The Galesburg Community Chorus spring concert will be a bit different than in past years — and it will delight more than the ears.
Because above the chorus, and the chamber orchestra, the words and sketches of Leonardo da Vinci will spill across a giant screen.
“There is a dwindling audience for classical music. I think that with the experience of going to a concert and watching a symphony play or watching a chorus sing, there’s not really a visual element or a holistic aesthetic experience,” said Tim Pahel, director of the Galesburg Community Chorus since 2000.
Pahel is also aiming to feature more work by women composers.
Enter “The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci,” a unique, immersive and multi-media work by Jocelyn Hagen that not only brings the Renaissance artist’s writings to life in song, but projects them above the performers, creating a powerful experience for the audience.
“The music is definitely accessible. It’s interesting and expressive,” Pahel said. “Sometimes there are these big sort of powerful driving moments, and some moments are just absolutely gorgeous and lyrical and expressive.”
The score ranges from rhythmic almost pop music to songs clearly referencing classical styles, and others that are more dissonant.
The Galesburg Community Chorus was founded in 1945. It’s a non-auditioned group that tackles challenging music.
Pahel said the chorus is a mix of people with substantial musical backgrounds and years of experience, and others who just love singing beautiful music.
“We have people from, of course, Galesburg, but we have people from surrounding communities,” he said. “We have people driving in from Avon every week. We have one from Peoria. We have a contingent of people who come every week from Macomb, and have done so for decades.”
A lot of the time, the Galesburg Community Chorus performs in reverberant local churches.
But “The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci” will be performed on the stage of Galesburg’s Orpheum Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 4.
“So we're excited about that as well,” Pahel said. “The Orpheum is going to work much better for what we need in terms of the lighting and the projections and the technology. And so we're hoping that will draw more people in.”
Tickets are $5 for students and $20 for adults plus fees.
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