Today we’d like to introduce you to Christopher Windle.
Christopher, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
This is my first year as Artistic Director with the Chicago Chamber Choir. I’ve been working as a professional singer and conductor for almost a decade now. I began my training at St. Olaf College where I earned my Bachelor of Music degree in Church Music. I worked in Sioux Falls, SD for two years and the moved to Philadelphia to begin my Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting at Temple University. After completing that degree, I moved to Chicago to study with Dr. Donald Nally at Northwestern University and pursue my Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting.
While studying, I worked with numerous non-profit organizations, community choirs, youth choirs, and churches. Some of these have included youth choirs such as the Maryland State Boychoir (MD) and the Commonwealth Youthchoirs (PA), and adult choir such as Singing City (PA) and the Chicago Bar Association Chorus (IL).
Currently, in addition to the Chicago Chamber Choir, I am the Instructor of Choral Studies at Benedictine University in Lisle and the Assistant Choirmaster at Church of the Atonement in Chicago.
My career has been incredibly varied and diverse in term of the different positions I’ve held and the types of groups and singers I’ve worked with. I’ve worked with young students and professional singers, and everyone in between. Becoming the Artistic Director of Chicago Chamber Choir feels like the culmination of many of these threads weaving together. Working with this wonderful choir, these incredible musicians and people is the result of each individual experience. They all contribute to my work with the singers and my artistic vision for the organization as a whole.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
In music and the arts in general, you tend to face a lot of rejection. For every graduate program that accepts you or job that hires you, there’s another opportunity that’s been missed or that has flat out rejected you. It can be deeply frustrating. It’s easy to look back on that road and see where it was leading. It’s another thing entirely to be on it and remains focused and confident in yourself, your skills, and your vision.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Chicago Chamber Choir story. Tell us more about the business.
The Chicago Chamber Choir is dedicated to bringing high-quality choral performances to the North Side of Chicago. As stated in our mission, we strive “to create a moving experience for our audience by performing exceptional choral music that celebrates the unlimited potential of the human voice.”
We endeavor to build community with our singers, audiences, and the entire choral community of Chicago. One of the things that sets us apart from other choral organizations is the avocational, or volunteer, nature of our singers combined with the high quality of performance that we achieve. Additionally, our unique programming sets us apart. We perform a wide variety of repertoire both standard choral pieces and new, modern choral works by living composers. We use everything at our disposal to create, not just a concert for people to sit and listen to, but a greater experience influenced by the music and the words that will envelope our audiences.
We’re really excited to be taking on the Howells Requiem for our Spring Concerts on April 21 and 22. I’m calling this program “Love” and it is intended to explore the complex and multifaceted nature of love through not just the Requiem, but Barber’s set of Reincarnations and Kim Andre Arnesen’s recent work, Even When He is Silent.
Our upcoming winter concerts are called “Seek” and explore the idea of searching and waiting. It includes both Christmas favorites and new work for choir and organ. December 9, 16, and 17.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I honestly don’t believe in luck. But I do believe that cultivating a rich community of people will allow you to take advantage of opportunities as they come along.
Pricing:
- Individual concert tickets are available online for $20
- Concert tickets are available at the door the day of the concert for $25
Contact Info:
- Address: P.O. Box #409430
Chicago, IL 60640-9430 - Website: www.chicagochamberchoir.org
- Phone: 773-920-SING
- Email: cccsings@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chicagochamberchoir/
Image Credit:
Carl Alexander
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