Jewish Roots of Broadway

Saturday, October 10, 2015, 8:00 pm

Congregation Beth Shalom
772 W 5th Ave., Naperville

Saturday, October 17, 2015, 8:00 pm

Nichols Concert Hall
1490 Chicago Ave., Evanston

Sunday, October 11, 2015, 4:00 pm

West Suburban Temple Har Zion
1040 N Harlem Ave., River Forest

Sunday, October 25, 2015, 4:00 pm

K.A.M. Isaiah Israel Congregation
1100 E Hyde Park Blvd., Chicago

Chicago a cappella

Kathryn Kamp, Soprano

Cari Plachy, Soprano
Sarah Ponder, Mezzo-soprano
Emily Price, Mezzo-soprano
Garrett Johannsen, Tenor
Trevor Mitchell, Tenor
Carl Frank, Bass
Joe Labozetta, Bass
Wilbur Pauley, Bass

Founder and Artistic Director

Jonathan Miller
Principal Music Director
John William Trotter
The Evanston performance is generously underwritten by Lawrence Hamilton and Ann Hicks.
The River Forest performance is generously underwritten by Joyce Grenis and Mike Koen.
Chicago a cappella is partially supported by The MacArthur Funds for Arts and Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus
Foundation; The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation; the Arts Work Fund for Organizational Development;
the Oak Park Area Arts Council, in partnership with the Villages of Oak Park, Forest Park and River Forest; a CityArts
Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events; and the Illinois Arts Council
Agency, a state agency. Media Sponsors: The Daily Herald, WBEZ

Jewish Roots of Broadway

PROGR A M
Torah Blessings 1..............................................................................................................trad. Liturgy
It Aint Necessarily So..........G. & I. Gershwin & D. Heyward, arr. Ed Lojeski / Jonathan Miller
(with Torah Blessings 2)
*******
Di Grine Kuzine...................................................................... A. Schwartz/H. Prizant, arr. J. Miller
Swanee................................................................................... G. Gershwin & I. Ceasar, arr. J. Miller
*******
Get Happy / Ac-cen-tu-ate the Positive............H. Arlen /T. Koehler/J. Mercer, arr. Robert Page
Ill Be Seeing You......................................... Sammy Fain and Irving Kahal, arr. Darmon Meader
S Wonderful................................................................................ G. & I Gershwin, arr. Kevin Keller
Embraceable You........................................................................ G. & I Gershwin, arr. Steve Zegree
All of Me.............................................. Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons, arr. Patrick Sinozich
*******
Summertime......................................... G. & I. Gershwin & D. Heyward, arr. Roderick Williams
Cant Help Lovin Dat Man............Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, arr. Nicholas Hare
*******
Rozhinkes mit Mandlen........................................................... Abraham Goldfaden, arr. J. Trotter
Blue Skies..................................................................................... Irving Berlin, arr. Joseph Jennings
INTERMISSION
Haynt iz Purim, Brider................................A. Goldfaden and Mordecai Rivesman, arr. J. Miller
Steppin Out.......................................................................................Irving Berlin, arr. Deke Sharon
*******
Ptach lanu shaar.......................................................................... trad. Yom Kippur Nilah nussach
My Funny Valentine.................................................................. Rodgers & Hart, arr. Bob Krogstad
*******
Carefully Taught / Children Will Listen.................................................Rodgers & Hammerstein/
Stephen Sondheim
*******
Getting to Know You /
Surrey with the Fringe on Top.............................Rodgers & Hammerstein, arr. Patrick Sinozich
If I Loved You................................................................. Rodgers & Hammerstein, arr. Kirby Shaw
Dames!....................................................................Rodgers & Hammerstein, arr. Patrick Sinozich
*******
Send in the Clowns.................................................................Stephen Sondheim, arr. Robert Page
So Long, Farewell............................................................... Rodgers & Hammerstein, arr. Sinozich
Latecomers will be seated at the discretion of the ushers. Unauthorized photography or sound recording of
any kind are strictly prohibited. Smoking is prohibited in all venues. Food and beverage are not permitted
in the audience seating area. Thank you for your cooperation
2

Chicago a cappella

C H I C AG O A C APPE LL A C D S
Bound for Glory!
New setting of African-American Spirituals
Our debut recording on the Gothic Records label is a moving and joyous
collection of spirituals, featuring new settings of powerful melodies by a
host of brilliant and innovative composers.

Days of Awe
and Rejoicing:
Radiant Gems of Jewish
Music

Christmas a cappella
A celebration of the
holiday season with
Christmas songs from
around the world

Shall I Compare Thee?

Contemporary settings
of Shakespeares timeless
words

Eclectric
New works, familiar
favorites, pop & jazz. An
overflowing cornucopia
of choral delights
(ChicagoTribune)

Holidays
a cappella Live
Live performances of
Christmas spirituals,
Chanukah songs and
holiday music from
around the world
Mathurin Forestier:
Masses
World-premiere
recording of breathtaking
Renaissance church
music

Go Down, Moses
A stunning collection of
spirituals

Palestrina: Music for the

Christmas Season
Brilliant Renaissance
polyphony by the Italian
master Palestrina

Available in the lobby: $16 each (includes sales tax)

Jewish Roots of Broadway

F R O M T H E A R T I S T I C D I R E C TO R
Broadway musicals, as we now know them, didnt just pop out of
nowhere. Prior to the great surge in popularity and esteem for the genre
in the 1920s, most American cities had experienced a mishmash of
styles: operetta, blackface minstrelsy, vaudeville, the musicals of Gilbert
and Sullivan, and more. However, in New York, a perfect storm
occurred, including a surge in Jewish population (roughly 25% of New
Yorkers in 1920 were Jewish), a concentration of talent, a desire of
first-generation American Jewish musicians and lyricists to get beyond Yiddishe culture by
defining something new and truly American, and a palpable sense of an American Dream.
In many ways, the Jewish dream in America is very closely tied to the American Dream.
Indeed, it can be (and has been) argued that the American Dream is actually an invention
of the Jewish-born composers and poets who created the Broadway musical. But whats so
Jewish about Broadway musicals, other than the fact that virtually all of the creative material
was written by Jews? That is a fabulous question, and the attempt to answer it gave rise to
this program.
The young, creative Jews who came of age in Manhattan were exposed to a world much more
open, much more filled with possibility, than the Europe they had left. Here in America,
you could be anyone, not just a Jew. Young immigrants loved their new adopted language
of English, which absorbed their intense curiosity.
As we shall see, elements of synagogue music, the Yiddish theatre, and other parts of Jewish
culture seeped into the Broadway musical. The writers were making conscious efforts not
to write Jewish musicals or musicals just for Jews, but rather stories and music to which
everyone would relate and productions to which everyone would want to buy tickets.
Their desire for a more universal appeal helped create an art form that now has made its
stamp virtually around the globe, even in languages other than English.
*******
This concert began to take shape a year ago, when Matt Greenberg, our wonderful executive
director, told me excitedly about a PBS television special that was tracing the Jewish roots of
Broadway musicals. That connection sounds intuitively obvious. After all, Gershwin, Irving
Berlin, and Rodgers and Hammerstein were all Jewish, to name a few greats. So, came
the question, can we do a program about that? Sure, Ill take that on, I said, with a little
trepidation, knowing that I probably have less background with musical theatre than anyone
on our music staff. The task at hand soon became that of getting the lump out of my throat
and wrestling the program to the ground (my version of Jacobs visit with the angel).
As it turned out, most of the research for this program coincided with my taking several
trips to Portland, Oregon, to visit my dad, Ephraim Moses Miller of blessed memory, who
was struggling with liver cancer. We finally lost him on May 28th, at the age of 84. As I have
told so many friends and loved ones, Dad was truly the sweetest man I have ever known.
My dad was not a practicing Jew. I think he came to synagogue maybe twice during all the
years I was attending KAM Isaiah Israel in Hyde Park, a time during which I was having
my head filled with the melodies of Max Janowski and Debbie Friedman. In keeping with
his overall kindness, my dad wasnt boycotting shul out of any sense of hostility, as Ive
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heard other people describe their parents attitude toward organized religion. In fact, he
was a lifelong seeker of a particular variety of religious experience that drew him in turn to
Hinduism, Quakerism, and finally Tibetan Buddhism. (I even learned recently that my dads
mother poo-poohed traditional Jewish religious practice.) He was a walking encyclopedia
about mysticism and spiritual practices. More than anyone Ive ever met, Dad was all about
religionjust not Judaism.
As I saw on Dads birth certificate, he was born in New York City to Russian immigrant
parents who lived in Brooklyn. After his birth, the family moved to rural areas for my
grandfathers work, which was to help Jewish immigrants settle as farmers in upstate New
York and New England. My grandmother had been a concert singer, including solos with
the Freyheyt Gezang Vereyn, which was the choral wing of the Communist Party in New
York City (seriously it was a time when many self-styled intellectuals very closely identified
with socialism and/or communism). Inspired by her own passion for music, Grandmother
encouraged my dad to study classical piano. Dad also told puns, and he had a tremendous
ear for languages, so I suppose thats a slim personal connection from me to Broadway. My
uncle David retains more of a vaudeville sense of humorhis hero is probably Groucho
Marxand my Dads older cousin Maish actually was a vaudeville actor back in the day.
However, none of this family background gave me much confidence in building this
program.
One of the great lessons of my midlife is that asking for help is a wonderful thing. Needing
confidence and expertise to make real for myself the musical connections between
synagogue music, Yiddish theater, and Broadway songs, I turned to colleagues. Marsha
Bryan Edelman, who works at Gratz College and at the Zamir Choral Foundation in New
York, is probably the nations leading expert on the overall history of Jewish music. Her
book, Discovering Jewish Music, was the first source I devoured. Looking to build on what I
learned there, I asked Marsha where to look to start tracing some of the actual melodic and
thematic connections that I was after. She said, Well, the book you need to get is Funny, It
Doesnt Sound Jewish by Jack Gottlieb. That book was my constant companion, living in my
carry-on bag for all those trips to Portland. I wish that Jack were still alive, because his book
is really somethingerudite, funny, wide-ranging, and more than just an academic study.
The whole genre and its cultural background come to life in his book, and we are deeply in
his debt for helping us draw out some of these connections between genres.
Matts initial suggestion of the PBS special, Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy, was the
next indispensable resource that I devoured. That video features experts who happily and
enthusiastically sing and play their way through some of the vocal lines in synagogue music,
Yiddish folk and theatre songs, and Broadway and Tin Pan Alley tunes. The connections
just pop right out what fun. The interviewees also share first-hand stories about the people
involved in that intense and exhilarating creative and commercial process during the first
half of the 20th century.
Theres another element that is beautifully described in the production, in which people
talk about the compassionate nature of some of the writers. The lyricists, especially Oscar
Hammerstein II, sought to address some of the most pressing social issues of his times
(especially race and prejudice) in his creative worka sort of tikkun olam, a healing of the
world, through the art form. Doing all this research, I gradually learned why Show Boat is so
important in the history of musical theater, I began to appreciate the sorts of risks that led
Jewish Roots of Broadway

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to The King and I, and so on. If you have any interest in this subject matter at all, just go buy
that video, and watch all the special features.
Maybe because this program had so much to do with losing my dad, it was truly one of the
toughest assignments Ive ever had in programming for Chicago a cappella. While I can
sometimes flesh out the scaffolding for a program in a few weeks of deeply focused activity,
this one had gone on for at least three monthsand thats just to get the working outline
down. Despite all of the reading and listening and intense work, I still was not satisfied.
Have you ever just hit a wall when working on something? I was feeling that in some sense
I was trying to do what academics call a literature review, where you read everything on
the subject and come up with a sort of annotated bibliography, a sense of the current state of
research in your area. That is good and potentially valuable, but it feels remote, not anything
that really lives inside you, and its certainly not what a Chicago a cappella concert is. What
kept eluding me was a first-hand sense of connection between the synagogue music that I
knew and the Broadway tunes that Ive come to love. I started to feel (and wish) that, if one
little thread could somehow actually connect synagogue music and American Songbook
music inside me, it would be enough.
Then something magical happened, around the middle of June. I truly cannot say what
precipitated it. It could have been any number of things: going to synagogue more often to
say Kaddish for my dad, or a critical mass of musical material swimming around in my head,
or just enough simmering time to be able to see the forest for the trees; but in any case, Ill
never forget it. I was driving back from the park here in Downers Grove, where I walk my
dogs almost every afternoon; the dogs were flopped in the back seat, and I was taking the
road home that goes up a big hill and then back down, with no stop signs or traffic lights. For
some stubborn reason, I wasnt willing to settle for the opinion of others that the song My
Funny Valentine has no Jewish connection. I was searching for a melody from the cantorial
repertoire that I sing on the High Holidays at Rodfei Zedeksomething that had the same
intense depth of feeling that I feel in My Funny Valentineand it hit me. I could make
something workI sang it in the car. My heart leapt for joy, really for the first time since my
dad had died. I came home and wrote down what I had heard. Youll get to hear it too. Then
I found another one, where an example from Jack Gottlieb connected a Yiddish song by
Abraham Goldfaden with a beloved tune by Irving Berlin. That too filled my brain and had
me singing the musical connection to Sandy as I bopped around the house.
*******
I am sure that there are many more stories about the birth of this genre, and anyone from
Matt and John Trotter to the singers surely can tell you their versions. Ive now told you
some of my own journey, from Torah service to Second Avenue to Broadway to Chicago
a cappella. I hope that it illuminates in some way the journey that you take with us as we
present this music to you on the stage. Thank you so much for being here, and enjoy the
show.
Jonathan Miller
Founder and Artistic Director

Chicago a cappella

N O T E S O N T H E M U S I C B Y J O N AT H A N M I L L E R
Trad. Liturgy: Torah Blessings 1
Whenever the Torah is read in synagogue, this blessing is chanted before each section. It
is an honor to go up for an aliyah (the word aliyah literally means going up). Bar and bat
mitzvah students learn these and other blessings as well as their assigned Torah portion.
Barchu et Adonai hamvorach.

Praise Adonai, the Blessed One

Baruch Adonai hamvorach lolam va-ed.

Praised be Adonai, who is blessed for ever and ever.

Baruch Atah Adonai, elo-heinu melech

ha-olam,

Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the

universe,

Asher bachar banu mi-kol ha-amim vnatan

lanu et Torah-to.

Who has chosen us from among all the nations, and

given us the Torah.

Baruch Atah Adonai, noten ha-Torah.

Blessed are You, Adonai, Provider of the Torah.

Gershwin/Heyward, arr. Ed Lojeski: It Aint Necessarily So (with Torah Blessings 2)

After the Torah portion is read, there is a concluding blessing. We have paired it with one
of the great tunes from Porgy and Bess. Were not the first people to notice the similarities
between these two tunes. The Gershwins and Dubose Heyward, when writing Porgy and
Bess, used some irony in taking the Torah-blessing melody and putting it into a song that
mocks religion, saying, The things that youre lible to read in the Bible / It aint necessarily
so.

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Jewish Roots of Broadway

N O T E S O N T H E M U S I C B Y J O N AT H A N M I L L E R

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Baruch Atah Adonai, elo-heinu melech

ha-olam,

Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the

universe,

asher natan lanu Torat emet,

Who has given us the Torah of truth,

vcha-yei olam nata bto-cheinu.

And implanted within us eternal life.

Baruch Atah Adonai, noten ha-Torah.

Blessed are You, Adonai, Provider of the Torah.

*******
Abe Schwartz and Hyman Priant, arr. Miller: Di Grine Kuzine
This theatrical song was hugely popular both inside and outside Yiddish music halls in the
early 1920s. As Neil Levin notes, the lyrics refer (in later verses) to the disillusionment felt
by immigrants, who fed on stories that American streets were paved with gold, who came
to this country only to endure sweatshop conditions. The popularity of the song gave Abe
Schwartzs career a large boost. The basic rhythmic profile and overall feel are remarkably
similar to Swanee, George Gershwins first and biggest-ever hit song.
Yiddish - H. Prizant

English - trans. J. Miller

Tsu mir iz gekumen a kuzine

Sheyn vi gold iz zi geven, di grine
Bekelakh vi royte pomerantsn
Fiselakh vos betn zich tsum tantsn.

A girl cousin arrived, a greenhorn,

Beautiful as gold she was
Cheeks red as oranges
Tiny feet, just made for dancing.

Herelakh vi zaydn-veb gelokte

Tseyndelekh vi perelakh getokte
Eygelakh vi himl-bloy in friling
Lipelekh vi karshelekh a tsviling.

Her hair was as a silk web

Her teeth as pearls on a string
Her eyes, blue as skies in spring
Her lips, just like twin cherries.

Nisht gegangen iz zi, nor geshprungen

Nisht geret hot zi, nor gezungen
Lebedik un freylekh yede mine Ot aza geven iz mayn kuzine.

She did not walk, she leapt

She did not talk, she sang.
Her every feature joyful and gay Such a one was my cousin.

Un azoy ariber tseyner yorn

Fun mayn kuzine iz a tel gevorn
Peides hot zi vokhenlang geklibn
Biz fun ir iz gornisht nit geblibn.

But, as the years passed by

My cousin went downhill
From working hard week after week
Nothing remained but a wreck.

Haynt az ikh bagegen mayn kuzine

Un ikh freg ir: Smakhtsu epes, Grine?
Ziftst zi op, un khleyen in ir mine:
Brenen zol Colombus es medine!

Today, as I meet her in the street

And I ask: Hows everything, Greenhorn?
She just sighs and I read in her eye:
To hell with Columbus paradise!

George Gershwin and Irving Caesar, arr. Miller: Swanee

This famous song was written in 1919, when George Gershwin was 20 years old, for a New
York City-based review called Demi-Tasse. The song, partly intended as a parody of Stephen
Fosters Swanee River, was a big production number in the revue, with kicking showgirls
and such, but it never caught on until after Gershwin mentioned the song to Al Jolson at a
party. Jolson recorded the song the next year, and it took off like lightning. It was broadcast
on radio and sold a million copies of sheet music and two million records, enabling
Gershwin to concentrate future efforts on theatre and film music instead of one-off pop
songs.

Swanee is an example of the minor verse / major chorus quality of many of the Jewish
Broadway composers. Yiddish song was pretty unrelentingly minor, and non-Jewish songs
were mostly major; this was a new hybrid that kept a slightly heart-tugging feel while also
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providing a happy ending happy endings, as well see later, being a significant part of the
20th-century American worldview.
*******
Harold Arlen/Ted Koehler/Johnny Mercer, arr. Page: Get Happy / Ac-cen-tu-ate the
Positive
The emerging sense of an American Dream where old histories could be thrown off,
problems could be forgotten, and anything is possible was a contrast from Old-World
attitudes. Few people were better champions of having a good attitude than the first
generation of American-Jewish songwriters. The American Dream is captured vividly
in these two songs, woven into a mini-medley by the ever-inventive Robert Page, one of
the iconic choral directors in American musical history, who is director emeritus of the
Mendelssohn Club and professor emeritus at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
Sammy Fain and Irving Kahal, arr. Darmon Meader: Ill Be Seeing You
George Gershwin and Ira, arr. Kevin Kelley: Swonderful
George Gershwin and Ira, arr. Steve Zegree: Embraceable You
Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons, arr. Patrick Sinozich: All of Me
These four songs help us to appreciate the inventiveness of the Jewish lyricists who penned
mainstream popular songs. They eschewed Yiddish and reveled in the delights of English.
Their lyrics are subtle and sophisticated, humorous and charming, and they helped to define
the American mindset of their own era, which we also inherit. Let the lyrics charm you;
listen for the rhythms, rhymes, assonance and alliteration in the poetry; and experience
how the composers worked with the superb sonic materialmade of wordsthat they were
given.
*******
George and Ira Gershwin and Dubose Heyward, arr. Roderick Williams: Summertime
In October 1935, Porgy and Bess made its Broadway debut, after an initial run in Boston
during which many cuts were made to shorten and tighten the overall flow. It ran for 126
performances on Broadway and then went on tour.
There are several angles to the Jewish roots of Porgy and Bess. The work owes much to the
pioneering example of Show Boat, which dealt with racial issues in a way that mainstream
Broadway audience had never seen onstage. In terms of actual musical material, theres no
exact source that we can trace, but there are several lines of thought that help to paint the
picture. Jack Gottlieb has noted some melodic parallels to Yiddish song in the Summertime
tune (as well as echoes of the spiritual Motherless Child). Conductor Michael Tilson
Thomas, a descendant son of the renowned Thomashevsky family of Yiddish theatre, notes
the interplay between major and minor melodic inflections in freygish tunes, Chasidic song,
cantorial chant, and African-American music, including blues. The poignant flatted note on
dont you cry is a perfect example of this stylistic hybrid.
Kern/Hammerstein, arr. Nicholas Hare: Cant Help Lovin Dat Man
Judging by the legacy of lyrics that he left us, Oscar Hammerstein II seems to have had a
compassionate heart. Many of his musicalsShow Boat, The Sound of Music, South Pacific,
The King and Itackle difficult social issues that were mostly being ignored by the rest
of Broadway. This is one of the great songs from Show Boat, which dealt head-on with an
interracial love relationship. Julie, the character who sings the song in the show, is passing
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as white, though she is really a light-skinned African-American married to a white husband,

violating the states law against such unions.
*******
Abraham Goldfaden, arr. J. Trotter: Rozhinkes mit Mandlen
This plaintive melody would have been heard all over the Jewish sections of New York City
for decades around the year 1900. It was featured in the 1880 musical Shulamis by Abraham
Goldfaden, one of the greats of the Yiddish Theatre on Second Avenue. To this day, it is a
common lullaby among the Ashkenazim in Europe, and it has taken on the character of
a folksong, though it was written in America for a particular production. Jane Seymour
famously sang it at the end of the film War and Remembrance.
Yiddish - folk song

English - trans. J. Trotter

In dem Beis-Hamikdosh
In a vinkl cheyder
Zitst di almone, bas-tsion, aleyn
Ihr ben yochidle yideln vigt zi keseider
Un zingt im tzum shlofn a ledeleh sheyn.
Ai-lu-lu

In the Temple,
in a corner of a room,
Sits the widowed daughter of Zion, alone.
She rocks her only son, Yidele, to sleep
With a sweet lullaby.
Ai-lu-lu

Unter Yideles vigele

Shteyt a klor-vays tsigele
Dos tsigele iz geforn handlen
Dos vet zayn dayn baruf
Rozhinkes mit mandlen
Slof-zhe, Yidele, shlof.

Under Yideles cradle

Stands a small white goat.
The goat travelled to sell his wares
This will be Yideles calling, too.
Trading in raisins and almonds.
Sleep, Yidele, sleep.

In dem lidl mayn kind,

Lign fil nevues
Az du vest amol zayn tsezeyt oyf der velt.
A soykher vest du zayn fun ale tvues,
Un vest fardinen in dem oykh fil gelt.
Ai-lu-lu

In that song, my child, lie many wonders,

When you will at some time
Be scattered throughout the world
A merchant of all grains,
Earning from your trade a lot of money.
Ai-lu-lu

Un az du vest raykh yidele.

Zolzt du zikh dermonen in dem lidele.
Rozhinkes mit mandlen,
Dos vet zayn dayn baruf.
Yidele vet alts ding handlen,
Shlof-zhe, Yidele, shlof.

And when you become rich, Yidele,

Remind yourself of this lullaby.
Raisins and almonds.
This will be your calling.
Youll be a merchant of all wares,
But for now, sleep, Yidele, sleep.

Irving Berlin, arr. Joseph Jennings: Blue Skies

Jack Gottlieb notes that the some of the melodic contours of Blue Skies come right out of
Rozhinkes mit Mandlen: Blue skies, smilin at me is basically the same as Unter Yideles
vigele, and Nothing but blue skies do I see is the same contour as Vigt si keseyder un
zingt im Theres even a Goldfanden tune with the same essential shape as Never saw the
sun shining so bright. As Jack Gottlieb notes, theres no evidence that Berlin was intending
to refer to Jewish sources, but one can imagine all sorts of Jewish melodic fragments lying
around Berlins head. Also, as its often said about songwriting, theres really nothing new
under the sun; its all a question of how you put things together.
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HOLIDAYS A CAPPELLA

Celebrate the holiday season a cappella style, as Chicago a cappella performs a new collection of
familiar and new music, from traditional carols and Renaissance works, to Chanukah melodies,
popular holiday favorites and Christmas spirituals.
Chicago (Hyde Park)
Sunday, Nov. 29, 4:00 pm
Rockefeller Memorial Chapel

Oak Park
Sunday, Dec. 13, 4:00 pm
Pilgrim Congregational Church

Chicago (Gold Coast)

Friday, Dec. 4, 7:30 pm
Fourth Presbyterian Church

Naperville
Friday, Dec. 18, 8:00 pm
Wentz Concert Hall

Chicago (Lincoln Park)

Sunday, Dec. 6, 3:30 pm
St. Clement Church

Evanston
Saturday, Dec. 19, 8:00 pm
Nichols Concert Hall

SHAKESPEARE A CAPPELLA

The words of William Shakespeare are illuminated through innovative and artful a cappella music
as we commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Bards death. Actors from Chicago Shakespeare
Theater join us on stage to enhance the drama, as sonnets and soliloquies are set to music by
brilliant composers from around the world.
Evanston
Saturday, Feb. 13, 8:00 pm
Nichols Concert Hall

Oak Park
Saturday, Feb. 20, 8:00 pm
Pilgrim Congregational Church

Chicago (Hyde Park)

Sunday, Feb. 14, 4:00 pm
Rockefeller Memorial Chapel

Naperville
Sunday, Feb. 21, 4:00 pm
Wentz Concert Hall

THE HISTORY OF ROCK AND SOUL

For Decades, Radio Hall-of Famer Terri Hemmert has taught a college course called The History of
Rock and Soul, and now we bring it to musical life. From Louis Jordan and Elvis to Motown, gospel,
and R&B, well trace the path of the 20th centurys popular music, with Terri herself as onstage narrator
and guide. This fascinating musical history lesson will be the most fun youve ever had in school!
Oak Park
Friday, April 15, 8:00 pm
Pilgrim Congregational Church

Chicago
Sunday, April 17, 4:00 pm
Logan Center for the Arts

Evanston
Saturday, April 16, 8:00 pm
Nichols Concert Hall

Naperville
Sunday, April 24, 4:00 pm
Wentz Concert Hall

Dont Delay - Subscribe Today!

In the lobby Online at chicagoacappella.org Call (773) 281-7820

Jewish Roots of Broadway

11

HELP US MEET THIS CHALLENGE!

Chicago a cappella has received an exciting challenge from the Gaylord and
Dorothy Donnelley Foundation. This season, the Foundation will match
any new gifts, increased gifts, or returning gifts up to $25,000!
If you have never made a gift to Chicago a cappella, your
contribution will be matched dollar-for-dollar!
If you made a gift last season, any increase of your
gift this year will be matched dollar-for-dollar!
If you gave in previous seasons but not last year, your entire gift will
be matched dollar-for-dollar!
This is an incredible opportunity, and we need your help to make it happen.
To help us with this challenge:
get a donation envelope in the lobby
or donate online at chicagoacappella.org.

Thank you for your generous support!

N O T E S O N T H E M U S I C B Y J O N AT H A N M I L L E R

c o n t.

Abraham Goldfaden, Mordecai Rivesman, arr. Jonathan Miller: Haynt iz Purim, Brider
Irving Berlin, arr. Deke Sharon: Steppin Out
Purim is one of the most joyous festivals in the Jewish year. It occurs in midwinter, between
Chanukah and Passover. On Purim, we read the entire scroll (the whole megillah) of the
Book of Esther. Part of the fun is using noisemakers (greggers) to drown out the name of
Haman, the villain in the Esther story, every time it is read. And how appropriate that
this tune was penned by another Mordecai (Esthers father in the Purim story), Mordecai
Rivesman, with help from Abraham Goldfaden.
And what popular song seems to rise straight from this Yiddish melody? One of Irving
Berlins greatest hits, Steppin Out, thats what! To connect the two songs, our own Jonathan
Miller has put together a musical scene that shows one way Berlin might have taken the
Purim song in 1948 and turned it into a hit for Easter Parade. (There are even melodic
parallels between the second half of Haynt iz Purim and Puttin on the Ritz). Jonathan
has given a swing element to the Yiddish song, which makes the distance between the two
tunes very small indeed.

12

Chicago a cappella

N O T E S O N T H E M U S I C B Y J O N AT H A N M I L L E R

c o n t.

Yiddish - M. Rivesman

English - trans. J. Miller

Haynt iz Purim, brider

es iz der yon-tev groys.
Lomir zingen lider
un geyn fun hoyz tsu hoyz.

Today is Purim, brothers

it is a big festival.
Lets sing songs
and go from house to house.

Lahkt, kinderlach, lahkt

a yon-tevl makh,
kindskinder gedenken dem nes.
Zingt, brider-lekh, zingt,
tantst freylech un shpringt,
dem tayern tog nit fargest.

Laugh, children, laugh

make it a little holiday,
generations remember the miracle.
Sing, brothers, sing,
dance happily and jump,
this dear day do not forget.

*******
Trad. Yom Kippur (Nilah) liturgy: Ptach lanu shaar
Rodgers & Hart, arr. Bob Krogstad: My Funny Valentine
The Jewish minor key isnt always sad. It can be glorious and grand. At the end of Yom
Kippur, the holiest of Jewish holidays, there is a final service called Nilah, during which
we petition the Almighty to keep the gates of heaven open just a bit longer, so that we may
be inscribed and sealed in the Book of Life for the coming year. This majestic melody is a
moving petition, including a plea for forgiveness. The melody rises strongly toward the end,
as the plea becomes more urgent.
Many people have written that My Funny Valentine isnt Jewish. Perhaps not, but we have
found one possible connection; youll hear the hint of it toward the end of the cantorial
chant.
Ptach lanu shaar, beit nilat shaar,
Ki fana yom

Open for us the gate, at this time of the locking of the

gate, now that the day is waning.

Hayom yifneh, haShemesh yavo vyifneh

navoah sharecha

The day is past, the sun is setting,

we will enter your gates.

Ana, Eil na, sa na, slach na, mchal na

Chamal na, rachem na, kapeir nakvosh chet
vavon.

We plead, O God, we beseech You:

Forgive, pardon, have pity, grant us atonement,
subdue our transgression and iniquity.

*******
Rodgers and Hammerstein / Stephen Sondheim: Carefully Taught / Children Will Listen
This medley draws attention to the powerful mentoring that Stephen Sondheim received
from his surrogate father, Oscar Hammerstein II. When he was ten, Stephen Sondheim
befriended James Hammerstein, Oscars son. Sondheims parents were breaking up at the
time, and Oscar graciously mentored Sondheim for years. There is a great story of Sondheim
bringing a musical that he had written at boarding school for Hammersteins feedback, not
revealing who had composed it. Hammersteins reply was that it was the worst thing hed ever
seenbut if you want to know why its terrible, Ill tell you. The two spent the afternoon
discussing the work, and Sondheim later said: In that afternoon I learned more about
songwriting and the musical theater than most people learn in a lifetime.
Here is a medley of one of the best-loved songs from Rodgers & Hammersteins South Pacific
and Sondheims Into the Woods, respectively. Carefully Taught was criticized for being too
blunt and controversial about the shaping of prejudice. The writers risked censorship when
South Pacific first toured the southern United States, because the musical was said to justify
interracial marriage, but they stuck by their work and eventually prevailed. Children Will
Listen is a moral warning from Into the Woods, Sondheims inventive mashup of several
traditional fairy tales, in which the Witch warns parents to pay attention to what they say.
Jewish Roots of Broadway

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N O T E S O N T H E M U S I C B Y J O N AT H A N M I L L E R

c o n t.

*******
More from Rodgers and Hammerstein:
arr. Patrick Sinozich: Getting to Know You / Surrey with the Fringe on Top
arr. Kirby Shaw: If I Loved You
arr. Patrick Sinozich: Dames! (a medley)
We continue to celebrate the spirit, lyrics and music of Rodgers and Hammerstein. Getting to
Know You comes from the King and I, a groundbreaking study in cross-cultural understanding.
Hammerstein struggled with the 1944 novel by Margaret Landon, failing to see how it could
inspire a plot for a musical, but he created a subplot with Tuptim and Lun Tha, two secondary
characters whose love could be expressed (which Annas and the Kings could not) but not
fulfilled, and Rodgers gave rich vocal material to both of those characters. Surrey is from
Oklahoma!, a musical that some said had no business being successful because it had no big
stars, no scantily-clad showgirls and no gags or bad jokes. However, it ran for five years on
Broadway, shattering all previous records. If I Loved You is a gem from Carousel, a delightful
use of the subjunctive, where Julie Jordan tells Billy Bigelow that she indeed could marry him,
if I loved you. The final piece in this set is a brilliant combination of several R & H songs about
women, created by our music director emeritus, Patrick Sinozich.
*******
Sondheim, arr. Robert Page: Send in the Clowns
One of Sondheims strengths is the way he has stretched the definition of musical theatre to
include the messiness and confusion of contemporary lifeespecially of relationships. In
the show A Little Night Music, the character Desire has just been rejected by Fredrik after
suggesting that they could be together permanently. While Desire ordinarily can fire off witty
and blithe dialogue, she finds herself utterly incapable of doing so in this situation. The result
is this touching song, full of vulnerability and guilelessness, remorse and compassion. Graham
Wolfe has written that this song is an exemplary manifestation of Sondheims musico-dramatic
complexity, his inclination to write music that performs drama.
Rodgers and Hammerstein, arr. Patrick Sinozich: So Long, Farewell
We bid adieu with this beloved song from The Sound of Music. This pair of Jewish songwriters
took on the job of telling a story that takes place during the Nazi eraa gutsy move. This show
was the final triumph of the Rodgers-and-Hammerstein team; nine months after the shows
premiere (with Theodore Bikel as the original Captain von Trapp), Hammerstein died. The
Sound of Music generated more than three million dollars in sales before opening in New York,
at that time the largest advance sale in the history of the Broadway theater. During the shows
first two years, there was never an empty seat in the house.

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Chicago a cappella

FREE TOTE BAG

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Jewish Roots of Broadway

15

T H A N K YO U
Marsha Bryan Edelman
Carol Serber, West Suburban Temple Har
Ellyn Caruso, Caruso PR
Zion
Cantor Stewart Figa
Patrick Sinozich
Jack Gottlieb (zl)
Joseph Slade, K.A.M. Isaiah Israel
Nicholas Hare
Judith Tugendreich
Bill Hoban
Douglas VanHouten and Dennis Northway,
Joan Hutchinson and Joycelin Fowler, Pilgrim
Grace Episcopal Church
Congregational Church
Mark Lubbock
Sue Prousa and Rabbi Marc Rudolph,
Congregation Beth Shalom
Fiona Queen, Music Institute of Chicago
Very special thanks to outgoing board member Howard Hush, for his
nine years of leadership, dedication, and service to our creative enterprise.
Thanks also to The Saints, Volunteers for the Performing Arts, for providing our house staff.
For information visit www.saintschicago.org or call 773-529-5510.

SAVE THE DATE

for Chicago a cappellas Gala concert,
Good Vibrations: Music of the Beach Boys

Saturday, May 14, 2016

The Winter Garden at the Harold Washington Library
400 S. State Street
Join us for a great evening of music as Chicago a cappella performs unforgettable classics by
the Beach Boys, celebrating the 50th anniversary of their iconic sound. Youll enjoy a light
dinner buffet and be inspired by our talented High School Intern ensemble. All proceeds
benefit Chicago a cappellas educational and artistic programming.

Tribute Award: Michael Mitzen, Board President, Kol Zimrah

Friend of the Year: Robert B. Linn
Information: chicagoacappella.org or (773) 281-7820
16

Chicago a cappella

Chicago a cappella Outreach

Chicago a cappellas Educational Outreach Programsstrive to promote and
improve the life-long performance, understanding and appreciation of a
cappella vocal music through programming, mentorship and collaboration
with schools and community organizations in Chicago and beyond.

Youth Choral Festival

The Youth Choral Festival is a day of workshops,

rehearsals, discussions and mentoring for area
high school ensembles. The students work with
Chicago a cappellas artists, and the festival
culminates in a concert featuring all the groups
and Chicago a cappella. The fifth annual Youth
Choral Festival will be held on November 7, 2015, at the Logan Center for the
Arts on the University of Chicago campus.

High School Internship Program

Our High School Internship Program

gives students a full year of musical and
administrative training and mentoring with
Chicago a cappellas singers, directors, board
members, and arts administrators. Selected
through a comprehensive audition process,
nine talented and motivated students are serving as Chicago a cappella
High School Interns in 2015-16, forming their own a cappella ensemble and
gaining skills to further their musical ambitions.

Customized Outreach

Other programs, such as master classes, choral

residencies, and youth concerts, are presented
by artists from Chicago a cappellas professional
roster of singers and directors, and are customized
for the specific needs of each organization.

Learn more at
chicagoacappella.org/outreach.
Jewish Roots of Broadway

17

A B O U T C H I C AG O A C A P P E L L A
Claudia Divis, President
Gary Belkin, Vice President
David Perlman, Secretary
Stephen Shaw, Treasurer
William K. Flowers
Helen C. Gagel
Joyce Grenis

Board of Directors

Robert B. Linn
Jennifer Marling
James G. Massie
Monroe Roth
Maria T. Suarez
David G. Thompson
Barbara Volin

Staff
Founder & Artistic Director......................................... Jonathan Miller
Executive Director...................................................Matthew Greenberg
Box Office & Concert Manager............................................Deb Hoban
Marketing/Operations Coordinator.................................Spencer Blair
Education Outreach Coordinator.................................. Susan Schober
Production & Operations Intern...........................................Jordan Tan
Marketing Intern.............................................................. Taylor Seaberg
Music Librarian.........................................................Ellen Marchessault
Artistic Roster
Jonathan Miller..............................................................Artistic Director
John William Trotter...................................... Principal Music Director

(Jewish Roots of Broadway, Shakespeare a cappella)
Benjamin Rivera............. Guest Music Director (Holidays a cappella)
Patrick Sinozich................................................... Guest Music Director

(The History of Rock and Soul)
Paul Langford.......................Guest Music Director (Good Vibrations)
Megan Bell......................................... Soprano (Holidays; Shakespeare)
Ryan Cox....................................................................Bass (Shakespeare)
Matthew Dean......................................................... Tenor (Shakespeare)
Carl Frank.........................Bass (Jewish Roots; Holidays; Shakespeare)
Ace Gangoso......................................... Tenor (Holidays; Rock & Soul)
Matt Greenberg......................................................... Bass (Rock & Soul)
Garrett Johannsen........Tenor (Jewish Roots; Holidays; Rock & Soul)
Kathryn Kamp... Soprano (Jewish Roots; Shakespeare; Rock & Soul)
Joe Labozetta................... Bass (Jewish Roots; Holidays; Rock & Soul)
Trevor Mitchell.............................. Tenor (Jewish Roots; Shakespeare)
Wilbur Pauley..........................................................Bass (Entire season)
Cari Plachy............... Soprano (Jewish Roots; Holidays; Rock & Soul)
Sarah Ponder....................................................... Mezzo (Entire Season)
Emily Price...........................................................Mezzo (Entire season)

18

Chicago a cappella

BIOGR APHIES
Jonathan Miller,
Founder and Artistic
Director
Since founding
Chicago a cappella
in 1993, Jonathan
Miller has guided
the ensemble through more than 130
concerts, seven commercial CD releases,
and thirty choral-music demo CDs. His
international accolades include the 2008
Louis Botto Award for Innovative Action
and Entrepreneurial Zeal from Chorus
America. His skills at presenting a wide
spectrum of music are a combined product
of his singers ear, scholars training, and
composers temperament. He was fortunate
to be exposed at an early age to a wide
range of music by a remarkable group of
mentors, including Christopher Moore,
Lena McLin, Max Janowski, Joseph Brewer,
Howard Mayer Brown, Richard Proulx,
John Nygro, and Anne Heider. He was a
founding member of His Majesties Clerkes
(now Bella Voce) and for ten years was
bass soloist with the Harwood Early Music
Ensemble. Eager to learn research tools for
repertoire, Jonathan pursued musicology,
earning his doctorate at UNC-Chapel Hill
while remaining an active performer. Since
returning to the Chicago area, Jonathan
has expanded his role as a conductor and
composer. He has led the volunteer choir at
Unity Temple and Heritage Chorale in Oak
Park and has served several other choirs as
clinician and coach. He has written more
than fifty choral works in a variety of genres
and languages; his music has been sung
at venues including St. Patricks Cathedral
in New York City and the Pentagon. He
conducted his piece The Lincoln Memorial
at the Lincoln Memorial on the 200th
anniversary weekend of Lincolns birth.
Since 1998, Jonathan has taken a growing
leadership role in Chicago-area Jewish
music, leading the high-holiday choir and
occasional Kabbalat Shabbat services at
Congregation Rodfei Zedek in Hyde Park;

he now serves there as high-holiday cantor.

He is principal guest conductor of Kol
Zimrah, the Jewish Community Chorus
of Metro Chicago, and holds as a great
honor his role as publisher of the late Max
Janowskis catalogue. Jonathan enjoys the
blessings of family and neighbors in the
woods of Downers Grove, where he loves
helping to maintain two shared vegetable
gardens.
John William Trotter,
Principal Music Director
John William Trotter
is a rapidly rising
conductor on todays
concert music stage. His
work from the podium
has been recognized internationally
through numerous prizes, grants, and guest
conducting invitations. To date, he has
conducted more than a dozen professional
orchestras and choirs in seven countries.
Trotter earned the Doctor of Musical Arts
degree in Conducting from the University
of Michigan (Ann Arbor). He was awarded
honors from the American Choral Directors
Association and the Canada Council for the
Arts before joining the Vancouver Chamber
Choir, Canadas most active professional
choir, as a full-time conductor in 2009.
Over three seasons, he led the ensemble
in more than twenty-five performances
throughout Canada, Taiwan, and Japan. His
performance of the Vivaldi Magnificat was
hailed by the Vancouver Sun as a radiant
performance of this work that overstated
nothing and brought out all of its freshness
and charm. In 2011, his season-opening
concert with the ensemble was broadcast
nationally by CBC Radio. In the course of
his work with the professional ensemble,
Trotter became recognized for establishing
and enhancing education, outreach, and
engagement programs for composers,
conductors, singers, and audiences. In
2012, he was appointed to the Wheaton
College Conservatory of Music as Assistant
Jewish Roots of Broadway

19

BIOGR APHIES

c o n t.

roles include: Count Almaviva (Le Nozze

di Figaro), Doncairo (Carmen), Sid (Albert
Herring), Guglielmo (Cosi fan tutte), John
Brooke (Little Women), and Gianni Schicchi
(Gianni Schicchi). Also an active ensemble
singer, Mr. Frank performs with Chicago
a cappella, Music of the Baroque, Bach
Collegium-Ft. Wayne, The William Ferris
Chorale, Bella Voce, Schola Antiqua of
Chicago, and Musik Ekklesia. Mr. Frank
received his Masters degree from the
Matthew Greenberg,
University of Michigan and his Bachelors
Executive Director
degree from DePauw University. He
A founding ensemble
currently resides in Chicago with his wife,
member of Chicago a
mezzo-soprano, Lindsey Adams and their
cappella, Matt has served dog Fiona.
as the organizations
Executive Director
Garrett Johannsen,
since 1995. Combining a career in arts
tenor
management with that of a professional
Garrett Johannsen is
singer, he has been an active member of
proud to be singing with
the Chicago arts community for over 25
Chicago a cappella! He
years. Matt has led workshops for Chorus
grew up in Schiller Park,
Americas national conference and for the
IL and graduated from
Arts and Business Council of Chicago. He
The Chicago College of Performing Arts at
has sung with Chicago a cappella since
Roosevelt University. Over the years, he has
the groups inception in 1993, and has
sung for the Lyric Opera Chorus, Chicago
performed in musical theater and with many Symphony Chorus, Grant Park Chorus,
of Chicagos other leading choral ensembles, William Ferris Chorale, and Bella Voce.
including the Chicago Symphony Chorus,
Operatic roles include; Spalanzani / Les
Music of the Baroque, William Ferris
contes dHoffmann, Rev. Parris (Cover) / The
Chorale, and the Grant Park Chorus.
Crucible, The Realtor / The Yellow Wallpaper,
Nanki-Poo / The Mikado, The Lover / Amelia
Carl Frank, bass
Goes to the Ball and Lucano / The Coronation
Carl Frank, baritone, has of Poppea. He has appeared as soloist with
received praise for his
the International Chamber Artists / Mozarts
compelling, spirited
Requiem, the Elmhurst Choral Union &
and charming
Waukegan Symphony / Handels Messiah.
performances of a wide
Garrett has recently ventured into the
range of repertoire
wonderful art of cabaret performance with
spanning opera and oratorio. Mr. Frank
three shows last year alone. He has also been
has appeared with the Florentine Opera
invited back to sing for his favorite sports
Company and Arbor Opera Theater, and
team, The Chicago White Sox, four times.
been a featured soloist with the Milwaukee
Follow Garrett at garrettjohannsen.com.
Symphony Orchestra, the Elgin Symphony,
the Community Chorus of Detroit, and
the Lakeview Symphony. Favorite operatic
Professor, where he teaches conducting
and leads the Wheaton College Concert
Choir, the Conservatorys select SATB
ensemble. Trotters current musical activities
range from traditional choral/orchestral
repertoire, new music, jazz, and film score
recording to work as a consultant, clinician,
writer, speaker, composer/arranger, and
leader of improvisation workshops. (www.
johnwilliamtrotter.com)

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Chicago a cappella

BIOGR APHIES

c o n t.

Kathryn Kamp,
soprano
Kathryn (an Iowa
native) has appeared as
soloist at the Ravinia
Festival, Orchestra Hall
at Chicago Symphony
Center, Grant Park Music Festival, the
Peninsula Music Festival, and Bach Dancing
and Dynamite Society, among others.
Favorite works include Mozart Requiem;
Haydn Creation and Dixit Dominus; Handel
(Messiah); Poulenc (Gloria) and Brahms
(Requiem); Mozarts Despina (Cosi fan
tutte); many Gilbert and Sullivan ingnues
(Patience, Rose Maybud, Yum-Yum and
Mabel); and anything by Steven Sondheim
(especially Anne Egerman and Mrs.
Segstrom of A Little Night Music). She has
also directed over 15 opera and operetta
productions. Free time is spent on two
feet (running), two wheels (biking), in the
dirt (gardening), and hanging out with
her husband Erich. She enjoys the unique
vocal demands and wonderful colleagues of
Chicago a cappella.
Joe Labozetta, bass
Now in his fifth season
with Chicago a cappella,
baritone Joe Labozetta
is thrilled to be singing
with such esteemed
colleagues. Ever the
ensemble musician, Joe has an instrumental
background as well. Although perfectly
content at the piano and organ, or holding a
guitar or bass, choral singing is what he most
enjoys. Starting as a boy soprano with the
Grammy-recognized Ragazzi Boys Chorus
in northern California, he has continued to
pursue every choral niche, no matter how
obscure or exotic. Stylistic interests include:
symphonic masterworks, Renaissance
polyphony, tight jazz harmonies, vocal
percussion, overtone-singing, and traditional
Georgian folksong. A graduate of DePaul

Universitys School of Music, Joe currently

holds the position of Director of Music at
St. Josaphat Church in the Lincoln Park
neighborhood of Chicago. When not
directing his own church choirs, composing
hymnody or flailing away on the pipe organ,
he regularly appears with Chicago-based
performing ensembles: Chicago Symphony
Chorus, Grant Park Chorus, William Ferris
Chorale, Bella Voce, Ensemble Alioni, The
Rookery, and Schola Antiqua.
Trevor Mitchell, tenor
Best known for his
work in oratorio and
early music, Trevor
Mitchell sings a wide
range of classical music.
Recently a critic wrote,
Simply the most uniquely beautiful and
easily produced tenor instrument most
people will ever hear. The past season,
audiences heard Mr. Mitchell in Bachs
B-Minor Mass and Cantata # 214, Haydns
Die Jahreszeiten, Bachs St. Matthew and
St. John Passion, Telemanns Cantata # 161,
Handels Messiah, Mozarts Requiem and
recitals. Scheduled works this season include
Bachs Magnificat, Actus Tragicus, Ein feste
Burg, Christmas Oratorio and B-Minor
Mass, Telemanns Cantata # 161, Handels
Messiah, Mozarts Requiem, Schuberts
Der Hirt auf dem Felsen, a recording of
some Mozarts Coronation Mass masses as
well as recitals. This fall Mr. Mitchell will
tour 5 cities in Italy as tenor soloist with
a concluding performance at the Vatican
City. Known for his superb musicianship
and interpretive skills, Mr. Mitchell, though
concentrated in early music, is equally at
ease in other musical periods. A native of
Chicago, Mr. Mitchells singing engagements,
both as a soloist and an ensemble member,
have taken him virtually all over the U.S. as
well as Italy, England, Austria, Ukraine and
other places in Europe. Mr. Mitchell is a
regular soloist at St. John Cantius in Chicago,
Jewish Roots of Broadway

21

BIOGR APHIES

c o n t.

a member of the professional 9-voice singing

ensemble, Chicago a cappella and divides his
time between it and solo engagements.
Wilbur Pauley, bass
Bass Wilbur Pauley
is honored to join
Chicago a cappella
this season. A veteran
a cappellan, Wilbur
has participated in
the following unaccompanied recordings:
Wagners Das Liebesmahl der Apostel with
NYPhilarmonic under Boulez (essentially a
cappella: the orchestra plays for the last five
minutes of this thirty-minute work); Byrds
The Great Service with Saint Thomas Choir,
NY; Robbins Sacred Love (from the film
Dead Man Walking), the Dusing Singers,
NY; Leslees Avenue X (an a cappella do-wop
musical); De La Rues Missa Conceptio Tua,
Schola Antiqua of Chicago. Wilbur sang
as a soloist on two a cappella recordings:
Strauss Deutsche Motette with Musica
Sacra, NY, and Rautavaaras Vigilia with
Chicago Chorale. Wilbur has appeared in
operas at the Met, Salzburg, Carnegie Hall,
and seventeen seasons as a principal artist
at Lyric Opera. He has appeared twice on
Broadway. And his voice can be heard on
almost a dozen Disney film soundtracks
including: Beauty and the Beast, Enchanted
and Tangled. Wilbur lives in Hyde Park with
his family.
Cari Plachy, soprano
Soprano Cari Plachy is
enjoying splitting her
time between choral
and opera singing.
She has been seen
throughout the Midwest
with Opera for the Young, DuPage Opera
Theater, Light Opera Works and Bowen Park
Opera. Favorite roles include Mabel (Pirates
of Penzance), Yum-Yum (The Mikado),
Gretel (Hansel and Gretel), and Rosina
(The Barber of Seville.) Her choral work
22

Chicago a cappella

includes singing with the Chicago Symphony

Chorus. In 2008, she had an opportunity to
step out from the chorus and sing a solo in
Bruckners Psalm 150. The Chicago SunTimes recognized it as being a sparkling,
and aggressively sung solo. Cari received her
Bachelors degree in music education from
DePaul University. Since then, she has been
working with the education department of
the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, bringing
music to children all over Chicago. In
addition to her work in Chicago, Cari was
fortunate to bring her love of music to deaf
children at Childs Voice School in Wood
Dale. Currently, her days are mostly spent
playing mommy to her two little girls!
Sarah Ponder, mezzo
Sarah Ponder, mezzosoprano enjoys a busy
career as a soloist and
ensemble singer in
Chicago. Hailed as
Deeply expressive
(Chicago Sun Times) and a first-class
soloist (Chicago Classical Review), some of
Sarahs recent favorite performances include
two featured solo appearances with the
Grant Park Music Festival, starring as Julia
Child in Lee Hoibys one-woman opera,
Bon Apptit! and a rousing trio rendition
of Row, Row Your Boat with Yo-Yo Ma at
Childrens Memorial Hospital as part of her
ongoing work with the Citizen Musician
Initiative. Through her outreach at Chicago
Symphony Orchestra, Sarah has also
beguilingly (Chicago Tribune) performed
several solo concerts with famed Maestro
Riccardo Muti at the piano. A passionate
educator, Sarah holds a teaching position
at Loyola University and maintains a large
private studio in addition to supporting
young composers in workshops throughout
the city. She also recently finished recording
works from Carnegie Halls Lullaby Project
partnered with the CSO, assisting young
mothers to create original lullabies.

BIOGR APHIES

c o n t.

Emily Price, mezzo

Mezzo-soprano Emily
Price is a graduate
of Northwestern
University and enjoys
performing in opera,
choral and musical
theater productions. In Chicago she sings
with the Grant Park Chorus, Music of the
Baroque and Lyric Opera. Internationally,
she has performed in over 35 countries as a
soloist with the Voices of Baha International
Choir in venues such as Carnegie Hall,
the Vienna Konzerthaus, and the National

Theaters of Spain, Catalonia, and India. She

has also performed with the Czech National
Symphony, Budapest Symphony Orchestra,
and the Warsaw Philharmonic. Favorite
theater productions include the premiere
of RESPECT! A Musical Journey of Women
(Cuillo Center/CCPA) and Rona in The 25th
Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Drury
Lane Watertower). She can be heard on a
number of recordings, including The Voices
of Baha at Carnegie Hall, RESPECT! The
Original Cast Album, and a solo album to
be released entitled Songs of the Nightingale
with the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra.

A Tribute to Tom Huyck

William Thomas Huyck, a former board member, volunteer, subscriber, supporter,

and longtime friend to Chicago a cappella, passed away July 10 after a long illness.
A resident of Hyde Park since 1961, Tom was active at First Unitarian Church and
served on the board of the Chicago Childrens Choir. Among his many professional
achievements was a 1984 case which he argued before the Supreme Court. Tom and
his wife Margaret attended Chicago a cappellas very first concert, and Tom served
on our board from 2001 until 2007. His legal expertise, board experience, and great
collegiality were instrumental in building our organization, and following his board
service he continued providing assistance as a committee member and as a charter
member of The Accompanists. Toms legacy of service touched many, and we gratefully
dedicate this set of concerts to his memory.
Jewish Roots of Broadway

23

SUPPORT CHICAGO A CAPPELLA

Chicago a cappella is a creative enterprise devoted to furthering the art
of singing together without instruments. Founded in 1993, our classical
vocal ensemble of professional singers moves the heart and spirit with
fun, innovative concerts. Through our Chicago-area subscription series,
guest appearances both locally and on tour, CD recordings and broadcast
appearances, and educational and community outreach programming, we
strive to enrich lives through music.

DONATE
Make a gift today! Ticket sales cover only a portion of our costs. In
fact, as a not-for-profit organization, our single largest source of revenue
is the generosity of individual donors like you! Your tax-deductible gift
supports our educational and artistic work and allows it to thrive and
grow. Join our family of supporters by donating in the lobby, or online at
chicagoacappella.org/support.
VOLUNTEER
Give the gift of time and talent! We often seek volunteers for office
work and events, as well as for specialized skills such as music librarian,
photography and videography, and more. To receive periodic emails
about volunteer opportunities, contact Spencer Blair at sblair@
chicagoacappella.org or call 773-281-7820.
BOARD SERVICE
Our Board members are passionate individuals committed to guiding
Chicago a cappella to its next stage of success. Each brings a unique skill,
professional expertise, and personal and professional network, and all are
deeply supportive of our mission. To learn more, contact Matt Greenberg
at mgreenberg@chicagoacappella.org.
CONNECT
Sign up for our e-newsletter at chicagoacappella.org.
Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/chicagoacappella.

2936 N. Southport Ave., Room 226 | Chicago, IL 60657

Phone (773) 281-7820 | Fax (773) 435-6453
info@chicagoacappella.org | www.chicagoacappella.org
24

Chicago a cappella

DONORS

THE ACCOMPANISTS
Chicago a cappella is honored to acknowledge members of The Accompanists, a group of donors who make three-year pledges in support of Chicago
a cappellas educational and artistic programs.
Gary Belkin and Ed Tuder
Claudia and Timothy Divis
William and Jeanetta Flowers
Helen Gagel
Marina Gilman
Joyce Grenis and Michael Koen
Lawrence Hamilton and Ann Hicks
Hank and Becky Hartman
Howard and Jane Hush
Tom and Margaret Huyck
Murray Kopelow and Cathy Bachman
Leslie Lauderdale
Dan and Cari Levin
Robert and Fleury Linn
Jennifer Marling
Mary Miller
James G. and Christine Massie
Ruth Oberg
David and Carole Perlman
Bette Sikes and Joan Pederson
Monroe and Elaine Roth
Steve and Priscilla Shaw
Maria T. Suarez
Barbara Volin
Dee Dee Whipple

KEEP THE MUSIC GOING

You can help ensure the ongoing success of our musical and educational programs
by including Chicago a cappella as part of your estate plan. Your commitment
provides an opportunity for continued financial support without a current cost.
Including Chicago a cappella in your estate planning can be done through any
number of vehicles, including bequests, retirement plans, and life insurance.
For more information contact Matt Greenberg at (773) 281-7820 or
visit chicagoacappella.org/support.
Jewish Roots of Broadway

25

DONORS
We offer our deep gratitude to our contributors who made gifts and pledges to Chicago
a cappella since January 1, 2014. We regret that we are unable to list the many thoughtful
contributors who made gifts under $50. If this list contains an error, please accept our
apologies and kindly let us know so that we may correct it.

CORPORATE, FOUNDATION, AND GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

$10,000+
Paul M. Angell Family Foundation
The Arts Work Fund for Organizational
Development
The MacArthur Funds for Arts and Culture at the
Richard H. Driehaus Foundation
$5,000-$9,999
Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation
The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation
Illinois Arts Council Agency
The Saints
$1,000-$4,999
City of Chicago Dept. of Cultural Affairs and
Special Events
Community Bank of Oak Park River Forest
Oak Park Area Arts Council
Pierce Family Charitable Foundation
Up to $999
Amazon Smile Foundation
First Bank and Trust Evanston
Northern Trust

Press America
Staver Law Group
Matching Gifts
AT&T
Bank of America
JP Morgan Chase Foundation
Nuveen
Charles Schwab
In-Kind
Arts & Business Council of Chicago
AV Chicago
Caruso PR
Press America
Norbert Shimkus Designs
Shiraleah
Media Sponsors
91.5 WBEZ
Chicago Maroon
The Daily Herald
WFMT 98.7 FM

INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTORS
VISIONARY ($10,000 or more)
Anonymous
Joyce Grenis & Michael Koen
Lawrence Hamilton & Ann Hicks
Dee Dee Whipple
UNDERWRITER
($5,000 or more)
Howard & Jane Hush
David & Carole Perlman
Bette Sikes & Joan Pederson
Maria Suarez
Barbara Volin
GRAND BENEFACTOR
($2,500 or more)
Gary Belkin & Edward Tuder
Alex & Rosemary Cudzewicz
Claudia & Timothy Divis
Bill & Jeanetta Flowers
Hank & Becky Hartman
Louise Holland
26

Chicago a cappella

Murray Kopelow & Cathy

Bachman
Leslie Lauderdale
Bob & Fleury Linn
James G. & Christine Massie
Mary Miller
Ruth Oberg
Monroe & Elaine Roth
Steve & Priscilla Shaw
BENEFACTOR ($1,000 or
more)
Frank G. and Gertrude Dunlap
Fund
Helen Gagel
Marina Gilman
Joan & Guy Gunzberg
Terri Hemmert
Dick Hewitt
Tom & Margaret Huyck
Jay & Jackie Lauderdale
Dan & Cari Levin

Jennifer Marling
Alice & David Osberg*
Kris Swanson
David Thompson & Beatriz
Medwecky
Richard Tribble
Lance & Stephanie Wilkening
PATRON ($500 or more)
Anonymous
Barbara Butz & Robb Geiger
Jim & Ellen Dalton
Judith Grubner & Craig Jobson
Don & Joanna Gwinn*
Jim & Lois Hobart
Karen Hunt
Thomas & Linda Kamp
Douglas & Christine Kelner*
Jonathan Miller & Sandra Siegel
Miller
James & Kimberly Norman
Richard & Cindy Pardo

DONORS

c o n t.

Dale & Donna Prest

Doris Roskin
Norman & Patricia Sack
Carolyn Sacksteder*
Jennifer & Warren Schultz*
Quenten Schumacher & Steve
Geiermann
Ann Stevens*
John & Marie Trotter
Rockwell C. Vance
Frank Villella*
Joan Ward & Joe Chandler
Duain Wolfe

Susan Beal*
Marie Beckman
Marolin Bellefleur
Allan I & Jan L Bergman
Blumenthal & Associates, LLC
Jonathan Bourne
Norm & Mary Jo Bowers
Donna Brazulis
Arlene Bunis
Martrice Caldwell
Maria K Carrig
Judy Chernick
Dolores Cross
Theodore & Ann Doege
SPONSOR ($250 or more)
Ron & Judy Eshleman
Anonymous
Maurice Fantus and Judith A.
Tom Andrews
Aiello Philanthropic Fund in
Marguerite Bloch
honor of Helen Gagel
Paul Boulis
Terry Feiertag
Ann & Roger Cole
Dale & Marilyn Fitschen
Laura & Gary Cooper
Mark Greenberg
Howard & Judy Gilbert
Margo Lynn Hablutzel
Sanford Greenberg & Betsy
Irene Hansen
Perdue*
Ann Hewitt*
Robert Harris
Munn & Bonnie Heydorn
Anne Heider & Steve Warner
Terry Hodges
Nancy & Arthur Hirsch
Elizabeth J Hurtig
Susan Kamp
Joe Jania
Charles Katzenmeyer
Margaret & Gary Kachadurian
Rae Kendrick*
George Klippel
Shirlene Ward & Kevin Kipp*
John & Martha Kopczyk
Marina & Andrey Kuznetsov
Ivan & Jasna Lappin
Joan Davis Levin
Helen Lauderdale in honor of
Linda Mast & Bard Schatzman
Leslie Lauderdale
Corinne Morrissey
Lindy Lauderdale
Drs. Donald & Mary Ellen
Stephen & Lisbeth Lerner
Newsom*
Barbara & Martin Letscher
Dr. Kathleen & Joseph Occhipinti Tom Letscher In Honor of Marty
Diane Rasmussen
and Barbara Letscher
Ellen Romberg
Virginia & William Lloyd
Suzanne & Tim Schoolmaster
Susan & Joe Lunn
Jeri & Richard Skelton
Mary & Steven Magnani
Gordon & Evelyn Straw
Christine Nicole Martin
Gary & Beth Wainer
David Miller & Mary Ellen
Tom & Denise Whennen
McNish
Paul Winberg & Bruce Czuchna Cheryl & Tom McRoberts
Lori Yokoyama
Glenn Meade
Penny Yunker in Honor of Bill
Betsy Meisenheimer & Richard
Flowers
W. Westerfield
Robert & Laure Mineo
SUPPORTERS
Robert & Lois Moeller
($100 or more)
Alice E. Moss
Anonymous
Karen Murphy
Dr. Diane Altkorn
Vreni Naess*
Eula Lewis Anderson
Cathy & Paul Newport
Wendy Anker & Edward Reed
Carolyn & Peter Pereira
Dian & David Barth
Marianne & Bernard A Phelan
Carole Baumgart
Larry & Judy Pitts

John & Gail Polles

Jane Ann Prest
Mary Quigg
Lowell Sachnoff
Scott & Brooke Schwarz
Leonard & Lisa Servedio
Laura Smith
Les & Bev Smulevitz
Geri Sztuk
Cindy Tomei
Dave & Carolyn Utech*
Paul & Sara Vandeberg
Lauren Verdich & Gail Morse
Janneke & Jeff Waal-Fowers
Tracy & Tony Weisman
Fred Wellisch & Edie Canter
Rebecca Wellisch
Virginia Witucke
Robert Wolff
Shawn Ying & Jason Cohen
Joel & Frances Zemans
FRIEND ($50 or more)
Anonymous
Paul & Mary Altman
Janene Bergen & Lori Neblung
Brad Berlage
Jennifer Biegel
Sally Birger
Frank Brockway & Margaret
Lonquist*
Richard Brunot
Dan & Amy Burke
Jennifer Burrus
Ioanna & Robert Chaney
Julia & Daniel Coyne
Ruth Crippen
Henry & Ellen Criz
Jeanne Crowe
Lynn & Jim Denton
Lora Drozd
Ann Dwyer
Ralph & Jenny Earlandson
Jim & Carol Fancher
Norma Felbinger*
Jerry Smith & Dottie Fugiel
Evelyn Gaudutis
Jo-Ann & Stanley Gaynor
Carolyn Hayes
Barbara Hofmaier & David Heim
Mari Jo & David Higgins
Karl & Janice Hobart
Charles Hoffman & Tamara
Schiller
James Hoover
Valerie Humowiecki
Mark & Amy Jarman
Bruce Kuehl & Mary Jane Cross
Jewish Roots of Broadway

27

DONORS

c o n t.

Colleen Labozetta
Thomas Lipsmeyer
Karen Maurer
Scott & Kelly McCleary
Robert & Marjorie McCommon
Daniel Melamed
William Miles
Sandi & Mike Miller
Belverd & Marian Needles
Geraldine L. Oberman & Eleida
M. Gomez

Jennifer Lee ONeil

Marjorie Pentland
Raiselle & Kenneth Resnick
Jonathan & Joy Rosner
Robert Sacks
Howard & Roberta Siegel
David & Barbara Slivnick
Trent & Rachel Sparrow
Gene & Mindy Stein
Nikki & Fred Stein
Dorothy & Casmir Szczepaniak

Bernard Szeszol
Tricia Teater
Willard Thomen
William Wallace
Eileen & Dirk Walvoord
Robert & Barbara Wichmann
Dimis J. Wyman
Deety & Bruce Winograd
*Sustaining donor

IN KIND CONTRIBUTIONS (SINCE JANUARY 1, 2015)

About Face Theater
AV Chicago
Ballroom Dance Chicago
Bella Voce
Big City Swing
Bike and Roll Chicago
Bollywood Groove
Broadway in Chicago
Eric Buchholz
Cheryl Wollin
Chicago Bears
Chicago Botanic Garden
Chicago Dramatists
Chicago Gay Mens Chorus
Chicago Modern Orchestra
Project
Chicago Opera Theater
Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Chicago Sinfonietta
Chicago Sky
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago White Sox
Chicago Zoological Society
City Lit Theater Company
Comedysportz Theater
Copper Art Designs
Corepower
Dailey Method
Dance Spa
Dee Dee Whipple
DePaul Merle Reskin Theatre
Devon Seafood Grill
Claudia Divis
East Bank Club
Edgewater Fitness Club
Emerald City Theatre
Ensemble Espaol Spanish Dance
Theatre
Evanston Symphony Orchestra
Fairgrass LLC

28

Chicago a cappella

Fat Willys BBQ Shack

Field Museum
First Folio Theatre
Five Point Holistic Health
Flavour Cooking School
Fox Valley Repertory
Frank Lloyd Wright Trust
French Pastry School
Jennifer Girard
Harris Theater for Music and
Dance
Ann Hewitt
Hotel Felix
Howl at the Moon
Jane Hush
Joffrey Ballet Chicago
Kingston Mines
Koval Distillery
Jim and Archana Lal-Tabak
Lifeline Theatre
Lou Malnatis
Lyric Opera Chicago
Mara Karzen Jeweler Designs
Margaret Kachadurian
Marianos
Jennifer Marling
May I Have This Dance
Merit School of Music
Metropolis Performing Arts
Center
Michael Kors
Mindys Hot Chocolate
Miss Motley Photography
Mity Nice
Moksha Yoga Center
Morton Arboretum
Museum of Science and Industry
Music Institute of Chicago
Music of the Baroque
Music Box Theater

Norbert Shimkus Designs

North Central College
Northlight Theater
Nuns 4 Fun Entertainment
Old Town School of Folk Music
Om on the Range
Open Door Theater
Orange Shoe Personal Fitness
Owen & Engine
Cindy Pardo
Perennial Virant
Porchlight Music Theatre
Press America
Ravinia Festival
Redhead Piano Bar
Remy Bumppo Theatre Company
Shedd Aquarium
Shiraleah
Sips on Sherman
Six Flags
Sketchbook Brewing Co.
Steep Theater
Ann Stevens
Strawdog Theatre Company
Swedish American Museum
Swedish Bakery
Symphony of Oak Park and River
Forest
Target
The Second City
Timeline Theatre Company
Treasure Island
U of C Presents
Up Comedy Club
Victory Gardens Theater
Barbara Volin
Yogaview Lincoln Park
Zanies Comedy Nite Club