As the nation prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary, the McDonough Choral Society will mark the occasion with a concert featuring works by American composers.
“It is a bipartisan celebration of our country, and as we celebrate our 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, I think there will be a lot to enjoy,” said Director John Orfe.
The program will include a piece by America’s first published composer, William Billings, along with compositions by Undine Smith Moore, Stephen Foster, Aaron Copland, and other composers from the nation’s earliest days to the present day.
The Prairieland Barbershop Chorus will join the group for a set of four patriotic songs in the program’s second half. In addition, the audience will be asked to join in for the last chorus of the evening’s finale, Battle Hymn of the Republic.
The concert, “An American Celebration,” will begin at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 27, at Wesley United Methodist Church, 1212 W. Calhoun St. in Macomb.
Admission is free. Donations will be accepted.
The new director
This will be the McDonough Choral Society’s second performance under Orfe’s direction. He was hired after the group took a brief hiatus following the 2023 retirement of longtime conductor Susan Shoemaker, who co-founded the group more than 20 years ago along with her late husband.
Orfe’s compositions have been performed around the world, and he is a member of Alarm Will Sound, which won the 2026 GRAMMY Award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance.
Orfe said his earliest music experiences were in church, and he has accompanied choirs as a pianist. He’s always loved the human voice and how expressive it can be.
“Something really special happens when voices join together and become more than the sum of their parts,” he said.
Orfe lives in Peoria, and commutes to Macomb to work with the McDonough Choral Society every Monday evening.
“This is a group of people who love singing and very much want to continue singing,” Orfe said. “I am honored to have the privilege of helping the group get back up and running and singing great choral music.”
Some of the compositions in the upcoming show are quite difficult, according to Orfe, but he said the members have accepted the challenge of performing them and have worked hard to prepare for the concert.
He called the group’s members “very intelligent folks” who are united by their love of choral music.
“This is a special group,” Orfe said.
Having fun
Orfe is not the only choral society member who makes a long trip every Monday. Halee Hendel drives roughly 50 miles from Canton, Ill., to Macomb to participate. She learned about the group from Orfe, who she met while performing with the Peoria Area Civic Chorale and at a Methodist church in Peoria.
This will be her first performance with the McDonough Choral Society.
“I’m still learning the ropes and learning everybody’s names and getting everything figured out, but so far, so good. Everybody’s been super welcoming and very, very kind, and the music is fun so that’s good, too,” she said.
Hendel said she’s been singing pretty much since she could talk. She loved choir in high school and then continued singing in college at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington.
Her favorite piece on the April 27 program is Ain't No Grave Gonna Hold Me Down.
“It’s kind of a spiritual. It’s so much fun. It’s got so much energy,” Hendel said.
“It’s kind of hard, too, which I think is exciting. I kind of like a challenge. I think it’s going to be great if we can really kind of hone in and let go and have fun with it.”
She believes that will happen. She said Orfe “has a really fascinating way” of pulling everybody together, bringing out the best in them, and making them feel passionate about the music.
“That’s the best part. Seeing everybody get into it and enjoy the music and have fun. That’s what we’re here for, right?” she said.
Hendel grew up in Avon, so she said it will be easy for her family to come to Macomb for the concert.
Another choral society member, Charlene Kornoski-Du Vall, moved to Macomb in 2019 after living in the Chicago suburbs.
She is glad to have found the choral society, and said the songs in the upcoming show reflect the nation’s growth.
“They talk about freedom. They talk about respect for our diverse population,” she said.
Kornoski-Du Vall enjoys singing so much that she still performs with ensembles in the Chicago area, too.
Creative endeavors
Lynn Johanson serves as President of the McDonough Choral Society’s Board of Directors and, under the name Lynn-Steven Johanson, he is author of the Joe Erickson mystery series. The latest novel in the series, Wreaking Vengeance, was just released on April 21.
He has also written approximately 35 plays.
Johanson said singing in a choral group and writing stories are similar in that he’s always learning something.
“You learn music. You learn how to sing your part. You learn how to sing with other people. As a novelist, I’m always learning things,” he said.
“They’re both creative endeavors, and it seems like everything I’ve been interested in as long as I’ve lived has been creative in nature.”
Johanson grew up in the small town of Marathon in northwest Iowa. He attended a Lutheran church and started singing in Sunday school at a young age.
He said the McDonough Choral Society is always looking for singers, and he encourages anyone who enjoys singing to join the group, even if they don’t read music.
“I don’t read music very well. I like to sit next to somebody that can because that’s a way I learn it,” Johanson said.
He calls music a way to express yourself. He said being in the choral society is an enjoyable experience.
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