Conductor
Randall Swanson has been Music Director and Principal Organist at Saint Clement Church since 1989. He received his Doctor of Music degree from Northwestern University in 1993. In recent years he has conducted the Choir and Orchestra in performances of Gabriel Fauré's
Requiem, Vivaldi's
Gloria and
Magnificat,
The Creation by Joseph Haydn, concert music in honor of the Virgin Mary, and music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, including his
Requiem,
Coronation Mass,
Exsultate,
jubilate, and various concertos. Swanson has conducted concerts in many of the musical centers of Europe, including Paris, Florence and Rome. His 1995 CD recording of Mozart's
Requiem with the Choir and Orchestra was released world-wide on the
Amadis label and is featured in 1998's critically acclaimed film "
Happiness." He is featured as organist on "
The Last Song of Summer," a CD of quiet music for organ and cello recorded with Chicago Symphony Orchestra cellist Donald Moline and released on the
Dorian classical label.
Messiah Choir
WGN Radio has described the Saint Clement
Messiah as a "magnificent hidden treasure!" The
Saint Clement Choir has a distinguished history of presenting some of the world's greatest musical works in performances that have been consistently hailed for their precision and vigor as well as their musical maturity.
The choir brings this same level of musicianship to its singing of the great choral treasures of the Church – from Gregorian chant and Renaissance polyphony through the most contemporary sacred repertoire of the new millennium – which it presents weekly for liturgies at
Saint Clement Church in Chicago.
Composed almost entirely of non-professional singers, the choir has toured internationally on several occasions. In 1994, the choir toured Italy, with performances at
Saint Mark's Basilica in Venice, the
Duomo in Florence, and at
Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome by special invitation of the Vatican. In 1999, the choir toured the great cathedrals and monuments of France, with performances at
Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the
Church of St-Sulpice in Paris,
Chartres Cathedral,
Mont-St-Michel Abbey in Normandy, and the
Basilica of St-Sernin in Toulouse for the highly prestigious
Toulouse International Organ Festival. In 2006, the choir performed two enthusiastically received concerts under the direction of Randall Swanson for the
National Convention of the American Guild of Organists, held here in Chicago.
Messiah Orchestra
Comprised of many of the Midwest's brightest and best young baroque musicians, the orchestra uses period instruments, with great attention to the details and possibilities of historic baroque performance practice, including pure tuning and a limiting of string vibrato. Our concert master is the brilliant young baroque violinist Martin Davids, and along with him, many of the musicians are members of the
Callipygian Players, an ensemble of Chicago's finest period instrument musicians and singers.
Visit our
Messiah by Candlelight page on
.
