It all starts with “singability.”
That coined term is a crucial component of Waukegan Concert Chorus’s Folk Music Celebration, which takes stage at 4 p.m. March 19 at the Jack Benny Center for the Arts Theatre in Bowen Park in Waukegan.
“The goal of this and every concert is for the audience to be exposed to music of quality sung well and to leave feeling better than when they arrived,” said Director Randy Casey.
Of course, the key to success for any choral effort begins with music selection.
“Toward that, the number-one quality I look for in a piece of choral music is ‘singability,’ a word one will not find in the dictionary but which is the most important quality a piece of vocal music can have,” Casey explained. “On the program for March 19, all the pieces possess singability and also happen to be folk music.”
The first half of the concert features five anthems, three of which are sung unaccompanied.
“In keeping with the folk quality of the concert, a setting by composer Darmon Meader of the story of ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’ is the most substantial work among the anthems,” Casey said. “Also being presented is a very effective setting of the familiar ‘Londonderry Air’ that is also unaccompanied.”
The other anthems include “Come to Me, O My Love” by Allan Robert Petker, “Blow the Candles Out” arranged by Gregg Smith and “Come Ready and See Me” by Richard Hundley.
The second half of the program consists solely of a five-movement work titled “Cycle Round Britain” arranged by Cornish composer Goff Richards. Each movement is based on a traditional folk tune from Great Britain, including “Strawberry Fair,” “The Ash Grove,” “The Raith Rover,” “Londonderry Air” and “Dashing Away with the Smoothing Iron.”
Musicians from the winds section of the Waukegan Symphony Orchestra will join the chorus for three of the movements.
“Although two of the five movements are a cappella, putting together the three accompanied movements with the choir and winds will be the biggest challenge of the program,” Casey said.
The Waukegan Concert Chorus will have 19 singers performing on this program, hailing from Waukegan, Gurnee and Wadsworth.
“Rehearsals are a delight because they are fast-paced, and the singers enjoy the music,” Casey said.
The Waukegan Concert Chorus is a performance group of the Waukegan Park District.
“We know that the audience will have a wonderful time in our intimate theater with the lovely singing,” said Ty Rohrer, the park district’s manager of cultural arts. “We want the audience to experience the beauty of musicians singing together in a live setting with just their wonderful talents and basic accompaniment.”
Waukegan Concert Chorus’s Folk Music Celebration
When: 4 p.m. March 19
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Where: Jack Benny Center for the Arts Theatre in Bowen Park, 39 Jack Benny Drive, Waukegan
Tickets: $15 for adults; students 18 and under are free
Information: 847-360-4740; waukeganparks.org/wsocc/
Jen Banowetz is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.