NL_042618

newlenoxpatriot.com LIFE & ARTS
the New Lenox Patriot | April 26, 2018 | 19
Chorale prepares for spring show, transition to new director
Local Greg Day
directs his final show
for LW Area Chorale
Amanda Stoll, Asistant Editor
The Lincoln-Way Area
Chorale’s “Back to Broadway”
show at 3 p.m. on Sunday,
April 29 will delight the
audience with a variety of
favorite show tunes, and will
mark the finale for director
Greg Day.
After six years directing
the group, Day will take his
final bow on stage and hand
the baton to Elisé Greene.
Day said his first show
with the chorale was an Andrew
Lloyd Webber tribute,
so it is funny that his last will
be in the same attitude.
This spring, the chorale
will showcase a different
variety of Broadway tunes,
many of which they have
not performed before. Theater
lovers will enjoy the
medley’s from various composers
and shows including
“My Fair Lady,” “Camelot,”
“Les Miserables,” “The Music
Man,” “Hello Dolly,”
“Avida,” “The Phantom of
the Opera,” and “Cats” —
just to name a few.
“It’s going to be a collection
of everyone’s favorites
from Broadway musicals,
both old and new,” Day said.
He said the group especially
loves performing songs
from Broadway musicals
because many of the chorale
members are theater lovers
themselves, but they have
also performed more serious
pieces such as Handel’s
“Messiah” and Schubert’s
“Mass in G” during Day’s
time with the group.
“What I’ve tried to do
over the past six years is
present them with the widest
possible variety of music,
and they’ve been very,
Director Greg Day and soon-to-be director Elisé Green pose with the flyer to Lincoln-Way
Area Chorale’s upcoming spring concert, which is to take place at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 29
at Lincoln-Way West High School. Photos by Adam Jomant/22nd Century Media
very comfortable with anything
that I’ve put in front of
them,” Day said.
He said the group has become
family to him during
his tenure with them. Even
though he is retiring from
directing, he said he will
still see a handful of them as
they are some of his private
students who he teaches out
of his home and at both Lincoln-Way
Central and East
High Schools.
“Every choir I’ve ever directed
has been a family to
me, and this choir is no exception,”
Day said. “I call
them my latest family, and
I use that word ‘family’ in a
very literal sense. We stick
together, we share good
times together, we share bad
times together, but most importantly
we stick together
and we back each other.”
Day led the group to New
York City for a performance
at Carnegie Hall last year,
and said he has greatly enjoyed
his time directing
them. But, he said it is time
for him to retire from directing,
with 596 career performances
under his belt.
As much as he’s been encouraged
to go for that even
600, Day said he wants to
make his family the priority
at this point in his life.
It was a hard decision, but
Day said he is leaving the
group in more-than-capable
hands with Greene, who
has been teaching most recently
at Liberty Junior High
School in New Lenox for the
past 16 years.
She is retiring at the end of
the school year, which made
for good timing with Day’s
retirement.
“I think she will relate
very well to the group,” Day
said of Greene, who he has
been working with to make
a smooth transition. “That’s
very important because
you’re dealing with a large
group of people who have
quite a wide variety of personalities
and musical abilities
and you’re dealing with
a lot there, and she has the
type of personality that I
think will relate very well to
them.”
Greene said she is looking
forward to the opportunity to
working with such a large,
talented, adult choir that is
as dedicated as the group is.
Not only that, but she said
the group has whole-heartedly
welcomed her.
“They’re only there because
they love to sing,
and there’s so many lovely
people, too,” Greene said of
the group. “...I’m so honored
to have been chosen to
take over. It’s a tremendous
tradition that’s already been
established and I feel really
honored to be able to carry
on that tradition.”
The tradition extends to
that of a smooth transition
between directors. Day
said former director Chuck
Stark was helpful for his
transition years ago, and he
has tried to do the same for
Greene.
The interview process for
Greene began in January,
and she said it was interesting
and enjoyable, with the
board of directors really taking
time to get to know her
and asking good questions
during their meetings.
“They had the best questions
I’ve ever been asked
for interviews,” Greene
Director Greg Day (right) will lead his last performance for
the chorale. Tickets cost $17 for adults or $15 for students
and seniors.
Jake Tolbert (left) sings with another chorale member
during a rehearsal on April 16.
said. “The whole process I
thought was really good, and
their board of directors, the
people are all in the group
too, so that’s really kind of
cool.”
Greene has a bachelor’s
degree in music education
with an emphasis in choral
music from Michigan State
University, as well as minors
in music theory and music
literature. She also earned
a master’s degree from
VanderCook College of Music
in Chicago with an emphasis
in choral music.
She said she hopes the
chorale can add some more
performances to their set of
two annual concerts, and
said she can see a lot of opportunities
for them in both
the Chicago area and around
the country.
“I think it would be really,
really great to work towards
different things like that,”
Greene said.
Tickets for the chorare’s
spring show are $17 for
adults and $15 for seniors
and students. They can be
purchased at lwac.com.