A fusion of swing, bebop and gospel, a significant chapter of this music unfolded in Madison, Wisconsin during Ellington's 1972 summer residency at UW Madison, where selections were performed with a 21-church interfaith choir at Bethel Lutheran Church. The Festival Choir of Madison presents a compilation of all three Sacred Concerts, in a concert adaptation by John Høybye and Peder Pedersen.

Join us for a concert celebrating the 170th anniversary of Edward Elgar and the 155th anniversary of Ralph Vaughan Williams, two defining voices of the English musical tradition. The evening features both the Festival Choir of Madison and the Festival Chamber Players with solo oboist Malia Huntsman. Among the program highlights are Elgar's mysterious "Sea Pictures" and Vaughan Williams' lush Oboe Concerto.

The last concert of the season marks the 110th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, reflecting on the rich soundscape of the pre-revolutionary Russian choral tradition, both secular and sacred. Featuring choral works by Sergei Taneyev, Sergei Rachmaninov, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and selections from Dmitri Shostakovich very rarely performed Poems op. 88 - his choral settings on revolutionary poets.