The rumours are true! The Canadian Chamber Choir will be heading to the American Midwest October 7-14 for our first international tour. We can’t think of a better way to celebrate Canada’s 150th Birthday than to bring our repertoire of exclusively Canadian composers and arrangers to brand new audiences in the Chicago area!

For those who aren’t aware, the Windy City has been CCC artistic director Dr. Julia Davids’ home base since 2002, and we’re eagerly looking forward to meeting and collaborating with several of her local ensembles while we’re there.

She writes: “I am so excited to welcome the Canadian Chamber Choir to Chicago. It will be incredible to see ensembles from my two “homes” coming together!”

Our journey will begin on October 7 at the mighty O’Hare International Airport – the second busiest in the world – where we will convene for the first time since our British Columbia Tour last February. After one quick rehearsal, we’ll kick off our itinerary by singing the morning services and pre-service recitals at Chicago’s stunning Fourth Presbyterian Church on the Magnificent Mile.

On Monday evening, we’ll head to the Pick-Staiger Concert Hall? in Evanston for a collaborative concert presented by Mitchell Museum of the American Indian, Northwestern University, and the Baha’i Faith Light of Unity Festival. We’ll be sharing the stage with our tour guests Anishinaabe dancer Sarain Carson-Fox and cellist Oleksander Mycyk, as well as the RedLine Drum Group and Lakota hoop dancer Kevin Locke, in celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

The following morning, we will begin a period of creative incubation at the American Indian Center, the oldest urban Native American center in the United States. Since 1953, the AIC has been an irreplaceable hub for cultural and social services for over 100 tribal nations in the Chicago area. We are thrilled and privileged to spend time there for the inspiration and development of a new choral work with Yellowknife composer Carmen Braden and Anishinaabe dancer Sarain Carson-Fox.

From October 10 to 13, we will be offering educational choral workshops to ensembles throughout the greater Chicago area: North Shore Choral Society, North Park University, Sullivan High School, Loyola University, Oakdale Covenant Children’s Gospel Choir, North Park Covenant Church, and New Trier High School. As always, we will aim to fulfil our ongoing mission of building community through choral singing by visiting underserved and underprivileged areas as much as possible! We have a hunch that we’ll probably end up learning just as much as we’re teaching!

“These workshops are such an important exchange of information,” says Davids, “and I think they’re going to have a huge impact on the CCC members who will then in turn go back to their home communities and share all of the things they’ve learned and experienced.”

On October 13, we will present an evening concert at North Park University’s Anderson Chapel, in collaboration with the NPU University Choir and Chamber Singers. (For the record, we can’t thank NPU enough for their generous administrative support in making this entire tour possible!)

A busy concert day awaits us on October 14 as well, with a community choral workshop and performances at First United Church of Oak Park and Trinity United Methodist Church in Wilmette. For the latter, we’ll be joined by the Youth Chorus of the North Shore Alegría and members of the North Shore Choral Society. (And, just for fun, we’ll stand back and wait to see how long it takes our members to recognize the church from its famous scenes in Home Alone… Fun fact!)

Mark your calendars, Chicago! We’re coming for you.

Click here to view our full day-by-day itinerary!

The CCC gratefully acknowledges the administrative and logistical support of North Park University, North Shore Choral Society, Canadian Women’s Club of Chicago, and the American Indian Center for their generous assistance in making this tour possible!