On Saturday’s broadcast, we present ANIMA – Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus, now in its 54th season.
One of the leading children and youth choral organization in North America, its rich heritage has served as an artistic and educational model for many years. Recent national awards include the 2013 ASCAP Adventurous Programming award from Chorus America, the 2013 Tribute Award from Chicago A cappella, the 2013 Non Profit of the Year Award from the Glen Ellyn Chamber of Commerce, the 2009 Dale Warland Singers Commission Award from Chorus America and the American Composers Forum, and the one‐in‐an‐organizational lifetime Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence from Chorus America in 2008.
ANIMA is dedicated to transforming young lives through excellence in music education and choral singing. Its six ensembles serve children from over 35 different Chicago area communities, with outreach programs reaching 1,000 additional children annually. International tours have taken the chorus to six continents. ANIMA is the Latin word for breath, life, soul, spirit.
Performing frequently with Chicago’s major musical organizations, ANIMA’s singers have performed under many of the world’s most eminent conductors, including Esa‐Pekka Salonen, Bernard Haitink, Semyon Bychkov, John Nelson, Jane Glover, Christoph Eschenbach, Claudio Abbado, and Georg Solti. Also committed to new music, ANIMA has commissioned over 80 new works for young voices in its history.
ANIMA was the first children’s chorus in America to be recognized and funded by the National Endowment for the Arts for the professionalism of its work and captured four Grammy Awards for its performances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Sir Georg Solti.
Recent highlights include an appearance at the Kennedy Center in June 2017, a concert tour to Greece in June 2018, an appearance with the Grant Park Music Festival in August 2018 in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, a series of performances of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in October,2018, and an appearance on GRiZ’s new track It Gets Better, featuring Grammy-nominated rapper DRAM, which was released in November 2018.