Karen Christensen sang in her high school chorus and performed in a few shows when she was a student at Northern Illinois University in the 1970s.
With the exception of singing with her synagogue’s choir when her children were small, Christensen stopped singing in public altogether.
About 10 years ago, she read an article about the Fox Valley Festival Chorus in the Beacon-News.
Joining the chorus was especially appealing to Christensen because the group doesn’t require auditions, something she was “nervous about.”
Nonetheless, Christensen said the chorus sings a range of music from simple songs to very challenging pieces. Over the last couple of years, the group submitted auditions and was selected to sing at both Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York City.
Christensen credits the Fox Valley Festival Chorus’ director Mary Beth McCarthy with the group’s success.
She is a positive light, she said. McCarthy is a wonderful technical teacher who is supportive and positive, but she also inspires us to work hard, Christensen added.
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“When you are participating in a creative endeavor and working in a group with other people, it is an incredible experience,” she said
When McCarthy took over as the conductor and artistic director of the Fox Valley Festival Chorus 17 years ago, there were only about seven to 12 members coming to rehearsals.
Now the chorus has about 65 members who come from “all walks of life.” McCarthy said. The group ranges in age from high school students to retirees and come from all over the Fox Valley region. Members vary in occupations from doctors, lawyers, teachers, and hairdressers, she added.
McCarthy said accompanist Bonnie Werthmann and the Fox Valley Festival Chorus board of directors all work together to make the group a success.
McCarthy also teaches at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora, where she is director of the Instrumental Music Program. She is a professional vocal artist and operates her own vocal studio.
“Some of the members had been professional singers in the past,” she said.
Others, McCarthy said, always had a dream to sing.
“But it is our passion for singing that unites us all,” she said.
Despite singing on national stages, McCarthy emphasized that the group still is “a community chorus.”
Practicing on Mondays from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. beginning after Labor Day, the group performs two series of concerts in December and June.
At their upcoming concerts on Dec. 5 and 6, the chorus will be performing pieces by composer John Rutter who the group sang with at Carnegie Hall, as well as a piece by Mark Hayes, the composer the group sang with at Lincoln Center.
Throughout the year, the group also performs in the community at nursing homes and at organizations like Little Friends and Hesed House.
Performing last week at the Tillers Nursing Home in Oswego, Christensen said these performances are especially fun, because you can see the people really enjoying the music.
Studies show that singing together has a huge positive benefit for people’s mental health, Christensen said.
“Sitting down for two hours with other people who love music as much as you do and singing your heart out puts something positive into the universe that we desperately need,” she said.
Fox Valley Festival Chorus Celestial Voices Holiday Concert
When: 3 p.m. Dec. 5
Where: Oswego Presbyterian Church, 1976 Route 25, Oswego
When: 3 p.m. Dec. 6
Where: Westminster Presbyterian Church, 10 N Edgelawn, Aurora
How much: Tickets are $12.