Chicago Chamber Choir: Songs of War and Peace

To open its 15th season, the Chicago Chamber Choir (CCC), askilled choral ensemble of 40 singers under the artistic director of Timm Adams,collaborates for the first time with the esteemed Milwaukee Choral Artists(MCA) for “Songs of War and Peace.” Performances take place October 23 in theMilwaukee area and October 24 in the Chicago area.

            “Songsof War and Peace” is a special choralmeditation on the human cost of war and the hope for peace. The program, featuring music inspired by conflict and thefrailty of the human condition, will showcase the skill and creativity of CCCand MCA, separately and together. CCC will perform “Go Down, Moses” fromMichael Tippett’s oratorio A Child of Our Time, “Alleluia” by Randall Thompson, “Find the Cost ofFreedom” by Stephen Stills and others, while MCA will offer, among others,“Hard Times Come Again No More” by Stephen Foster, “Only Light, Only Love”(with the CCC women) by Joan Szymko and “August 1914” by Joel Boyd, winner ofMCA’s Young Composer Contest for 2010. CCC and MCA will perform works togetherin Latvian, Greek, Hebrew and Latin. This diverse andemotional program includes music inspired by the ravages of several wars,including the Civil War, WWI, WWII, the Vietnam Conflict, as well as thewartime oppression of the Jews and the Greek women of Souli.