St. John Brebeuf Musica Lumina concert series opens Sunday, September 24

CAPTION

Celebrate Life! featuring the uplifting music of Bach and Vivaldi will open the 2017-18 St. John Brebeuf Concert Series Sunday, Sept. 24, at 3 p.m. at St. John Brebeuf Church, 8307 N Harlem Ave, Niles.

The Musica Lumina 2017-18 concert series opens Sunday, Sept. 24, at 3 p.m. at St. John Brebeuf Church, 8307 N Harlem Ave, Niles. This first concert—Musica Lumina I: Celebrate Life!—will feature the uplifting music of Bach and Vivaldi. A free-will offering will be taken, but there is no admission charge.

Sponsored in part by Relevant Radio and the Niles Metropolitan Chorus, the ten-concert 2016-17 series organized by SJB Music Director Marek Rachelski will include three commemorative concerts given in honor of the legacy of the Rev. Stanley Rudcki, the former chair of the Niles College Department of Fine Arts, who founded the Niles Concert Choir and Niles Symphony Orchestra in the 1960s. They are Charles Gounoud's 200th! St. Cécilia Mass and Opera Excerpts on Sunday, Oct. 29, at 3 p.m.; Handel’s Messiah—5th Annual DIY on Sunday, Tuesday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m.; and Luigi Cherubini’s Requiem in C Minor on Sunday, March 18, at 3 p.m.

Six additional concerts will feature the North Shore Choral Society I presenting Music of the Americas on Sunday, Nov. 19 at 3 p.m.; Niles Metropolitan Chorus and Musica Lumina Orchestra presenting two performances of Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors on Friday, Dec. 8, and Saturday, Dec. 9 at 8 p.m.; the Lira Singers presenting Christmas in Poland on Sunday, Dec. 17, at 3 p.m; Musica Lumina II presenting Eastern Europe Shines on Sunday, Feb.11, at 3 p.m.; Musica Lumina III presenting Composers' Showcase on Sunday, April 29, at 3 p.m.; and North Shore Choral Society II presenting Requiems by Faure, Chilcott on Sunday, June 3, at 3 p.m.

Some concerts have free-will donations; some have an admission charge. For information, call 847-966-8145 or visit www.sjbrebeuf.org or www.nilesmetropolitanchorus.