The Buffalo Grove Park District’s BG Singers will celebrate their 30th anniversary with a concert performance Sept. 19, 20 and 21 at the Buffalo Grove Park District Community Arts Center.
Courtesy of Buffalo Grove Park District
The Buffalo Grove Singers are nearing a major milestone as they get ready to present “Reprise: 30 Years of Song,” a special anniversary concert celebrating three decades of choral music and community service.
The group will perform three shows at the Community Arts Center, 225 McHenry Road: Sept. 19 at 7:30 p.m., and Sept. 20 and 21 at 3 p.m.
Tickets are $16 for seniors and children under 12, and $18 for adults, available online at bgsingers.org and at the Alcott Center, 530 Bernard Drive.
Last year, in anticipation of its 30th anniversary celebration, Linda Rosen, the group’s conductor and director, and Charla Silver, the choreographer and assistant director, combed through its past repertoire for some crowd pleasing nuggets. They winnowed down the list of 570 songs to 75 finalists.
The list was inserted in last year’s program and put to a vote.
“We took the top vote-getters, and that’s what made the show,” Rosen said. “These are all audience- and singer-voted songs.”
The resulting program includes beloved selections such as “You Can’t Stop The Beat,” “Seasons of Love,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and a medley from “West Side Story.”
The only new material is a medley from “Wicked,” Rosen said.
The BG Singers began when the Buffalo Grove Park District sought to bring more artistic events to the community. The founding members hoped to create a simple glee club-style group.
“It was our fervent hope that we would get maybe 25 people who wanted to sing,” Rosen recalled.
Today, the group is 65 members strong, with five original singers — Rosen, Lynne Schneider, Robin Axel, Barb Quinlan and Bruce Bohrer — still involved and approximately 75% of current members having sung with the group for over 20 years.
Instead of fundraising this anniversary year, the group committed to “30 Acts of Kindness For 30 Years Of Song.” Volunteer efforts have touched numerous local organizations including Heartland Rescue, Shoes 4 Soles, Bernie’s Book Bank, Center for Enriched Living, Vernon Township Food Pantry and Feed My Starving Children.
Over the years, the group has donated instruments to hospitals, collected pieces of sheet music for schools and supported hurricane victims, among many other charitable efforts.
“Our mission is to not only entertain, but to help others,” Rosen said. “It’s not all about the music. It’s all about the sense of community through song.”
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