Southwest Missouri abounds with performing organizations devoted to choral music. One of the newest of these is the Queen City Chorale, founded two years ago by Kenny Kabak, who is also the group's conductor. Kabak visited KSMU's "Arts News" to talk about his group's winter concert, "Carols for Choir and Harp," on Sunday, December 10 at 7 p.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 1115 North Campbell Avenue.
Kabak told us he was a student here at Missouri State University, completing his undergraduate and graduate studies in music education and choral conducting.
"I tried lots of different things in my life," he says. "I tried science and sports, and nothing really stuck. But music was the one thing that I felt very magnetized to."
Why did Kabak choose choral conducting?
"I just think that the voice, in and of itself, is a medium of the fine arts that transcends all barriers, and can really bridge communities from all different backgrounds," he says.
Queen City Chorale began as something of a "hobby" for Kabak: "It was a way to really cope through the pandemic," he says. "We were really missing live performance, and we were missing collaboration. So I called up a few of my colleagues from school, and I said, 'We should get together, and we should just sing somewhere.' I bought all the music, and everybody put a mask on, and we just recorded some videos. There was no live audience. But we posted those videos, and it picked up traction."
Springfield deemed 'a Mecca for the choral arts'
Regarding the increasing number of choral groups popping up in Springfield, Kenny Kabak calls Springfield "a Mecca for the choral arts, specifically in the state of Missouri. There's great choral arts that are happening in Missouri, great educators — especially by-products of Missouri State. But yeah, this is a great place to be if you're interested in singing. There are so many different places that people can experience choral music."
Since Queen City Chorale is still in what Kabak called "our infancy stage, it's really important to us to hone the idea of 'Queen City' as our platform. We're really just interested in building the relationship with Springfield here." The group hasn't toured yet, although they did perform, by invitation, at the Missouri Music Educators Association meeting at Tan-Tar-A. "Maybe, eventually, we'll take it on the road," Kabak says.
For their concert on December 10, Queen City Chorale will be joined by harpist Kristin Gram, largely because the idea for this concert was inspired by an album by the choral group Seraphic Fire, called "Candlelight Carols — Carols for Choir and Harp."
Kabak "borrowed" the concept because "the holidays can be a really hard time for people for a number of reasons. And the harp has this really meditative sonic quality to it. In a space like St. Joseph Catholic Church, which is really reverberant — the acoustics are so gorgeous in there — I thought that to pair our voices with the sounds of the harp. And especially in something like (Benjamin) Britten's fabulous 'Ceremony of Carols,' I think it can really be a transformative and healing experience for people who may not have a lot of experience listening to choirs."
Britten designed "Ceremony of Carols" to begin with the chorus processing into the performing space while singing, and to recess out of the church while continuing to sing. The way Kabak has organized the program, the work comes in the middle of the concert, and he has modified Britten's processional-and-recessional style slightly to take advantage of the space at St. Joseph church.
"I've had my eye on this work for several years and have always wanted to do it," Kabak says. The concert will also present music by Abbie Betinis, John Rutter, Stephen Paulus and other contemporary choral composers, along with music by Felix Mendelssohn.
Tickets not needed for December 10 concert
There are no tickets for this concert, but donations will be appreciated. Queen City Chorale is "entirely grassroots founded," Kabak says. The group just received its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. Kabak feels "we're now in a place where we could look into applying for grants. But we are really enjoying nurturing relationships with our supporters right now — by our singers and by several supporters from around the area. Our singers currently pay dues to be a part of the project to help offset the overhead costs" of putting on concerts like this one.
For information, you can visit queencitychorale.org, or find them on Facebook and Instagram. Also, all of the group's previous concerts are playlisted on their YouTube channel.
