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A Mellifluous Cultural Touchstone

A Mellifluous Cultural Touchstone

The Evanston Symphony Holiday Gospel Choir will perform Stand by Me with the ESO. The recent royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was our inspiration to include this wonderful number in our Holiday Concert. Stand By Me was originally a gospel song published in 1905 by Charles Albert Tindley: an amazing person in his own right - born son of a slave, self-educated, and a pastor. Ben E. King adapted the song for the Drifters in 1960. It quickly became a hit and an anthem of the Civil Rights Movement.

The ESO commissioned this arrangement and orchestration for gospel choir and orchestra of Stand by Me with funding from the Evanston Arts Council, so this performance is one of a kind. Stand by Me is a beautifully powerful and culturally significant song that you won’t want to miss.

And back for the fourth year is the dazzling gospel version of Handel's "Hallelujah" Chorus, a favorite tradition at our Holiday Concert. The ESO in 2015 commissioned the orchestration of this piece, with funding from the Evanston Arts Council, so this performance and piece are uniquely and specially Evanstonian.

The Evanston Symphony Holiday Gospel Choir