CBA Ode to Joy

Under Patterson’s direction, the Chorus collaborated often with the CBASO, performing major works such as Mendelssohn’s Elijah , Haydn’s Creation , and Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem . The Chorus also has self- produced concerts, and its a cappella repertoire ranges from Rachmaninoff to Moses Hogan. In commemoration of Abraham Lincoln’s Bicentennial in 2009, the Chorus presented “Lincoln and Liberty: Music of the Civil War Era” featuring popular music of Lincoln’s time. In September 2010, the Chorus joined the CBASO in a special performance honoring retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. The Chorus’s performance of Orff’s Carmina Burana at Symphony Center in 2011 marked the Chorus’s 5th anniversary as well as the CBASO’s 25th anniversary. For that concert, the CBASO and Chorus were joined by the Naperville Chorus and the Young Naperville Singers. In February 2013, the Chorus and a small ensemble of CBASO musicians traveled to Springfield, Illinois to present “Lincoln and His America: A Musical Celebration.” That concert of Lincoln-era songs, instrumental works, and narrative readings from the Civil War era was held at historic Representative Hall in the Old State Capitol. The following year, the Chorus joined the New York City Bar Chorus for a program of popular American songs in the historic New York City Bar Association Building. The next year, the NYC Bar Chorus came to Chicago to reprise the concert at St. James Episcopal Cathedral. Also in 2015, the Chorus returned to Symphony Center with the CBASO for “Something Wonderful: The Music of Rodgers and Hammerstein.” The Elgin Master Chorale joined the Chorus for that performance. In addition to its major concerts, the Chorus has performed for Law Day, at Navy Pier events, with the choirs of Our Lady of Lourdes in Chicago’s Ravenswood Neighborhood, and at Harold Washington Library’s holiday concerts. Early in its life, the Chorus was privileged to sing the National Anthem at a White Sox game. Each summer, Chorus members plan a social evening at Millenium Park to hear the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus. Chorus members also participate in the CBA wine tasting events and annual chamber concert along with CBASO members. In May 2017 several Chorus and CBASO members were honored to perform for The Lincoln Academy of Illinois for its gala award ceremony at the Chicago History Museum. At the end of the Chorus’s 10th season (2015-2016), Patterson retired and was named Director Emerita. The following season, the Chorus auditioned three director candidates, and in the Fall of 2017 welcomed Stephen Blackwelder as its new director. Under Blackwelder’s baton, the Chorus has performed music by Pachelbel, Schubert, and Gwyneth Walker, and has collaborated with Maestro Katz and the CBASO in concerts featuring Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast and Rossini’s Stabat Mater . The Chorus is fortunate that Janet Eckhardt continues as accompanist at weekly rehearsals and occasional Chorus performances. The first tenet of the Chorus’s mission statement is to “promote and enhance the public’s understanding and image of The Chicago Bar Association by sharing the musical excellence of its members.” The Chorus can state proudly that it has lived up to this tenet and will continue to do so for many years to come.

It is with joy that the Chorus performs at St. John Brebeuf and Symphony Center with the CBASO in collaboration with the Niles Metropolitan Chorus and DePaul Community Chorus.

–Program Note by Jennifer A. Widmer

CBA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS 57