The Apollo Chorus of Chicago

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1 The Apollo Chorus of Chicago
2 Tours
- 2.1 Special Performances
3 Awards
4 Recordings
5 External links

[edit] The Apollo Chorus of Chicago

From its inception in 1872 to the present day, the The Apollo Chorus of Chicago (originally called the Apollo Musical Club, after its namesake in Boston) has undergone a variety of metamorphoses. Initially formed as a small, all-male group of businessmen in the temporary new headquarters of Lyon & Healy at 16th and Wabash, it soon added women to the mix and grew rapidly in size and reputation to become the town’s premiere musical ensemble, garnering praise from newspaper critics and patrons alike. With no shortage of talent and dedication among its directors, accompanists and singers, Apollo drew raves for its interpretations of celebrated works by Schubert and Liszt, Haydn and Handel, Bach and Mendelssohn, as well as scores of lesser known composers. It even performed in 1891 at the opening of Orchestra Hall with a then-fledgling Chicago Symphony under the baton of Theodore Thomas. And in 1893, its members helped populate the massive World’s Fair Chorus at the sprawling Columbian Exposition.

In ensuing years, the group performed an impressive array of choral showstoppers at home and abroad. Mostly the former. Apollo’s heart and soul have always belonged chiefly to its city of birth, and so for more than thirteen decades the group has raised the roofs of Chicago’s most lauded venues, including the Auditorium Theater, Orchestra Hall, the new Harris Theater for Music and Dance at Millennium Park, the former Medinah Temple, and Ravinia Festival, as well as several majestic churches. Last year, the choir marked its 125th anniversary of singing Handel’s Messiah, a now legendary Christmas-time tradition attended by thousands of new and repeat concertgoers each December.

Presently, Apollo’s roster of 140+ auditioned volunteers is comprised of men and women of all ages, races, creeds and occupations bonded together by one thing in particular: an abiding love of music. They sing because they want to sing, because it moves them spiritually and emotionally as nothing else can. Great camaraderie aside, it is the primary reason that nearly every Monday night from Fall to Spring, and on assorted summer evenings in between, they gather at places like the Fine Arts Building on Michigan Ave.—formerly an assembly and display headquarters for the Studebaker company— or at the Merit School of Music - for intense 2 ½-hour rehearsals. Whether they’ve been mired for hours in e-mails or swamped with meetings or busy ferrying children all over creation, the vast majority, if not all, will tell you it is something they look forward to, an escape from everyday life that not everyone has the chance to experience. To them, singing is far more than just putting notes to words or words to notes, more than just a passing fancy or a casual hobby. It is a passion. And every time they’re onstage, they hope to convey that passion, or at least a portion of it, to their audiences through meticulous and heartfelt renderings of the world’s most wondrous music. For in the end, that’s what matters most.