The Beach Boys wrote a song called “I Can Hear Music,” which reminds me of Elmhurst.
Ours is not a quiet town. We are surrounded by either tollways or expressways, so the gentle music of traffic is always an undercurrent. Two railroads bisect the town, so along with their often lonesome whistles blowing comes the inevitable chugging and crashing of cars on rails.
In the quiet lull between freight and Metra trains, ambulance sirens and traffic humming, there is the mind-numbing, conversation-halting roaring of the periodic jets passing overhead from O’Hare.
But I digress. There also are the more celestial sounds of the many musical groups in town. Two such are the Elmhurst College Wind Ensemble conducted by professor Judith E. Grimes and the Elmhurst College Symphonic Band conducted by professor Ross Kellan. For zero dollars, Elmhurst ears yearning to be free of traffic noise can enjoy the fall concert presented by these fine groups at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26, at Hammerschmidt Chapel. Highlights of the program include “Slava!” By Leonard Bernstein, “Incantation and Dance” by John Barnes Chance, marches by Henry Fillmore, and the “Lincoln Portrait” by Aaron Copeland and narrated by the new president of Elmhurst College, Dr. Alan Ray.
As an interesting aside, concert-goers should be on the lookout for bass clarinet player Guy Serena, who just celebrated his 101st birthday. He plays in the Symphonic Band and drives himself to rehearsal every Monday evening. Happy birthday and congratulations, Guy.
If it’s the sound of celestial voices your ears are yearning for, you might be interested in a new group called the Spirito Singers, which is an auditioned ecumenical sacred choir open to high school age girls. This choir is the brain child of Molly Lindberg, who led choirs at Mary Queen of Heaven Church in Elmhurst for five years. She serves as executive and artistic director but also has a board of directors and an advisory council helping her.
As Julie McGovern, who serves on the board and whose daughter, Kathleen, is part of the group, explained, “The advisory council includes pastors and music directors from 13 area churches and schools including from Elmhurst: First Methodist Church, Mary Queen of Heaven, Redeemer Lutheran Church, Immaculate Conception Church, Visitation Church, Bethel United Church of Christ, Elmhurst Presbyterian Church, and York High School.”
The first concert is set for December, and in January, the girls will be singing at worship services around the area. They also will be performing at the debut dinner of Spirito Singers, to be Saturday, Nov. 8, at the River Forest Country Club. For tickets and information, call (630) 834-6612 visit spiritosingers.org.
Church serves holiday dinner
I heard from Charlene Lee Frieslinger that Immaculate Conception Parish of Catholic Women will be hosting a Holiday Dinner on Friday evening, Nov. 21.
“It will be held in the beautiful banquet room of the Renaissance Oak Brook Hotel,” she said. “If you’ve never been there you’ll enjoy the spectacular views of the surrounding area. In addition to the exciting raffles and scrumptious dinner, there will be a vintage wedding gown show. Models will be wearing wedding dresses ‘through the decades.’”
Sounds like a fun way to kick off the holiday season. If you're interested, call Marie Catalano for ticket information at (630) 530-1630. Tickets are $40 each.
Send ideas and comments to elmhurstovereasy@comcast.net.
