Hungary) by his contemporary, Georg Friedrich Daumer (1800-1875). He wrote the piece for piano four hands and an optional vocal quartet, for performance at home, but (fortunately for the CBA Chorus), the work has over the years grown beyond its composer’s original concept to become a standard of the choral concert repertoire.

Though the lyrics did not approach the level of the great German poetry, i.e., Goethe et al (one critic called Brahms’s sources “folksy, doggerel verse”), they do express the gamut of human emotion on the subject of Eros, from flirtation to enticement, to strong passion, to domestic harmony, to endless bliss, to various forms of disappointment/frustration, to sweet directness, to sadness at rejection, with a nod to ebullient young love. And the tunes exhibit Brahms’s usual elegant, classical sophistication—almost all are in binary form while at the same time being in ¾ time—and lush evocativeness: you can hear the raging spring, see the little bird hopping around trying to find a home, view the cocky swain eying the ten iron bars on the pretty maiden’s front door, and etc. One critic called Brahms’s chamber music some of “the most sophisticated and exquisitely crafted of the Romantic era.”

When published in 1870 (by Friedrich August Simrock) they were an instant, tremendous success, popular with both professional musicians and singers and with the family market for which they were intended, perhaps even bringing the composer the fame that more serious works, such as the German Requiem, had failed to do, and going a long way to convince music lovers that Schumann had been right about Brahms being the next great composer. The unbending, moody perfectionist uncharacteristically told Simrock, “I must confess that it was the first time I smiled at the sight of a printed work—of mine! I will risk being called an ass if our Liebeslieder Waltzes don’t give pleasure to a few people.” He even encouraged Simrock to sell the pieces inexpensively so that more non-professional music lovers could afford them, which of course increased his “fan base.”

But alas, when the Waltzes were premiered (played from the manuscript on October 6, 1869, with Clara Schumann and Hermann Levi at the pianofortes), the object of all his stürm und drang did not respond the way the composer had hoped (“Speak, maiden, all too dear/…Don’t you want to soften your heart/…do you want to come to me?”), and subsequently Brahms learned she was engaged to another. Brahms expressed his disappointment some years later by composing a second set of waltzes (the New Liebeslieder Waltzes—if anything, even more successful than the first set) which embody a chastened, more realistic vision of romantic love, and end with lyrics from Goethe.

The two worlds of NEIL POSNER

Neil Posner, piano soloist in Robert Schumann's glorious Piano Concerto in A minor with the CBASO next month, has had highly successful professional careers in both music and the law. We are delighted to feature him on our March 7th program, called The Romantic Muse.

Here's a quick bio of this very talented individual:

Neil B. Posner is a Partner and Chair of the Policyholder Insurance Coverage Practice Group at Much Shelist PC. Neil received his undergraduate degree from New York University, studied accounting and finance at UCLA, and received his law degree, magna cum laude, from Marquette University. Before law school, Neil was a full-time musician in both the classical and nonclassical arenas. His classical credits include accompanying many soloists, including David Shostac (principal flute with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra) and Jean-Pierre Rampal. His nonclassical credits include playing on numerous film and television sound tracks and in the "pit" for the Los Angeles productions of many Broadway musicals, including A Chorus Line, and touring with Andy Williams and Peggy Lee.

TICKETS online: brownpapertickets.com/profile/80112

INDIVIDUAL TICKETS in advance: $12 online (plus tiny processing fee) or from any ensemble member.

TICKETS: $15 at the door
Although there are no refunds, you may exchange tickets for another performance. Simply bring your unused tickets to the ticket table at St James on the day of the performance you wish to attend.  

Scroll down to read more about The Romantic Muse and the rest of our 2012 season.

THE ROMANTIC MUSE: TICKETS on SALE now!

The Romantic Muse
Wed, March 7, 2012 at 7:30 pm
St James Episcopal Cathedral—Chicago

Brahms—Liebeslieder Waltzes, op. 52 
CBA Chorus—Rebecca Patterson, conductor 
Janet Eckhardt & Jennifer Zlotow duo-pianists

Schumann—Piano Concerto 
Neil Posner piano soloist

Schubert—Unfinished Symphony


TICKETS online: brownpapertickets.com/profile/80112

INDIVIDUAL TICKETS in advance: $12 online (plus tiny processing fee) or from any ensemble member.

TICKETS: $15 at the door
Although there are no refunds, you may exchange tickets for another performance. Simply bring your unused tickets to the ticket table at St James on the day of the performance you wish to attend.  

Scroll down to read about all the concerts in the rest of our 2012 season.