At Chicago a cappella, we are privileged to explore the richness of culture, including cultures other than our own, through a multifaceted artistic medium combining text and music, community and shared discovery. Each program is a journey, one full of surprises and fresh discovery. This fall, we will present Northern Lights, our glimpse into the vast panoply of Nordic choral music.
Considering its relatively small population, the Nordic region is astoundingly productive in choral music. Composers, many of whom also participate in choirs, abound. Leaders, many of whom can trace their lineage through “degrees of separation” to celebrated Swedish conductor and icon Eric Ericson, serve in influential positions throughout the world. The region features Conservatories with several of the world’s best conducting training programs.
There are many streams of Nordic choral music. In one, choral composition reached previously unknown heights of virtuosity, complexity, and difficulty. In another, choral music has been a means to share the rich resources of Nordic folk traditions. And through choral music, composers have explored their fascination with other cultures and idioms, including our own.
My first immersive encounter with Nordic choral culture took place exactly twenty years ago, when I had the unreasonably good fortune to be invited into a musical opportunity never offered before or since. The 2006 Eric Ericson Masterclass in Choral and Orchestral Conducting offered a small international group of young conductors an intensive week of “podium time” with professional choirs and orchestras across Sweden and Denmark, under the watchful eye of several master conductors, including the legendary Eric Ericson himself. What this experience cost our hosts to offer, I shudder to think. But I was only responsible to cover my air fare and accommodation.
The experience sensitized me to a number of Nordic characteristics, both in art and life. Among these are a genuine and sympathetic interest in other cultures, including the betterment of conditions (in this case, artistic conditions) abroad. Nordic residents share a pride in their own countries and good fortune, but one devoid of exceptionalism, impatience or imperialism. They do not see their countries as the center of the world, nor do they think everyone else should live as they do.
The large landscape relative to population, and the many hours of winter darkness, appear to have cultivated a sense of calm and patience, even in the midst of sorrow and loss. Nordic cultures do not often exalt excitement, nor do they institutionalize hyperbole or hubris. “Negative” emotions and loss are not to be overcome by a resilient individual, so much as recognized, named, resonated, and shared through community…including through choral singing.
We invite you to enter that circle with us.
Take a deep breath, listen closely, and discover the world of Northern Lights.