New Classic Singers continues its 27th concert season with Sergei Rachmaninoff's stunning All-Night Vigil, on Saturday, May  9, at the McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn.  The 8 p.m. concert will include other sacred selections by Victoria, Helvey and spiritual arrangements by Moses Hogan. Founder and Music Director Lee Kesselman will conduct.

Composed in 1915, the All-Night Vigil (often called the Vespers) is one of Rachmaninoff's three major works for chorus. Based on Orthodox chants, the work joins texts and chants from the Vesper, Matins and Prime services and is sung in the original Church Slavonic. Widely considered one of the greatest a cappella choral works, the music is filled with hauntingly beautiful melodies, rich Russian harmonies and a deep and fervant religious sensibility.

NCS continues to perform a wide variety of choral masterworks, new and old, since the inaugural season of the professional choral ensemble in 1982. DuPage audiences have regularly flocked to these concerts for the finest in choral singing and repertoire. Members include solo vocalists, educators, and other fine singers from throughout the Chicago area. The ensemble is known for its imaginative programs and vocal excellence.

Founder and Director Lee Kesselman is widely known as a conductor, composer, and arranger. His choral music is performed internationally and his leadership of NCS has made the ensemble a beacon of choral music in the Chicago area.

Tickets for Rachmaninoff Vespers are available at the Arts Center Ticket Office at 630-942-4000. Special rates are available for students, seniors, and groups.

Repeat Performance
RACHMANINOFF VESPERS
St. Peter's in the Loop
110 West Madison, Chicago
Sunday, May 31, 2009, 3 pm