21 Altos, 21 Bass, 29 Sopranos, and 12 Tenors – and that’s just the on-stage chorus. Add 4 soloists, a 45-member symphony orchestra, off-stage chorus of 15 youth, 1 off-stage youth soloist/trio member, and conductor, and this year’s Choral Union comes into focus.
Choral Union celebrates its 133rd anniversary with two performances of “Elijah,” an oratorio by Felix Mendelssohn. Concerts take place at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 6, 2014, and again at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 7, 2014, at Cargill United Methodist Church, 2000 Wesley Avenue, Janesville.
“To the masses of music-loving people, Mendelssohn requires no introduction – especially when “Elijah” is mentioned,” notes Conductor Richard Severing.
“The oratorio has taken its place on a level with “The Messiah” by Handel,” and Severing goes on to say that “Elijah” is “as full of drama as an opera.” Severing comments that the work has “such a warmth of harmony and melody that it is loved by everyone who has ever heard it or sung it.” The work is described as “very large in scope and yet very intimate and personal for the listener and for the performers as well. The subject of this oratorio is the compelling story of Elijah and the people of Israel as they struggle with belief and trust in God.”
Advance tickets of $12.00 may be ordered by calling (608) 741-5074 or may be purchased from Choral Union members. Tickets are $15.00 at the door on both performance days. Credit cards are not accepted. Like us on facebook: www.facebook.com/JanesvilleChoralUnion.
About Choral Union:
Choral Union has never had auditions, and anyone who loves music and loves to sing has always been welcome. Singers who have years of training stand next to those who just love to sing, some who cannot even read music.
In 1881, Milton Choral Union gave its first performance, singing a variety of selections under the direction of Professor N. W. Williams of the MiltonCollege of Music. The concert was a great success, and a tradition was born. Over the next 30 years, Choral Union continued to give concerts, although not always annually. One of the last performances during these early years was Haydn’s Creation conducted by Dr. J. M. Stillman of the School of Music in 1903.
The singing society was revived in 1911 by Professor A. E. Whitford who gathered a group of college students and community members for a public performance that December. The performance was heralded as “the most striking musical production ever given here by local talent.”
Whitford went on to become President of Milton College, giving up the choir to Professor L. H. Stringer in 1917. The Choral Union’s purpose under Stringer’s direction was to present the great oratorios to the MusicSchool students so that in four year’s time a student would sing “Messiah“, “Elijah“, Mendelssohn’s “Hymn of Praise“, and one other great work. Over the next thirty years ProfessorStringer directed a Choral Union that grew in size, confidence, musical ability, and reputation.
Bernie Westlund, a young student from Wittenberg, Wisconsin, appeared on the scene in 1936 and began playing in the orchestra that year. Westlund was the orchestra leader the next year, and in 1946, became the new director of the Choral Union. Under his leadership, the group continued to grow in stature and ability until it became recognized as one of the finest oratorio societies in the Midwest, if not the nation.
Choral Union has made history by performing a number of “firsts” including the Midwest premiere of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (1953), Boatright’s Canticle of the Sun, Vaughan-Williams’ Hodie, and Finzi’s Intimations of Immorality as well as several state premieres.
In 1976, Bernie Westlund gave his farewell performance after 30 years as Choral Union director. At that time Westlund commented, “For the singers, the enjoyment is in rehearsing and learning the meaning of the music beyond the notes on the page. The performance is their joyful gift to the audience.”
Professor Thomas Sanborn became the new director in 1977, having been with the Choral Union as accompanist for 20 years. In 1993, Richard Severing took over the reins as director after Sanborn’s untimely death before the season started.
It has been said that the greatness of Choral Union comes from the tremendous bond and fellowship between the singers themselves, and with the director, as they work to perform some of the greatest choral music ever written. The emotional highs of singing together are what bring members back year after year. When singing together, we become more than who we are alone. Great music is created, and we are not the same people as we were when we started to rehearse.
“Choral Union took hold of me emotionally from the very first time I participated,” states Director Richard Severing. Severing goes on to say, “We perform high quality music at a high level of expertise. We continue to expand and discover music that is new to us. We gather together as a community and share both music and ourselves. Each day I grow in sensitivity as a human being because of working with Choral Union.”
Severing believes strongly in the chorus and its role in the community. “I believe in music as a force that brings people together,” Severing commented in a Janesville Gazette feature story in December, 2011. He continued, “I also think it’s important that communities are brought together. I guess both things happen to be the same goal.”
Janesville Gazette Reporter Ann Fiore summed up the “magic” of Choral Union in December, 2011, as follows: Each year, the challenge is the same — Take a mix of 100+ experienced and novice singers, give them demanding pieces of choral music, and teach them how to sing. And each year, the group produces a work of art, something greater than the sum of its parts.
Marie Severing is Director of Choral Music at Big Foot Union High School, Walworth, WI. Her musical educational experiences include study at L’Ecole Hindemith, Vevey, Switzerland and Northwestern University, Chicago. She has a Master’s degree from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, with an emphasis in Vocal Care. She has studied with Helen Boatwright, Hugues Cuenod, Yolanda Marculescu, Elizabeth Fischer-Monestero and Susan Blumer.
Tenor Alex Gmeinder has been praised by the Madison Isthmus for his “…powerful tenor voice…” in UW-Madison’s production of Don Giovanni.
Brian Leeper is the Vocal Area Coordinator at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he teaches Studio Voice, Vocal Pedagogy and Opera and oversees the UW-Whitewater Solo Voice Camp, a one-week summer program for high school singers desiring solo performance careers. An active soloist and clinician, he has presented numerous masterclasses and recital performances at Colleges and Universities across the US. He has been a member of the voice faculty of La Musica Lirica, a five-week summer opera program in Novafeltria, Italy, for seven years and prior to that was on the faculty of Operafestival di Roma in Rome, Italy. Having performed over twenty major roles with opera companies in the US and abroad, including a national radio broadcast performance of Candide with the Cleveland Orchestra, Brian has also appeared as soloist in Oratorio under conductors Robert Shaw, Leon Botstein, Robert Page and Weston Noble. In October 2010, he traveled across Poland performing recitals of Chopin songs and musical theatre.
