To the editors:
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
The Chicago Symphony Chorus is composed of approximately 200 people with skills ranging from professional solo singers to amateurs. When such a diverse group of people undertakes a common activity, there will be those who are always disgruntled for one reason or another. Those reasons vary: being treated too much like children, being treated too much like professionals, the rehearsal room temperature, the number of bathrooms, whether women will be permitted to wear jewelry during concert performances, and so on. And these are all valid concerns as diverse as the spectrum of humanity in the chorus. I am, however, appalled that Mr. Lazare would mar his usual fine journalistic practices by reporting the speculations of an individual source with respect to the competency of Margaret Hillis.
In 1989, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Chorus performed at the London Proms and the Salzburg Festival. The performances of the soloists, the orchestra and the chorus under Maestro Solti were received in a way never before witnessed by this writer. The press consistently cited the magnificent sound and clarity of diction from the Chicago Symphony Chorus. And judging from recordings and comments of others, such excellence in choral singing has not been heard before or since those concerts in Europe. And believe me, that praise is the result of the effort of Margaret Hillis, who has set a hallmark for choral singing, not only in America, but also around the world.
