The St. Charles Singers will conclude its 41st season with "Sacred Spaces," a program of sacred a cappella works that the critically acclaimed mixed-voice chamber choir will perform later in the month on its first concert tour in Italy.

"Sacred Spaces" will be presented at 7:30 p.m. June 12 at Baker Memorial United Methodist Church in St. Charles, Illinois. The program is also offered at 7:30 p.m. June 11 at St. Michael Catholic Church in Wheaton, Illinois.

Founder and music director Jeffrey Hunt and the St. Charles Singers will travel to Italy on June 12 for a tour that will see them singing in sacred spaces in Venice, Padova, Vicenza, and Rome, including Vatican City’s St. Peter’s Basilica.

“Audiences will hear a program of historical and geographical depth and great emotional variety,” Hunt says. “There are moments of quiet contemplation, grandeur, and jubilation. It’s a testament to how sacred music continues to speak to us across the centuries and national borders and through diverse cultures and styles.”

American music

American composers, many with Midwest connections, figure prominently in the program.
The concert’s centerpiece is Aaron Copland’s rarely heard “In the Beginning,” a dramatic depiction of the creation story from the Book of Genesis. “It demands 17 minutes of virtuosic, unaccompanied singing,” Hunt says. Ensemble member Margaret Fox, mezzo-soprano, will be the soloist. This will mark the St. Charles Singers’ first performances of the work.

Grammy-nominated Jake Runestad, a Rockford, Illinois, native now living in Minnesota, based his uplifting “I Will Lift Mine Eyes,” on Psalm 121. The score offers distinctive contrasts between intimate and extroverted moments.

“Give Me Jesus” is American composer, conductor, and educator L. L Fleming’s best-known work. “His arrangement of this deeply moving spiritual is remarkable for its quiet intensity,” Hunt says.

Alabama-born William Dawson’s “Ezekial Saw De Wheel” is an arrangement of an African-American spiritual. It’s noted for its compelling call-and-response character and exhilarating momentum.

From Westmont, Illinois, comes revered choral musician Robert Boyd’s warm and lyrical arrangement of “How Can I Keep from Singing,” an American Christian hymn from the 1860s later popularized as a folk song. Hunt says Boyd’s version “fosters a sense of spiritual resilience and shared optimism.”

Southern California-based composer Shawn Kirchner’s bright “Unclouded Day” combines traditional bluegrass vocal stylings with counterpoint and fugue, building to a thrilling finale.

English entries

England is represented by late-Romantic composer Charles Villiers Stanford and Sir John Rutter, who has written for and conducted the St. Charles Singers on multiple occasions.
Stanford’s lyrical “Beati quorum via” (Blessed are those whose way is blameless) from his “Three Latin Motets,” Op. 38, projects the noble melodies, elegant interplay of voices, and polished harmonies he’s known for.

Rutter’s “Open Thou Mine Eyes” is his original setting of a 17th-century sacred text, with intricate vocal lines.

“We’re immensely proud of and grateful for our long and close association with John Rutter,” Hunt says. “His music and his musicianship are a core part of our identity as a choir.”

Italian inspirations

The program offers works by two early Italian composers.

Giovanni Pierluigi de Palestrina’s “Tu es Petrus” (You are Peter), with its radiant interplay of voices and serene grandeur, is a signature work of the Italian Renaissance. Palestrina’s music was greatly admired by J. S. Bach, who closely studied his scores.
Claudio Monteverdi straddled the formal, disciplined Renaissance approach to composition and the emerging, more emotionally exuberant Baroque style. His poignant “Adoramus Te” (We adore Thee) is a vivid miniature masterwork.

More Continental composers

A graduate of the Paris Conservatoire, Maurice Duruflé blends medieval Gregorian chant with 20th-century French Impressionist harmonies in his 1960 motet “Ubi Caritas” (Where There Is Charity).

Germany’s Felix Mendelssohn wrote his popular Romantic-era motet “Denn er hat seinen Engeln befohlen” (For He Shall Give His Angels Charge) for eight-part choir using verses from Psalm 91. He later made it part of his famous oratorio, “Elijah.”

East Asian artistry

Contemporary South Korean composer Hyo-won Woo’s “Cum Sancto Spiritu” (With the Holy Spirit) is a movement from her “Gloria.” She combines Western musical ideas with the traditional Korean musical scale and rhythmic patterns. “It’s an impressively dynamic setting of a well-known Latin text,” Hunt says.

Tickets and information

Admission to “Sacred Spaces” is $50 for adults, $45 seniors, and $12 students.

Tickets and information are available at stcharlessingers.com or by calling 630-513-5272. Tickets may also be purchased at the door on the day of the concert, depending on availability.

Almost two dozen original paintings of flowers and trees by members of the Plein Air Painters of Rockford. This exhibit is in cooperation with Klehm Arboretums event - Garden Fair.

Engage your senses with story time, a craft and a nature activity designed for younger children and their families. Each participant leaves with a free book.

Lowden Gallery: Oregon High School Seniors Art Exhibit

​May 1 - June 30

Reception, May 8, 5pm – 7pm

This exhibit features artwork by Oregon High School graduating seniors, including Delila S, Sam S, Marin S, Sophia O, Merit N, Daleana K, Cristen M, Abbie L, Evelyn M, Daeshiap, and Ahren H.

Our summer story time with the South Beloit Public Library returns! Join us on Friday mornings for reading and activity time under our cottonwood tree. This series will introduce our local plant and animal friends to help build nature vocabulary, as well as American Sign Language vocabulary. Recommended for children ages 2-6, siblings welcome.

Please register in advance because space is limited. Thanks to support from the Judith H. Adams Fund for the purpose of nature literacy, we are able to offer this program series for free.

Janet Cederlund & Jill Browne
Feature Wall, June 1 – 30
Sponsored by Stillman Bank

Jan Cederlund is a lifelong artisan dabbler, picking up watercolor in only the last 10+ years. Formerly a special education instructor, and later the executive director of a not-for-profit, Jan has worn many hats in her career, including managerial duties of her family-owned construction business. But none of these endeavors fulfilled her ongoing passion for creative outlet. In 2017, with retirement looming, Jan began formal instruction with her now artistic mentor, Robert Krajecki, IWSA-TWSA, with whom she continues instruction to present day. Having worked in many different mediums, Jan believed that watercolor was her true calling and has spent many years developing her skills and talents.

Today, Jan’s work can be found in many regional competitions and charitable sales as she continues to develop her personal style and expertise. Her painting signature is a simple JHaugen, a tribute to her maiden name and the beloved crayons that began her artistic journey. For Jan, watercolor is no longer a hobby, but a passion to carry her through the remaining decades.

Jill Browne

As long as I can remember, I’ve enjoyed sketching and painting what I’ve seen around me, encouraged and supported by family and friends along the way. I attended some oil painting lessons as a child and took an assortment of art classes in college, but any real education has come in my later years through watercolor instruction that I have sought out locally. I owe a great debt of gratitude to two local artists in particular: Robert Krajecki of Kaneville, IL and Fatima Figueiredo of Geneva, IL whose patience and insightful instruction continue to guide me as I grow as an artist.

My preferred subject matter is still the world around me. I try to depict a certain time, a place, a moment that has spoken to me in some way. It is my hope that by committing that idea to paper, I might evoke in the viewer a feeling, an emotion or a memory that causes them to pause and ponder.

It never fails to amaze me how from a perfectly blank two dimensional surface an image seemingly emerges by use of color, form, value, perspective (and all the rest) and becomes a “readable” piece of information. This is thrilling to me!

Watercolor, in its unpredictability, is in equal measure frustrating, joyful, arduous and satisfying all at once. And so, with each new painting, I am an optimistic beginner, uncertain of the exact outcome. I hope to feel this way until my very last painting-solving the problems, dealing with the surprises, heading off the disasters and celebrating the little successes along the way.