Chicago Semi-Pro Musica

A Chicago a capella choral group composed of fans and pros, organized by Lynne Aronson while she was studying conducting in the late 1970s and early ’80s. Some of the members were Mark Aronson, Phyllis Eisenstein, Al Frank, Frieda A. Murray, Anne Passovoy, Bob Passovoy, Dick Smith and Amy L. Woolard. They put on concerts at local churches and shopping centers.

With other volunteer singers from across fandom, part of the group performed as The Great Noreascon One-Shot Chorale during the masquerade judging at the 1980 Worldcon, Noreascon Two, with a typical program: “Modern Music” and “The Mariners’ Anthem” by William Billings; “The Prayer of the Cat” by Ivor Davies; “Counterpoint of the Animals” by Banchieri; “I Am the Phoenix” by Vecchi; “Fair Maid, Thy Loveliness” by Hassler; “Thine Eyes, O My Beloved” by di Lasso; “Two Temperance Songs” arranged by Jonson; “Dixie” arranged by Norman Luboff; “The Grand Canal” by Mark Aronson (a choral, non-filk setting of Robert Heinlein’s poem); “Echo Song” by di Lasso; and a choral arrangement of Pachelbel’s “Kanon.”

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Group

1979—1980s

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