The St. Charles Singers, an internationally acclaimed choir lauded by none other than British choral composer John Rutter, will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a three-part series performed in both its hometown and Wheaton.

The professional chamber choir of some 30 voices will launch the season in December with “Candlelight Carols,” featuring special guest Michelle Areyzaga. Areyzaga, an alumna of the ensemble and rising international soprano, will return as soloist in a set of six carols for soprano and choir.

“With the choral works on the program and audience sing-alongs between sets, the concert will offer at least 25 songs, one for each of our 25 years,” said Jeffrey Hunt, founder and artistic director, noting the program embraces traditional and contemporary carols, including jazz arrangements. “Most of the songs — about three-quarters of them — will be new to our repertoire, so audience members can expect to hear a fresh and bracing Christmas program.”

Included are two settings of the “Ave Maria,” one by contemporary Spanish-Basque composer Javier Busto, the other by Franz Biebl, a modern giant of German choral music.

“Even though we’våe been concertizing for 25 years and have more than 600 works in our repertoire, audiences will hear us perform some magnificent, classic choral works for the first time (this season), as well as world premieres of new compositions written expressly for the St. Charles Singers,” Hunt said.

‘Brilliant Baroque’

On March 14 and 15, the St. Charles Singers will give its first performances of the German-language Magnificat in G Major by Telemann and the Magnificat in D Major, BWV 243, by J.S. Bach, accompanied by chamber orchestra with keyboard. Guest soloists will be Areyzaga, alto Tracy Watson, tenor Kurt Hanson and bass Peter Van De Graaff.
“While Telemann’s instrumental music is familiar to modern-day fans of baroque music, the rediscovery of his sacred vocal music is a relatively recent phenomenon,” Hunt said.

Premieres

In “A Perfectly Fitting Finale: Music Written for the St. Charles Singers,” the choir will give the world premiere of a work by Hungarian composer Gyula Fekete, commissioned by the ensemble to coincide with the Abraham Lincoln bicentennial. The text is based on the writings of Lincoln and Árpád Göncz, former president of the Republic of Hungary.

Also making its concert debut is “Let All the World in Every Corner Sing” by Robert Boyd of Westchester.

Legendary jazz pianist, arranger and composer George Shearing wrote “Songs and Sonnets from Shakespeare” for the St. Charles Singers in 1999, a piece edited by Rutter, who conducted its premiere.
 

New season

• “Candlelight Carols with Special Guest Michelle Areyzaga” will be presented by the St. Charles Singers at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, and 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7, at Baker Memorial United Methodist Church, 307 Cedar Ave., St. Charles, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7, at St. Michael Church, 310 S. Wheaton Ave., Wheaton.

• “Brilliant Baroque Magnificats: Works by Bach and Telemann,” 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 14, at Baker Church, and 4 p.m. Sunday, March 15, at St. Michael Church.

• “A Perfectly Fitting Finale: Works Written for the St. Charles Singers,” 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 6, at Baker Church, and 4 p.m. Sunday, June 7, at St. Michael Church.

Single-concert tickets cost $30 for general admission, $20 for seniors and $10 for full-time students 23 and younger; call (630) 513-5272 or visit www.stcharlessingers.com.

Notable broadcasts

The St. Charles Singers will make its live radio debut at 8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 8, on WFMT-98.7 FM’s “Live from WFMT” program, performing selections from its Christmas holiday concerts. The broadcast also will be heard live worldwide at www.wfmt.com. The ensemble, just profiled on WTTW-TV’s “Arts Across Illinois,” made its major-label recording debut in 2008 on the Naxos label, performing Aaron Copland’s “Old American Songs” on an all-Copland disc with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra.