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The 2025 Holiday Soirée is the annual fundraiser for Fourth Coast Ensemble. Join the ensemble in a beautiful Lincoln Park home on Friday, December 12, 2025, from 7-10pm for an evening of cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, and song. All proceeds benefit the ongoing artistic and administrative work of Fourth Coast Ensemble, ensuring they can continue to deliver their acclaimed, horizon-expanding programs of vocal chamber music to the Chicago community.
The evening's program includes selections from Benjamin Britten's A Ceremony of Carols for four voices and harp, art songs about family and love by Chicago composers Stacy Garrop and Joshua Fath, and cherished holiday carols from around the world. |
WordSong Chicago explores how one poem can be interpreted in multiple ways by readers, composers, and performers. Four musical settings of Chicago author Avery Zieper's poem "A Guide to the Moon" will be premiered, including piano/vocal settings by John Bitoy, Kyong Mee Choi, Robbie Ellis, and 2025 songSLAM Chicago commission prize winner Joshua Fath. Each of the four premiere works will be performed by members of Fourth Coast Ensemble alongside pianist and moderator Mark Bilyeu. Attendees will receive an interactive guide to write down thoughts, reactions, and insights, and will be encouraged to engage in conversation with the composers and poet in attendance.
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Fourth Coast Ensemble is pleased to present the seventh annual Chicago songSlam. Fashioned after poetry slams and story telling events, teams will present a new art song of 5 minutes or less for the voting audience, who will award $2,000 in prize money to the top three teams. Additionally, Fourth Coast Ensemble will award a $1,000 commission prize to one composer for a new work to be premiered in 2027.
The competition is emcee'd by Chicago composer Stacy Garrop at the beautiful KOVAL Distillery Tasting Room in Chicago's Ravenswood corridor. Fourth Coast Ensemble will perform several of Ms. Garrop’s works to close the night as votes are tabulated. |
