NOTE: New Location for Rehearsals

We will now rehearse at St. Peter United Church of Christ in Lake Zurich.  See sidebar to the right for the new address and the map to the church.

Meet Our New Director!

Martin Pazdioch has over 20 years experience as a choir director, conductor, soloist, section leader, pianist, organist, and liturgical musician.  He was a member of the voice faculty at Dominican University, sang with the Chicago Symphony Chorus for 19 seasons, has performed on five Grammy Award-winning recordings, and has vast experience in opera, concert, recital, musical theatre, and in the recording studio.  As well as teaching voice at area high schools, colleges, and in studio settings, he maintains a standard of musical excellence while working with people of all musical abilities and uses his knowledge and skills to help volunteer choristers improve their vocal skills while having fun.  Obviously, he is well suited to work with our group and is excited about working with a non-auditioned group of men and women who love to sing, and we are delighted and excited to have him as our new director!

Rehearsals for Christmas Concert Starting Soon!

Our first rehearsal at The Chapel in Lake Zurich is on Monday, August 25, 2014 at 7 p.m.

All interested in singing with us are welcome to come and meet the group and our new director. We are a non-auditioned choir so come give us a try for a few weeks. We think you'll be impressed and have a good time, and join our group

Spring Concert 2014

 Presenting "The Lullabies of Broadway" 

--- showcasing love songs from George & Ira Gershwin;

--- a mini-version of "Guys and Dolls" so you can tap your toes to "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat" and "Luck Be a Lady Tonight";  

--- a mini-version of "South Pacific" by Rodgers & Hammerstein (celebrating its 65th anniversary this summer), including the haunting "Bali Hai." 

 
The Village Singers will be  performing this marvelous concert at:

                          The Chapel in Lake Zurich  
                           330 S. Old Rand Rd
                           Lake Zurich, IL      60047

Performance Dates are:

                         Saturday, May 3rd   at 7.00 p.m.
                         Sunday,    May 4th   at 3:30 p.m.


Ticket prices:   

                        8.00 Adult/Seniors
                        Children Under 12 are Free

Spring 2014 Concert Song List

Here's the tentative list of songs for our Spring, 2014 Concert...

• "Everything's Coming Up Roses"
• "Grand Night for Singing"
• "Luck be a Lady Tonight"
• "On the Sunny side of the Street"
• "Put on a Happy Face"
• "Singing in the Rain"
• Rogers & Hammerstein (Broadway medley)
• George M. Cohan medley
• Irving Berlin's America medley
• Gershwin's  Portrait  medley
  

Come join in the fun!  We rehearse each Monday evening (7 to 9 pm) at The Chapel in Lake Zurich on Old Rand Road (see map in the sidebar on the right.)

All are welcome to join our non-auditioned community chorus.  We are sponsored by the Village of Lake Zurich Parks and Recreation Department but our members come from numerous surrounding suburbs, too.

Rehearsal canceled on 1/6/14...

...due to the Winter storm warning.  rehearsals will now begin next Monday, January 13th.  See you all then!

Rehearsals begin for our Spring concert

Our first rehearsal for our spring concert will be Monday, January 6, 2014 at 7 p.m.  We are a non-auditioned chorus and heartily invite all to come join us for our next concert which will feature Broadway tunes.

Directions to our rehearsal site are in the sidebar on the right.

 

Video of our performances at Hackney's in Lake Zurich Friday and Saturday...

Christmas 2013 Concert Highlights

Post-Concert Christmas Party

The Koldens again opened their lovely home for our semi-annual post-concert party, featuring great food, a lot of conversation because we aren't allowed to talk during rehearsal, a rule we strictly abide by (Ha!), and viewing of the concert video so we can really assess how the concert went...

See you all in January as we begin preparing for our Spring Concert!

2013 Christmas Concert

Saturday, December 7th (7 pm)

Sunday, December 8th (3 pm)

Featuring:

Happy Holiday

 Three Glimpses of Christmas

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Sleigh Ride

Jesus Born On This Day

An Evening In December

White Christmas

The First Chanukah Night

Hevenu Shalom Alechem

Christmas Lullaby (I Will Lead You Home)

Come to Bethlehem

Hallelujah Chorus (audience is invited to join choir)

(as well as several solos and small group songs)

Cookie Reception to Follow

(Location and directions in the sidebar to the right)

Introducing Our new director, Wendy Beyer

Wendy earned her degree in Music Education from UCLA with an emphasis in vocal and choral conducting and received instruction in conducting from Mehli Mehta and Roger Wagner.  Wendy has performed as a member of the UCLA Madrigal Singers as well as the Los Angeles Master Chorale, was a soloist with the Los Angeles Chamber Chorus, and has served as piano accompanist for musical theatre as well as church productions.

Over the years, Wendy has also served as a church music director, music educator, costume designer and creator, producer and director of stage productions, as well as designing lighting and sets for productions.  She also assisted in creating and directing the All Nations Women philanthropic organization and traveled with the group in the USA and Brazil, premiering worship music, singing, and speaking.

Welcome to The Village Singers of Lake Zurich!

First Rehearsal!

Thirty registered at our first rehearsal, got reacquainted after a summer apart, and then ran through several songs with our new director, Wendy.  Wonderful evening and a very successful beginning to our Fall season.

Rehearsals for Our Christmas Season Starting!

Our first get together will be this upcoming Monday, August 26, 2013. at 7 p.m.  We will register, get our music, renew our friendships and maybe look at a song or two.

 

Wendy Beyer, our new director, has chosen a number of  pieces to sing that we have sung before.

 

Please invite any of your friends that like to sing and any past members of the group that you think might like to return to sing with us.

 

Tell them that we have a great new director and our concert for the holidays WILL be exciting.

We are rehearsing and performing at The Chapel of Lake Zurich.  The address is 330 S. Old Rand Road, which is just south of the Ela Public Library.

 

For those of you who have been with the group for more than 5 years, it is where we used to rehearse and perform before we moved to Alpine Chapel.

Directions are in the sidebar on the right.

Post-Concert Party

Barb, our incomparable hostess for these semi-annual post-concert parties, once again made all feel welcome in their beautiful home, and fed us again, too!

The spring weather allows us to visit the catfish pond in the backyard...

Watching the video of the concert is always a party highlight because we never get to hear ourselves sing when rehearsing or on stage!

Spring 2013 Concert

The Village Singers of Lake Zurich

Our accompanist, Tara, and our director, Maddy...

Brief excerpts of all our songs are included in this video...

Join Us for Our Annual Spring Concert!

Welcome to Maddy Ludwig, our new Director!

Our extraordinary director, Sara Pardo, has increasingly been offered professional singing roles in operas and musicals in Utah, Italy, and New Jersey, all of which have necessitated her missing time with us. So to pursue her professional career, she has tendered her resignation, but introduced us to Maddy who served admirably as intern during out Christmas concert rehearsal season, teaching us two a cappella numbers, "Long Is the Winter" and "Betelehemu," two of the highlights of our Christmas Concerts. 

We wish Sara adieu and the best of everything as she pursues her professional singing career around the country (and the world!) and we are certain she will be making her mark in the singing world and bringing joy and pleasure and smiles to audiences wherever she performs, and we warmly welcome Maddy Ludwig as our new director and look forward to her leadership and friendship.

 Maddy grew up in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago and is a recent graduate of Elmhurst College where she was awarded her Bachelors in Music in Music Education and a certificate in vocal performance. While at Elmhurst, she performed in the top choir and vocal jazz ensembles, Late Night Blues and Blue. The groups toured across the United States including Boston, New York City, Nashville, Los Angeles, and Orlando. She teaches all different styles and has been instructing privately since January, 2012. Maddy was one of the founding members of Elmhurst College’s all women a cappella group and conducted two college level choirs while studying at Elmhurst.

Welcome to the Village Singers, Maddy!

Singing at Silverado

Yesterday we had the privilege of singing for the fine folks at the Silverado Senior Living Center in Lake Zurich.

Earl, our associate director, did another fine job filling in as director...

...and our extraordinary accompanist, Tara, kept us in the correct key...

In addition to singing nine of our concert pieces, our treasurer, Glynda, performed a solo and later led us all in singing Christmas carols with the residents...

Thanks for inviting us, Silverado.  It was a rocking good time for all!

Annual Christmas Party at Barb's

Barb and Bob again opened their lovely home for our annual after-concert party.

Kathy joins Barb and her granddaughter for a photo...

Then everyone gathered by the television to view the DVD of the concerts...

Merry Christmas to everyone!  See all you singers in January for rehearsals, and all you spectators at our Spring Concerts in May!