05/11/2026
“Not gone. Not here. Not elsewhere. Simply: everywhere.” —EFD, “A Secret Thing” 2026
Wow 🤯 One of our largest turnouts yet for Saturday’s “Quintessence” concert at United Lutheran Church of Oak Park!
Thanks so much for coming out to hear our 4th season closing concert featuring the world premiere of .eff.dee 3 movement piece “Quintessence” with 16 piece orchestra and a diverse set of Acapella pieces conducted by our final conductor/artistic director candidate . We were also thrilled to present “How to Survive Vesuvius” written by Matthew himself, “And the Swallow” by and our composition contest winners “Oaks and Roses” and .pan “Seeing of Monk Xu to Visit Tiantai.” What a special pleasure to welcome .pan to the US and our audience that night!
We couldn’t have done it without:
🌟 Guest singers to the choir .zeng and
🌟 The VV String Orchestra including: Concertmaster , Associate Comcertmaster , GOAT Clarinet Soloist .clarinet.diva, Bass Soloist
🌟 Rehearsal accompanists: and
🌟 Social media:
🌟 William Baker Choral Foundation reps and mentors: (our photographer) and Bill Baker
And of course, YOU, our gracious family, friends, and supporters who show out for us each time! This 4th season has been an interesting one for sure as we wrap our search for the next conductor of our ensemble and we appreciate the love, patience, and open mindedness as we explore this new experiment and process. Next year may indeed hold a new conductor (to be announced soon) and possibly with new singers (auditions coming soon) but our mission to expand the Western choral canon and give visibility to marginalized works, languages, and cultures remains the same. 🍾 —to a successful season and looking forward to what August holds next!!!