Grande Prairie Singers preparing for celebration of Jewish music May 21

The Grande Prairie Singers will close the gala 40th anniversary season with a final concert at 3 p.m. May 21 at St. Lawrence O’Toole Church 4101 St. Lawrence Ave., Matteson.  
 

The concert, “From Moses to Max: Jewish Music from Sinai to the Carnegie Deli,” will focus on Salomone Rossi and Max Janowski, two composers who revolutionized Jewish music. 
 

In 1622, Rossi composed his “Song of Solomon,” which discarded the traditional themes of the synagogue service for new music written in the Baroque tradition.  
 

Some 400 years later, Max Janowski, the longtime musical director at KAM Isaiah Israel Congregation in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, was creating modern choral works now sung in synagogues around the world. For a time, Janowski also directed the choir at Temple Beth Sholom in Park Forest.

The Grande Prairie Singers was founded in 1977 and is led by Artistic Director Jo Rodenburg. The more than 40 musicians from the South Suburbs and northwest Indiana, have drawn praise for their excellence. Their recent engagement with the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra was lauded by the IPO’s guest conductor Francesco Milioto as “a strong, dedicated and exceptionally talented musical group.” 

In addition to three scheduled concerts during the 2016-2017 season, the Grande Prairie Singers were among the featured performers at a sold-out concert with the Southwest Symphony Orchestra in March.

“When we drew up our concert schedule for this season we did not know the world-famous Carnegie Deli in New York would close its doors at the end of last year,” said Grande Prairie Singers Administrator Jerry Shnay. “In a sense, we hope, as the restaurant fed its patrons with mountainous sandwiches for nearly 100 years, the Grande Prairie Singers will offer this concert of glorious music as food for the soul.”

Tickets for the concert are $15 in advance, $20 at the door and $10 for students with an ID. Tickets may be ordered by phone at 708-481-8684 or by mail at Grande Prairie Choral Arts, 266 Somonauk, Park Forest, IL. 60466, or online at www.grandeprairiechoral.org.