Where have we been?

​Just wait’ll next year! 

The all too familiar cry of sports teams in the Chicago area for many years, these days, could be applicable to many events, including Arts. 

May 8 was the 75th anniversary of V-E Day (Victory in Europe). Our spring concert commemorating the event was supposed to be Saturday, May 9. Sadly, along with all of the other public events scheduled around that time, our concert did not take place. Our Singers were extremely disappointed that we could not present the concert. It was really going to be a good show. In addition to several fine instrumentalists, we had engaged the brilliant soprano, Josefien Stopplenburg and skilled organist Mark Reynertson. Canon Reverend Alonzo Pruitt was also to participate with us. The selections programmed included the music of Vaughan Williams, Holst, and Haydn. There were patriotic selections and arrangements of popular songs of the era, such as “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree” and “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.” We also planned some premieres of arrangements: “Eili, Eili” by Stephen Glass, as well as my own arrangements of Irving Berlin’s “Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning” and “Tuskegee Airmen Fight Song.” 

We have postponed the 2020 spring concert “until next year.” We are planning our annual December concert, as well, and have included it on our calendar for next season. Realistically, both performances are on hold until we’ve reached the appropriate phase to reopen, as dictated by the government, and everyone – audience and performers – feel comfortable enough to participate. 

I will be in touch as things progress and we learn our status over the coming weeks as we plan for Season 14 of the Michael Teolis Singers.