New Philharmonic opens its season with Carmina Burana and Polovtsian Dances

This concert program will take place October 4 and 5 at the MAC and will feature the NISO Chorus and guest vocalists Emily Birsan, Richard Ollarsaba, and Thomas Aláan. 

Kirk Muspratt and New Philharmonic take bow. Photo courtesy of the McAninch Arts Center

New Philharmonic, the only professional orchestra in DuPage County, has prepared a fantastic gift for its audience. It will start its 2025-2026 concert season with two monumental masterpieces, Carmina Burana by Carl Orff and Polovtsian Dances by Alexander Borodin.  

This concert program will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 4 and at 3 p.m. on Sunday, October 5 at the Belushi Performance Hall located at the McAninch Arts Center in Glen Ellyn.

“This season represents our boldest and most inspirational season yet,” said New Philharmonic Music Director and Conductor Kirk Muspratt. “Beginning with Orff’s stupendous ‘Carmina Burana,’ showcasing three acclaimed guest vocalists and the 50-voice Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra (NISO) Chorus under the direction of Thomas McNichols, our audiences will experience a most captivating and fascinating concert season.”

Renowned guest vocalists Emily Birsan (soprano), Richard Ollarsaba (baritone) and Thomas Aláan (countertenor/tenor) will be featured at this concert program along with the 50-voice NISO Chorus.

Soprano Emily Birsan is known to Chicago audiences for her brilliant performance as Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata at the Lyric Opera of Chicago as well as four previous engagements with New Philharmonic. She performed at Welsh National Opera, Edinburgh International Festival, Boston Lyric Opera, Madison Opera and concert performances at Carnegie Hall, BBC Symphony, Ravinia Festival, Grant Park Symphony, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and the Chicago Philharmonic. She was awarded first prize from the Musicians Club of Women Competition and was the 2014 Richard F. Gold Career Grant through the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Bass-baritone Richard Ollarsaba represented the USA in the 2019 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. Additional honors and awards include grand finalist in the 2013 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the American Opera Society of Chicago 2015 Best Vocalist Award. He was a member of the prestigious Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago for three seasons. Ollarsaba performed at Opera Hong Kong, Opera Grand Rapids, Opera Carolina, New Zealand Opera, and Minnesota Opera. He also appears regularly at concerts and recitals. The MAC audience saw him participate in the New Philharmonic’s 2014 and 2015 New Year’s Eve performances.

For countertenor Thomas Aláan the Carmina Burana concert program will be his debut with New Philharmonic. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance from the University of Wisconsin - Madison where he was a Paul Collins Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Fellow. In the summer of 2024, Thomas moved from Chicago to Seattle. Aláan performed with Alchymy Viols, Ars Antigua, Bella Voce Camerata, Bach Cantata Vespers, Charlottesville Early Music Access Project, Credo, Elgin Master Elgin Symphony Orchestra and Chorale, Helios Ensemble, Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra, Mountainside Baroque, Musikanten Montana, and Schola Antiqua. He also appeared at many festivals and on radio stations.

Northwest Indiana Symphony Chorus was established in 1987. It is known for its versatile and wide repertoire, as it performs everything from requiems to reggae with the Symphony. It is led by Maestro Thomas McNichols and consists of 50 outstanding volunteer singers. The chorus’ repertoire includes Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, Requiems by Fauré, Duruflé and Verdi, Holst’s The Planets, Orff’s Carmina Burana and Strauss’ Die Fledermaus plus Bizet’s Carmen with The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center.

Maestro Muspratt conducts NP and the NISO Chorus at the MAC. Photo by Venu Bhetanabhotla

Emotions will rise high with the powerful, energetic and compelling scenic cantata Carmina Burana. Written by a famous German composer Carl Orff in 1935 and 1936, it is one of the most popular pieces of the classical music repertoire. Carmina Burana is based on songs and poems from the medieval collection called Carmina Burana that translates as Songs of Beuren. Carmina Burana will be performed primarily in Latin with some Middle High German and Old French with English subtitles. This masterpiece is widely known for its O Fortuna, an emotionally and dramatically rich poem that gives musicians and singers a great opportunity to demonstrate their outstanding technique and talent.

The NISO Chorus is also featured in another incredible masterpiece, exotic Polovtsian Dances from Act 2 of Alexander Borodin's opera, Prince Igor. It is the most famous part of the opera. The composer adapted the libretto from the East Slavic epic The Lay of Igor's Host, which recounts the campaign of Russian prince Igor Svyatoslavich against the invading Polovtsian tribes in 1185. Borodin was a member of the group of composers known as the Russian Five. It took him 18 years to write this opera, beginning in 1869, yet the work was still unfinished when he died suddenly in 1887. The score was completed by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov. It was first performed in St. Petersburg in 1890.

Performing these two brilliant masterpieces along with talented soloists and chorus members will be a strong start for the 2025-2026 season for New Philharmonic. As always, Maestro Muspratt is ready to wow his audience, as he is dedicated to enriching our community and demonstrating to it all the aspects and beauty of classical music. You definitely don’t want to miss it.

For tickets, please visit https://atthemac.org/events/carmina-burana-polovtsian-dances/, call 630-942-4000, or visit the MAC Box Office. Box Office hours are 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and two hours prior to performance. Tickets are $59. A limited number of $10 tickets are available for students with valid ID. A free MAC Chat will precede the concerts beginning one hour prior to the performance.

Natalia Dagenhart