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 great choral/orchestral repertoire for audiences in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.
Over the years, CMS refined and expanded its artistic mission to include the presentation of choral works 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. CMS has performed major works in collaboration with professional orchestras, including Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with the Lake Forest Symphony, and the Verdi Requiem and Stanley Black's Music of a People with the Ars Viva Symphony. CMS also performs unaccompanied choral repertoire, including entirely a cappella concerts on overseas performance tours. CMS has embarked on thirteen tours, most recently to England in 2018. The next tour will be to Paris and Normandy in Summer 2024. John C. Hughes became the ensemble's third Music Director in July 2020. During the 2020-21 season, the choir gathered virtually on Monday evenings for CMS University, a series of livestreamed seminars on a wide variety of musical topics. The ensemble returned to in-person rehearsals and performances with the 2021-22 season, performing at Glenview Community Church. CMS members live in many communities throughout the Chicago area. For some, music is their vocation as professional singers, teachers, and choir directors; for others, it is their avocation, a way to enrich their lives through music. But it’s the personal connections and musical excellence that provide continued inspiration for both our singers and our audiences! |
Selected Repertoire
Bach: Cantatas, Magnificat, St Matthew Passion
Barber: Agnus Dei Beethoven: Mass in C, Opferlied Bernstein: Chichester Psalms Bizet: Te Deum Bloch: Sacred Service Brahms: Requiem, Nänie, Schicksalslied Britten: Jubilate Deo 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, Lo the Full Final Sacrifice Gjeilo: Ubi Caritas, Unicornis Captivatur Hagenberg: O Love Handel: Dixit Dominus, Messiah, Coronation Anthems Haydn: Masses, Te Deum Holst: Psalms 86 and 148 Howells: Requiem, Magnificat Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna, O Magnum Mysterium Liszt: Missa Choralis, Pater Noster McDowall: Christus Natus Est Mendelssohn: Psalms, Elijah, St. Paul Mozart: Requiem, Coronation Mass, Vespers Muhly: Set Me as a Seal O'Regan: Dorchester Canticles Pärt: Morning Star, The Deer's Cry Paulus: Alleluia, The Road Home, Jesu Carols 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, Beatus Vir 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. |
