Mondays, 7:30 – 9:30 PM
Steven Szalaj, Conductor
Providing inspiration and beauty, uniting our community in song.
Join others like you who love choral music. Sing historic masterworks to contemporary styles.
Register For the 2023-2024 Season Today!
Experience the Power of Music
If you want to sing with VIH, we will find a place for you.
Placement Audition
At your first rehearsal, the director will interview you about your past singing experience. Next, you will sing some vocal exercises. These help us learn about your range, sense of pitch, the tone of your voice and your melodic memory, giving the director a good idea about where you might best fit into VIH. There is nothing to prepare for this, it is simply getting a “snapshot” of where you are right now.
What is the cost for VIH during the regular concert season (August-April)?
$175 – Supporting Member
$350 – Sustaining Member
$700 – Legacy Member
Why join VIH at a higher level? The Sustaining and Legacy Memberships provide significant support to VIH, and lessens the need to raise additional funds. They are closer to the actual per-person cost of VIH. If you have any questions, please contact us.
What is the cost for VIH during the summer?
Summer Membership (June-July): $50
Upcoming Concerts in the 2023-2024 Season: The Power Of Music
| February 10 | 6:00pm | Crystal Lake Holiday Inn | Follow Your Heart – The EMA Gala | |
| April 28 | 4:00pm | First Congregational Church of Crystal Lake | Songs of Hope – The Mozart “Requiem” K626 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Rehearsals begin the third week of August and continue through the end of April or the beginning of May. There is a mid-season break from mid-December to mid-January.
After the concert in April or May, there is a break until the Summer Session begins the first week of June. This session ends after the Fourth of July Concerts.
VIH performs in at least 3 concerts annually:
- A concert in November
- A concert in April or early May
- The Main Beach and Fourth of July concerts at the end of June and early July
We have singers as young as high school age, to people of retirement age and beyond.
Our music is richly varied. We sing choral masterworks from all eras. We sing arrangements from musical theater, folk music and contemporary styles with an emphasis on American music. We sing a cappella, and with piano, organ, small instrumental ensembles and orchestra. Our focus is music that demonstrates the best of the choral art. We sing music that connects with the heart and lifts our listeners.
You will want to attend all rehearsals. Preparing music for performance is a progressive experience. Just “knowing your part” is not enough. Your voice has to fit into the artistic whole.
If you need to miss a rehearsal, we ask that you notify your section leader in advance.
Every singer is vital for performances; each person is as important to the sound as the next. Performance is the outgrowth of the rehearsal journey.
Viva Voce is a ensemble of 12-16 members, chosen by audition from the singers in VIH. Auditions usually occur in August, or as needed.
This ensemble performs as part of the full VIH concerts. They also sing for many community events throughout the year, including Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day celebrations, festivals and fairs. Viva Voce also performs their own dinner concert annually.
Learn more about our summer festival chorus.
Summer Rehearsals at First Congregational Church in Crystal Lake:
- Mondays in June
- Last two Thursdays in June
- 7pm – 9pm
- Tuesday June 27, 2023 @ 7:00pm
- 4th of July Fireworks Concert: Sunday July 2, 2023 @ 7:00pm
Photo Gallery
Adult Choir Adult Chorus Choir Choral Music Chorus Community Concert Dinner EMA Fall FCC guitar MCC November Power Of Music Quintet Refresh & Renew singer Soar Into Song VIH Viva Voce vocal music Voices In Harmony Winds Off The Lake Woodwind