For nine-year-old Steve Pena, singing in front of about 500 people was nerve-wracking. He was afraid he would forget what he learned during the weekly choir rehearsals he attends after catechism.
“I thought I missed part of (the song),” he said. But he got over it “by calming myself and telling myself I could do it.”
Steve’s choir, the Inspired Youth of Uptown-Edgewater, was one of nine choirs that attended Sunday’s Interfaith Choral Festival. The event brought together choruses of different faiths to perform at the newly built Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation synagogue.
“I like the idea of all religions coming together,” attendee Charlotte Oda said.
The event was sponsored by the Evanston groups Senior Connections, Interfaith Action, Friends in Christ and Friends in Action. Senior Connections, a group that trains volunteers to work with older adults in the community, has organized eight concerts like this in the past, but this was the first time they worked with Interfaith Action.
Director of Senior Connections Ellen Butkus said the collaboration made the event bigger and better than past years.
“We feel like we made history by having the Jewish, Christian, and Bahá’í choirs here today, ” she said.
The chairs provided were not enough to seat the entire audience. As the concert began, and more people arrived, organizers and some members of the congregation added additional chairs for the late attendees.
Midway through the concert, ushers asked for donations. Butkus said the four groups will split the benefits.
“We kind of run on a shoestring in terms of finances,” she said. “Senior Connections has not been comfortable with a fancy fundraiser, where people can’t come because they can’t afford it. So we always make our fundraisers a free-will offering.”
Music senior and First United Methodist Church choir member Jimmy Luo said he didn’t know what to expect before the concert.
“I didn’t know there were eight different churches,” he said. “It’s great how every choir gets together for this event.”
Another concert will take place next year, but whether it will be a collaboration again is yet to be determined, Butkus said.
“It depends on the other groups as well,” she said. “It seemed like everybody enjoyed it.”
