The St. Charles Singers has received a $4,835 grant from the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley to manufacture its newest music CD.
The foundation’s capital expenditures grant is underwriting the physical production of the locally based professional chamber choir’s “Bushes & Briars” album on the MSR Classics label. The grant will pay for manufacturing 1,000 CDs and for the CD jewel boxes and enclosed booklets.
In a statement, the foundation described the choir’s recording as “one-of-a-kind choral music that inspires all generations.”
The album of 25 songs comprises the complete choral arrangements of British and American folk songs found in the two-volume set of musical scores “Folk-Songs for Choirs,” edited by renowned English composer and chorus master John Rutter and published by Oxford University Press. The album takes its name from one of the songs.
“These songs are some of the most treasured choral works in the English speaking world,” says Kay Kendall, St. Charles Singers executive director. “Recording the complete set is a singular accomplishment, as there doesn’t appear to be another such complete version on the market.”
Kendall says the grant to produce the “Bushes & Briars” CDs “supports the St. Charles Singers’ mission of performing, promoting, and preserving great choral music. We’re immensely grateful to the foundation for helping make this new CD release a reality.”
The CD is available now from select sources, including online at www.stcharlessingers.com and amazon.com and at TownHouse Books in downtown St. Charles. The album is slated for industrywide release in North America and overseas on February 9.
This is the second capital expenditures grant that the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley has awarded the St., Charles Singers in recent years. A grant in 2013 helped pay for the concert ticketing software program used by the choir’s box office.
The Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley is a non-profit, philanthropic organization that administers individual charitable funds from which grants and scholarships are distributed to benefit the citizens of the greater Aurora area, the Tri-Cities, and Kendall County, Illinois. More information is available at www.cffrv.org.
Now in its 32nd concert season under its founder and music director Jeffrey Hunt, the St. Charles Singers is recognized locally, nationally, and internationally for its uniquely beautiful blend of voices and its vast and diverse repertoire. For more information or to purchase concert tickets or CDs, visit www.stcharlessingers.com.
