Music

The Family Choir, led by Bill Fraher, leads us in song at the monthly Family Mass. Students who would like to share their talents can join us. We rehearse in the church at 9:00 before the Family Mass

Choir of Harmony, Hope and Healing

Choir of Harmony, Hope and Healing
Harmony, Hope and Healing is a creative music program offering dignity and spiritual healing to the homeless and the underserved in the Chicago area. Its founder and director is Marge Nykaza.  We welcome the choir at the 11:15 a.m. Mass on selected dates throughout the year.  For more information about the choir and their programs, please visit their website at www.harmonyhopeandhealing.org.

If you are interested in helping to cook, serve, or underwrite the cost of the Choir’s lunch, please contact Bill Fraher at 312.831.9353, or billf@oldstpats.org. Any help would be greatly appreciated.  We hope you will be able to join us for these joyous occasions.

Deck The Hall Christmas Choir

Concert Dates:
Thursday, Friday and Saturday, November 29, 30 and December 1, 2012

Come and join with other like-minded people and voices.  Come and be energized!  Come and enjoy the rehearsal process and create something that has never been heard before. To schedule an appointment for an audition, please contact Bill Fraher at 312.831.9353 or BillF@oldstpats.org. The choir meets on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

Too Hot Choir

In 1992, Marin Alsop, the conductor of the Baltimore Symphony, commissioned two New York jazz musicians Gary Anderson and Bob Christiansen to create a jazz, gospel, blues, funk, and classical recreation of Handel’s oratorio “The Messiah.” The result was, while still maintaining Handel’s original intent, a swinging performance of “Too Hot To Handel.” It has since been performed in many cities throughout the United States and most recently has been brought to Chicago audiences by the Auditorium Theatre at Roosevelt University.

Tenor Rodrick Dixon, alto Karen Marie Richardson, and soprano Alfreda Burke are the soloists along with a jazz ensemble, full orchestra and a 125-voice Too Hot Choir. The choir is under the direction of Bill Fraher and is composed of volunteers from throughout the Chicago metropolitan area.  Auditions and rehearsals usually begin in September; the concert is schedule in January around the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.   No need to prepare anything for the audition.  As the choir learns 14 choruses in 12 rehearsals, participation in all rehearsals is necessary,  For more information, please visit the website at  www.thchicagochoir.org, or contact Bill Fraher atbillf@oldstpats.org, or 312.831.9353.

For tickets, please contact Ticket Master at 312.902.1500, or the Auditorium Theatre ticket office at 50 E. Congress Parkway, Chicago. For group sales, please call 312.431.2357, or visit the Auditorium Theatre’s Web site atwww.auditoriumtheatre.org.

We are in the midst of planning our 16th annual Siamsa na nGael St. Patrick’s Day program at Symphony Center.   Again we will be featuring a narrator, Irish Trad band, vocal soloists, Metropolis Symphony Orchestra, Old St. Patrick’s Concert Choir, dance and story. We are hoping to have a choir of 150 strong.  We extend an invitation to all singers to come and be part of this wonderful musical event.  Mark your calendars now.  Rehearsals are scheduled every Thursday and most Tuesdays until the concert.

For further information or to set up an audition time, please contact Bill Fraher at 312.831.9353 or e-mail me at billf@oldstpats.org.

Please come and join us as we prepare for our Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil, and Easter Sunday services.  For more information, please contact Bill Fraher at 312.831.9353, or billf@oldstpats.org.

Wedding Music Fairs

Old St. Patrick’s Music Ministry offers three wedding music fairs a year on the first Monday of February, May, and October from 7-8:45 p.m. in Old St. Patrick’s Church.  Check the online calendar for specific dates. Brides, grooms and extended family will hear all kinds of music appropriate for a wedding performed by many instrumentalists and singers. The program feature strings, piano, trumpet, oboe, Irish trad players, and six to eight singers.  Instrumentalists such as bagpipers and flutists also are available. There is a $5 donation per person at the door.

Whether you are a bride or groom planning a wedding at Old St. Pat’s or elsewhere; or a mother or father planning your son or daughter’s wedding or your own wedding anniversary; or if you want to hear some good music, please join us for our next wedding music fair for what some people call “the cheapest and best concert on a Monday night in downtown Chicago.”

For further information or assistance in planning your wedding, please contact Bill Fraher at 312.831.9353, orbillf@oldstpats.org.