Eleven years ago, when Chicago a cappella presented its first program featuring vocals-only arrangements of Beatles music, the Fab Four had to share billing with the Baroque period.
There was a simple reason for that, according to Chicago a cappella Artistic Director Jonathan Miller. Namely, that there weren’t enough first-rate a cappella arrangements of Beatles music to fill out a concert. That’s no longer a problem, however, as evidenced by the nine-voice group’s upcoming “Beatlemania” shows, including an April 18 performance at Nichols Concert Hall in Evanston.
“When we did our ‘Baroque and Beatles’ concert in 2004, the a cappella Beatles canon was very small,” said Miller, who founded Chicago a cappella 21 years ago. “But the a cappella world has really exploded in the last 10 or 15 years, with a lot of arrangers doing really, really good work.”
“Beatlemania” will include 24 songs by Lennon & McCartney and George Harrison such as “Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da,” “Blackbird,” “Here Comes the Sun,” “Drive My Car,” “Ticket to Ride” and “Come Together.” The program will also feature two world premieres: Mark Grizzard’s “Eleanor Rigby” (a mixed-voice version originally arranged for the all-male sextet Chapter 6) and guest musical director Paul Langford’s adaptation of “The Long and Winding Road.”
Officially, the concert is meant to tie in to the 75th anniversary of John Lennon’s birth. Though Miller said the real reason has more to do with the fact that Chicago a cappella’s last two concerts have been quite serious — one devoted to Spanish-language works, sharing the stage with classical Spanish dancers, and another featuring music from the world’s great sacred traditions.
“We like to mix it up,” said Miller, who pointed out that pop music has been a part of Chicago a cappella’s repertoire from the beginning, and that the group’s arrangement of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” was a signature piece for years. “We’ve always had a sense of humor and we sometimes do programs that are quite a bit on the lighter side.”
Of course, it also helps, as Miller says, that everybody loves the Beatles.
“I can’t think of another pop group that has almost achieved the status of classical music the way the Beatles have,” he said. “People arrange the Beatles for all kinds of different performance choices the way they do with Bach — and they don’t do that with the Rolling Stones or Elton John or Jethro Tull.
“There’s enough meat on the bones of the Beatles’ songs that you always have something to work with.”
Chicago a cappella presents ‘Beatlemania’
8 p.m. April 18
Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Ave., Evanston
$30-$38, $25 for seniors; $12 for students
(773) 281-7820; http://www.chicagoacappella.org