To sing a song can send out joy to listeners, and a choral group, with several trained human voices coming together at once, is a truly joyous sound. Our readers say no one does it better here than the Springfield Choral Society.
Originally established in 1971 by Melody Turner as the Springfield Oratorio Society, others who have served in a leadership role include Jay Peterson, Marion van der Loo, Abby Musgrove, Ken Lam (interim) and the current music director since 2022, Jacobsen Woollen. The organization has managed to grow in size post-pandemic, both through the larger overall group and creating smaller ensembles. It has also establised a solid concert lineup as it "prioritized working with community partners to create thematic, locally-rooted musical events" to bring the pleasure of sung music to every nook and cranny of our fair city.
This year alone, the group joined with the Springfield and Central Illinois African American History Museum, University of Illinois Springfield Music and the Vachel Lindsay Home to produce Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight, a festival featuring the music of composer Florence Price; performed The Opening Out: Songs of Creation as part of the Springfield Liturgical Arts Festival; presented In Paradisum in conjunction with musicians of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra; worked with SIU Medicine to bring us an ongoing, "dementia-friendly" chorus called Sing by Heart designed for those with memory loss and their caregivers, utilizing trained Springfield Choral Society volunteers; and will present an abridged version of Handel's Messiah Dec. 7 at Blessed Sacrament Church.
Even more wonderful events are planned for 2025, with Songs for the Unsung made to honor Women's History Month coming in March and Malcolm Dalglish's Hymnody of Earth, performed in collaboration with the composer, who is appearing in a May concert in Springfield right before the group takes off for a weeklong tour of Austria directly after the hometown show.
That sounds like the best as the Springfield Choral Society provides some finely tuned music for our community.
