• Source: Uniting Voices

      • Uniting Voices (formerly the Chicago Children's Choir) is a non-profit organization, founded in 1956 at First Unitarian Church of Chicago.


      Organization


      Founded in Hyde Park in 1956, Uniting Voices has grown from one choir into a network of in-school and after-school programs serving nearly 5,000 students across the city of Chicago. Noteworthy faculty include Josephine Lee who currently serves as president and artistic director, Judy Hanson, senior associate artistic director, W Mitchell Owens, composer-in-residence, Lonnie Norwood, Director of Africana studies, and John Goodwin, principal pianist and resident conductor.


      History


      In 1956 during the Civil Rights Movement, the late Rev. Christopher Moore founded the multiracial, multicultural Chicago Children's Choir at Hyde Park's First Unitarian Church of Chicago. He believed that youth from diverse backgrounds could better understand each other - and themselves - by learning to make beautiful music together. Today, the choir is fully independent and serves all of Chicago from its home in the Chicago Cultural Center.
      Distinguished singers included David Edmonds, who performed with the choir from 1970 to 1977. He sang classical, folk and spiritual pieces as lead soloist in numerous concerts, both in Chicago and on national tours. He can be heard on the choir's 1972 album Chicago Children's Choir Sings at Orchestra Hall. Edmonds also performed with the Joffrey Ballet, the Rockefeller Chapel Orchestra and Chorus, and the Bretton Woods Boy Singers. He died from AIDS complications in 1990.
      Uniting Voices has performed at Ravinia Festival, Ravello Festival, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Kennedy Center.


      Discography




      = Albums

      =

      Studs Terkel interview with Christopher Moore and CCC music (1959)
      This is Rhythm (1960) (with Ella Jenkins)
      Flower Communion (1961)
      Recording at First Unitarian Church (1962-1963)
      "You'll Sing a Song and I'll Sing a Song" recording with Ella Jenkins (1966)
      "Play Your Instruments and Make a Pretty Sound" recording with Ella Jenkins (1967)
      Chicago Children's Choir Sings at Orchestra Hall (1972)
      Behold This Star (1973)
      Jambo and Other Call and Response Songs and Chants (with Ella Jenkins) (1974)
      Chicago Children's Choir In Concert (1974)
      Let George Do It (1974)
      Chicago Children's Choir Sings for Children (1976)
      It's Music (1977)
      Lift Every Voice (1981)
      Hopping around from place to place with Ella Jenkins (1983)
      April Tour Team (1985)
      June Galas Concert (1985)
      Gospel Mass (1986)
      In the Folk Tradition (1987)
      Selections from the CCC (1990)
      Songs of the Season (1991)
      June Galas (1992)
      Japan Tour Excerpts (1992)
      Children's Choral Festival (1993)
      The Thrilling Sound of the CCC (1993)
      Hop, Hop, Hop! Sing-and-Dance Songs from Ladybug (1994) (with Oriana Singers)
      Simple Gifts (1994)
      Do You Hear the People Sing (1996) (Recorded live from South Africa tour)
      40 Years of Harmony (1997)
      Songs of the Human Spirit (c.2000)
      Spring Gala Concert (2001)
      Chicago Children's Choir Live from Vienna (2001)
      Open Up Your Heart (2004)
      You Shall Have a Song (2004)
      Sita Ram (2008)
      Songs on the Road to Freedom (2008)
      The Very Best Time of the Year: Music for the Holiday Season (c.2009)
      Holiday Harmony (2009)
      Holiday (2010)
      We All Live Here (2016)
      Harmony Anew (2019)
      "Long Way Home" (2021)
      Singles

      "Multiverse" (2024)
      "Eyes on de Prize" (2024)
      "Go Tell It" (2023)
      "United" (2022)
      "Still Here" (2022)


      = Other appearances

      =
      The Life and Times - Tragic Boogie (2009, Arena Rock)
      Chance the Rapper - "All We Got", "Same Drugs", "How Great", and "Finish Line / Drown" from Coloring Book (2016)
      Notable Live Appearances

      Saturday Night Live - with Karol G ("Mientras Me Curo Del Cora")
      NASCAR Chicago Street Race 2024 - "America the Beautiful"


      Tours



      Voice of Chicago (formerly Concert Choir) tours:

      2024 - Mexico (Oaxaca and Mexico City) - Jun. 10-16, 2024
      2023
      Lexington, KY - Jan. 14-17, 2023
      Miami, FL (w/ Dimension) - Mar. 1-5, 2023
      2022 - Egypt - Jun. 19-30, 2022
      2020 - Los Angeles, CA - CANCELLED due to the Covid-19 pandemic - was planned for Apr. 30 - May 4, 2020
      2019 - Spain - Jun. 20 - Jul. 1, 2019
      2018 - Israel & Palestine - CANCELLED due to political unrest
      2017 - Italy - Jul. 4-13, 2017
      2016 - Havana, Cuba (last tour organized by beloved tour coordinator Beth Kershner)
      2015 - New York City & Washington, DC
      2014 - South Africa
      Concert Choir tours:

      2013 - India
      2012 - Italy
      2011 - Baltic Tour: Estonia, Finland & Latvia w/ Bobby McFerrin
      2010 - Alaska
      2009 - South American Tour: Argentina and Uruguay
      2008 - South Korea
      2007 - "Freedom Tour": Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi & Louisiana
      2006 - Czech Republic
      2005 - Japan
      2004 - Canada
      2003 - Germany
      2002 - Japan
      2001 - Germany, Austria & Hungary
      2000 - Colorado
      1999 - England, Scotland & Wales
      1998 - Pacific Northwest & British Columbia
      1997 - Italy, Sicily & Sardinia
      1997 - Ukraine
      1996 - South Africa
      1995 - Canada
      1994 - Russia
      1993 - Mexico
      1992 - Japan
      1991 - New Orleans, Atlanta, Alabama
      1956-1981: After Chicago Children's Choir began tours (overnight concert trips) in the mid-1960s, touring continued annually through at least 1981. Trips below that lasted less than a week are marked *. Those below lasting more than 11 days, always in summer, were Montreal I (1967: 3 wks), Boston (1969: 2 wks), and Europe (1970: 6 wks). Tours listed here all involved members of the Choir's top performance unit, designated "Senior Tour Unit" during most of this period.
      1974-81: list incomplete
      1981: East Coast/Ontario (Toronto)
      1978 - East Coast (April)
      1978 - ? (March)
      1977 - Ohio* (November)
      1977 - East Coast/Canada (Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal) (April) and simultaneous trip in northern Illinois*
      1977 - Southwest (March)
      1976 - Madison*
      1973 - East Coast (late April)
      1973 - Tennessee (early April)
      1973 - New England (March: "the blizzard tour")
      1972 - New England (April)
      1972 - Texas (March)
      1971 - two simultaneous April tours to different parts of the East Coast
      1970 - England, Denmark, West Germany (June–July)
      1970 - New York III (April)
      1970 - Colorado? (March)
      1969 - Minnesota* (November) and another* simultaneously
      1969 - Boston area
      1969 - Washington, D.C. area (April)
      1969 - New York II (March)
      1968 - Kentucky-Tennessee* (autumn)
      1968 - Iowa* (May)
      1968 - New York I (April)
      1968 - Madison WI* (March)
      1967 - Montreal II (October: to Expo '67)
      1967 - Montreal I (summer: to Expo '67)
      1966 - Indianapolis* (November)
      1965?- Madison*
      1964?- Southwest (Tulsa OK)


      References

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