Beautiful music and generous giving are the hallmarks of the BG Singers, known as the Chorus that Cares. They will celebrate their 31st anniversary with a concert of familiar favorites and a variety of donations to charitable causes.
Their “Timeless” concert will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 2, and 3 p.m. Oct. 3 and 4, at Scott Jacobsen Community Arts Center, 225 McHenry Road, Buffalo Grove. Tickets are $21; $17 for ages 62 and over and 12 and under. For reservations, visit bigdealproductions.org.
The concert will be directed by Linda Rosen, who has led the BG Singers since its founding.
“I have been a music teacher my entire career,” she noted.
To celebrate its first 30 years, the concert will focus on chorus favorites throughout its history. They have a lot of selections from which to choose. Rosen said that the chorus has sung 586 songs.
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Charla Silver, the choreographer and assistant director of the BG Singers, compiled a list of 50 songs from which the chorus members could choose their favorites.
“That’s the way the show was born,” Rosen explained.
The show includes medleys from The Jersey Boys, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and the animated film, “Sing.” Other selections will include “Nothing Like a Dame,” “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,” “One Day More,” “Somebody to Love,” “Time Warp,” “Defying Gravity,” “Got to Get You Into My Life,” and “One Voice,” among others.
One of Rosen’s personal favorites in the show is the Queen song, “Somebody to Love.” “I’m a lyric person, while I love the music,” she said, noting that she always tries to decide “what will the song say to people?”
The singers will be accompanied by a pianist, two brass players, a drummer, and a bass.
When Rosen started the chorus, she was hoping to get 25 singers at the first meeting. To her surprise, “Sixty-five people showed up that night,’’ she said. The chorus now consists of 70 singers.
Rosen said that she enjoys leading the BG Singers because of “the camaraderie and the feeling of family.”
Those attributes carry over to the charitable work for which the BG Singers are known. They have donated to a variety of causes this year.
Alto Lynn Garb said, “I started in the group in the very beginning. Then I took time off because of my two children. I took 1020 years off. Then, as soon as they were more independent, I was able to come back.”
Garb likes being part of the BG Singers because, “It is a community that is supportive and joyful.” She also gets joy out of working on charitable projects with the group.
“I’m a retired teacher, and I have been involved with filling backpacks for kids since I’ve been retired,” she said.
This year, she led the BG Singers in a project to fill 60 backpacks with new school supplies for needy children. Twenty backpacks were given to Vernon Township, 20 to Wings, and 20 to District 21.
“They are filled with everything a child needs to start school,” Garb said. “Everything in this backpack is brand new.” That includes plastic folders, notebooks, pens, pencils, crayons, markers, and more.
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Tenor Gary Hart is in his sixth show with the BG Singers. He is on the board of directors of The People’s Music School, a completely tuition-free music school serving the metropolitan Chicago area.
The BG Singers found a way to help The People’s Music School.
“We sent about 60 titles that they thought would be really pertinent to the kinds of music that they like to perform and would be appropriate for their students,” Hart said. “We’re adding to their choral library.”
The BG Singers also donated 35 ukuleles to Musicians for Hope. That organization is deciding which schools to donate the instruments to in order to help children pursue music instruction.
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.