HistoryChicago Master Singers (CMS), an Illinois not-for-profit organization, was established in 1979 as The New Oratorio Singers. Under the guidance of founding Music Director Thomas Wikman, the ensemble's goal was to perform choral/orchestral masterworks for audiences in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.
Over the years, CMS has refined and expanded its artistic mission to include the presentation of great choral repertoire at the highest artistic level for the cultural enrichment of its members and the communities it serves. From 1989 to 2020, the chorus was under the artistic direction of Alan Heatherington. During this time, CMS expanded its annual performances from three to six, grew to a membership of 140 singers, and diversified its venues to include performance sites throughout metropolitan Chicago. Divine Word Chapel at Techny Towers in Northbrook was a regular performance location. John C. Hughes became the ensemble's third Music Director in July 2020. CMS has collaborated with professional orchestras in performing major works. In April 2004, CMS celebrated its 25th anniversary season with a performance of the magnificent Verdi Requiem in Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center in Chicago. Spring 2008 found Chicago Master Singers performing Beethoven’s 9th Symphony on the Lake Forest Symphony’s 50th anniversary concert program. CMS joined the Lake Forest Symphony again in spring 2011 on their program of Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 2 (Lobgesang). Later in 2011, the combined choruses of CMS and Kol Zimrah performed with the Ars Viva Symphony Orchestra in Stanley Black's Music of a People. In 2013, CMS partnered with the Lake Forest Symphony in performances of Mahler's Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection). The chorus also performs unaccompanied repertoire, including entirely a cappella concerts in advance of overseas performance tours. Members of CMS - as well as friends of the chorus - have an opportunity to participate in these tours as ambassadors of music. In 1993, members of CMS participated in their first tour, giving concerts in Germany and Austria, including performances as a featured chorus at the International Church Music Festival in Oberammergau. CMS’s thirteenth and most recent tour was to England in 2018. Chicago Master Singers has regularly hosted choral workshops since 1989. All workshops are open to the public, and attendees learn techniques for improving their choral, vocal, and musical skills. Music Director John C. Hughes has also presented online seminars through the CMS University initiative. |
Repertoire PerformedBach: Cantatas, St Matthew Passion
Barber: Agnus Dei Beethoven: Mass in C, Opferlied Bizet: Te Deum Bloch: Sacred Service Brahms: Requiem, Nänie, Schicksalslied Bruckner: Masses, Te Deum Duruflé: Requiem, Ubi Caritas Dvořák: Mass, Te Deum, Stabat Mater Elgar: Light of Life Fauré: Cantique de Jean Racine, Requiem Finzi: Magnificat Gjeilo: Ubi Caritas, Unicornis Captivatur Handel: Coronation Anthems, Messiah Haydn: Masses, Te Deum Holst: Psalms 86 and 148 Howells: Requiem, Magnificat Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna, O Magnum Mysterium Liszt: Missa Choralis, Pater Noster Mendelssohn: Psalms, Elijah, St. Paul Mozart: Requiem, Coronation Mass, Vespers Pärt: Morning Star, The Deer's Cry Paulus: Alleluia, The Road Home Pinkham: Christmas Cantata Rachmaninov: Vespers, Tebe poyem Rheinberger: Abendlied, Cantus Missae Rutter: Cantate Domino, Gloria, Requiem Schubert: Masses, Magnificat Schumann: Requiem Shaw/Bennett: Many Moods of Christmas Stanford: Stabat Mater Stopford: Truro Canticles Tavener: Song for Athene Vaughan Williams: Five Mystical Songs Verdi: Requiem Vivaldi: Gloria, Magnificat Whitacre: Lux Aurumque Widor: Mass |
Alan Heatherington, Music Director Emeritus
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Alan Heatherington built his career in the Chicago area as a choral and orchestral conductor, a violinist and concertmaster, and an educator. He was Music Director of Chicago Master Singers from 1989 to 2020, leading the organization for 31 years. |
