Ravinia 2019, Issue 4, Week 8

DUAIN WOLFE, director Now in his 25th season as director of the Chi- cago Symphony Chorus, Duain Wolfe has prepared over 150 programs for concerts in Orchestra Hall at Chicago’s Symphony Center and at Ravinia, as well as many works for com- mercial recordings. Wolfe also directs choral works at the Aspen Music Festival and the Na- tional Arts Centre in Ottawa, and he is found- er-director of the Colorado Symphony Chorus (now in its 34th season), a position he maintains along with his Chicago Symphony Chorus post. Winner of two Grammy Awards in 2010 (Best Choral Performance and Best Classical Album) for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s record- ing of Verdi’s Requiem with Riccardo Muti, in 2012 Wolfe received the Michael Korn Founders Award from Chorus America in recognition of his contributions to the professional choral arts. He also prepared the Chicago Symphony Cho- rus for the Grammy Award–winning recording of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg with Georg Solti, and for the CSO Resound release of Verdi’s Otello conducted by Muti. Well known for his work with children, Wolfe is conductor laureate of the Colorado Children’s Chorale, an organization that he founded and conducted for 25 years. Also active in opera, he served as conductor of the Central City Opera Festival for 20 years. Wolfe’s activities have earned him an honorary doctorate and numerous awards, in- cluding the Bonfils Stanton Award in the Arts and Humanities and the Colorado Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. CHICAGO SYMPHONY CHORUS Now in its 61st season, the Chicago Symphony Chorus regularly performs with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Orchestra Hall and at Ravinia. It has been led by chorus director and conductor Duain Wolfe since 1994. The history of the CSC began in 1957, when CSO music director Fritz Reiner invited Margaret Hillis to establish a chorus to equal the quality of the orchestra. Hillis accepted the challenge, and the chorus first performed in March and April 1958, in Mozart’s Requiem under Bruno Walter and Verdi’s Requiem under Reiner. Hillis would serve the chorus for 37 years, until her retirement in 1994; then–music director Daniel Barenboim appointed Wolfe as her successor in June of that year. Since its first commercial recording appearance in 1959—Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky under Reiner—the chorus has amassed a discography that includes hallmarks of the choral repertoire and several com- plete operas. The CSC most recently received a 2010 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance for Verdi’s Requiem, led by music director Riccardo Muti on the CSO Resound label. The chorus has received an additional nine Grammy Awards for Best Choral Performance for Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Missa solemnis , Brahms’s German Requiem , Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust , Haydn’s The Creation , and Bach’s Mass in B minor with Solti; Brahms’s requiem and Orff ’s Carmina Burana with James Levine; and Bartók’s Cantata profana with Pierre Boulez. The CSC also has appeared on two movie soundtracks with the CSO: Fantasia 2000, led by Levine, and Lincoln , conducted by the score’s composer, John Williams. Recordings on CSO Resound featuring the chorus include Mahler’s Second and Third Symphonies, Poulenc’s Gloria, and Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe under Bernard Haitink; and Berlioz’s Lélio , Verdi’s Otello , and most recently Schoenberg’s Kol Nidre under Muti. DUAIN WOLFE, conductor and chorus director CHERYL FRAZES HILL, associate director JENNIFER KERR BUDZIAK, associate director ANDREW LEWIS, associate director BENJAMIN RIVERA, assistant director The chorus was prepared for this performance by Duain Wolfe. Gretchen Adams Michele Braché Agpalo Melinda Alberty Ashley Armstrong Melissa Arning Megan E. Bell Nicole Besa Laura Boguslavsky Madison Bolt Michael Brauer Matthew Brennan Terry L. Bucher Anastasia Cameron Balmer Andrea Caruso Michael Cavalieri Bethany Clearfield Joseph Cloonan Natalie Conseur Magaly Cordero Emily Crisp Sandra Cross Angela De Venuto Allison Deady Leah Dexter Hannah Dixon McConnell Katarzyna Dorula Meredith Taylor Du Bon Kathryn Duncan Ashley Eason Stacy Eckert Nicholas Falco Andrew Fisher Kemper Florin Leigh Folta Henriët Fourie Kirsten Fyr-Searcy Ace T. Gangoso Klaus Georg * Liana Gineitis David Govertsen * Nida Grigalaviciute Amy Gwinn-Becker Elizabeth Haley Kevin Michael Hall Ashlee Hardgrave Michael Randall Hawes Adam Lance Hendrickson Megan Hendrickson Daniel Julius Henry Jr. Jianghai Ho Ingrid Israel Mikolajczyk Margaret Izard Taylor Jacobson Carla Janzen Garrett Johannsen Robin A. Kessler Jess Koehn Susan Krout Alexandra Kunath Mathew Lake Katelyn Lee Rosalind Lee Kristin Lelm Lee Lichamer Dorian McCall Bill McMurray Mark James Meier Eric Miranda Rebecca S. Moan Stephen Mollica Keith A. Murphy Lillian Murphy Nathan S. Oakes Máire O’Brien Rachel Olson Wha Shin Park Clarissa Parrish Short Douglas Peters Amy Pickering Cari Plachy Sarah Ponder * Elvira Ponticelli Angela Presutti Emily Price Nicholas Pulikowski Antonio Quaranta Margaret Quinnette Leo Radosavljevic Julia Rahm Peder Reiff Alexia Rivera Brennan Runzo Kyle Sackett Sladjana Saric Cole Seaton Andrew Seymour Joe Shadday Joseph Smith Brandon Sokol Marie Sokolova Emma Sorenson Kevin St. John Catherine Spitzer Samantha Thielen Paul W. Thompson Scott Uddenberg Elizabeth Vaughan Vince Wallace Aaron Wardell Peter Wesoloski Debra Wilder * Megan Wilhelm Juan Zapata * Section leader Chorus Manager Carolyn D. Stoner Assistant Manager and Librarian Shelley Baldridge Language Coach Benjamin Rivera Rehearsal Pianists John Goodwin Sharon Peterson Andrew Rosenblum JULY 22 – JULY 28, 2019 | RAVINIA MAGAZINE 105