Naperville Chorus was founded in 1976 as an organization dedicated to the advancement of choral music, the encouragement of participation in group singing, the development of the appreciation of good music, and the presentation of choral programs (see Chorus History – Naperville Chorus). Our mission is to bring the joy of choral music to singers and audiences in Naperville and the surrounding communities, including audiences who cannot access traditional concert venues. Each year, Naperville Chorus presents two major concerts, one during the fall/winter holiday season and one in the spring. Performances have included Baroque music such as Bach’s Magnificat, Handel’s Messiah and Vivaldi’s Gloria, as well as lighter classics such as Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury and Pirates of Penzance (excerpts), and selections from Strauss’s Die Fledermaus. We have also performed 20th-century music such as Honegger’s King David, Gian Carlo Menotti’s Bishop of Brindisi, Ramirez’s Misa Criolla, and selections from Andrew Lloyd Weber, Cole Porter and George Gershwin. We have enjoyed collaborations with the Downers Grove Choral Society to perform Israel in Egypt and Elijah, and the DuPage Symphony Orchestra, presenting Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky, Russian Opera Choruses and selections from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (also with the Downers Grove Choral Society). In 2011, we were privileged to perform Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Chicago Bar Association Orchestra and Chorus at Symphony Center in Chicago. . On Memorial Day weekend in 2018, we sang at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. At our most recent concert, in April 2023, we performed A Mass in Time of War by Joseph Haydn and Requiem by John Rutter. See Performance History for more information.

Each summer, a small group of Naperville Chorus members performs classical Broadway songs at local assisted-living facilities as part of our community outreach program.

Naperville Chorus is fortunate to have Reid Taylor as conductor and director of music, with Jon Warfel as assistant director.

Naperville Chorus enjoys a close association with North Central College in Naperville and is part of the Music Department’s curriculum. Students can earn college credit through chorus participation. The chorus performed for many years at North Central College’s Pfeiffer Hall. Since 2008, we have been privileged to call the college’s Wentz Concert Hall and Fine Arts Center our performance and rehearsal home. We are indebted to North Central for its continued support over the years.

We would also like to acknowledge the generous support of the Illinois Arts Council; the Special Events and Community Arts Fund of Naperville; and our many individual donors.

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