Bringing the joys of superlative music to appreciative audiences for over 100 years, Chicago’s Symphony Center has long been a place to enjoy wonder. During a recent visit to the landmark venue, that awe was delivered through the voices of the young. Uniting Voices Chicago (UVC), formerly the Chicago Children’s Choir, boasts a long history as well. One that goes back to the onset of the civil rights movement. At that time, the choir’s founder, Christopher Moore, sought to “unite youth from every background through music”. Nearly 70 years later, the organization is established in scores of schools and works with thousands of young singers. Bringing people together remains the ultimate goal. Through the years though, the mission has expanded to develop leadership and teach children how they have the power to consciously direct their own destinies. The music they create in the process is remarkable; allowing them to travel the globe as youthful ambassadors of musical excellence.
Winter Glow, this year’s seasonal marquee performance for the enterprise, beautifully displayed the delight choral song can inspire. Much more than a display of technical acuity or individual talent, the program showcased the tempered power and majesty of the collective. Designed to include features that engage the eye and serenade the spirit, along with enrapturing the ear, it also succeeded as a concert of spectacle and substance.
The nature of a song can determine how we appreciate a single voice or a mass of voices. Winter Glow’s wonderfully diverse program helped fuel a performance that teemed with variety. Filling the show with delightful intensity and drama didn’t detract from its overriding sensibility of cheer. By adding elements of solemnity and density, our understanding and appreciation for the season were notably heightened. Conducted chiefly by UVC’s President and Artistic Director, Josephine Lee, various choir groupings dazzled the crowded auditorium with the many shades of magic the human voice can create.
Seven hundred singers from schools across Chicago participated in the production; showing off their combined force by filling both the stage and the aisles at the concert’s opening. Uniting Voices Chicago engages with three times that number throughout the year. Following a rapturous chamber rendition of the Adagio in G overture, groups of singers rotated through their time in the spotlight with each successive song.
Youngsters from Humboldt Park, Pilsen and Rogers Park offered an exquisite rendering of A la Nanita Nana. Both a popular lullaby throughout the Spanish speaking world and a traditional Christmas carol, the song speaks to the true significance of the season. Here, it carried all the tenderness and subtle shadings you’d find in voices much more seasoned by the whims of life. Gliding smoothly from moving to buoyant, the program swirled through continents as well as emotions, exposing the audience to a wide store of musical treasures. Danny Elfman’s Making Christmas (from The Nightmare Before Christmas) was a mischievous romp as older singers “chased” younger ones off the stage as they prepared to perform the piece. Including dance choreography and the lushly sonorous baritone of guest artist, Vasil Garvanliev, the highly dramatic Multiverse was operatic in its gravity and power. The expectant tension it inspired was the perfect set up for another performance highlight, Asimbonanga/uMandela. A South African anti-apartheid song that seeps deep into listeners cores, the anthem transforms lament into hope and hope into resolve. In the hands of a wonderful choir it can be earth shifting, as it was here.
Throughout the performance, the investment the singers were making in the execution of their craft could be seen in their faces. That commitment translated into stunning depth and heart. Both created the scaffolding for Winter Glow and helped make the experience exceptional. Two pieces in particular highlighted the reach of these young singers. Ya Hadi Allah and El Yivneh Hagalil, one based in Muslim spirituality and the other a traditional Jewish folk song, connect to the inner reaches of our being. Sung with poignancy and assurance, the beauty of both will linger for quite some time.
Ending the program with the joyous This Day (from Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey) threw the doors open to the holidays’ promise of renewal and reconnection. It’s hard to imagine a better way to usher them in.
Winter Glow: The Season Just Got a Little Bit Brighter
Uniting Voices Chicago
December 2 – 11am & 2pm
Chicago Symphony Center
220 S. Michigan Ave.
For more information on Uniting Voices Chicago: https://www.unitingvoiceschicago.org
