Anima (chorus)


Anima - Glen Ellyn Children's Chorus is a chorus based in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Formerly the Glen Ellyn Children's Chorus, the chorus changed its name to Anima in May 2008.

History

The chorus was founded in 1964 as the Glen Ellyn Children's Theater Chorus by Barbara Born. Dr. Doreen Rao served as Director from 1972-1988. Emily Ellsworth served as Artistic Director from 1996-2018. Dr. Charles Sundquist has served as Artistic Director since 2018. William Buhr has served as accompanist for the Touring Chorus since 1984.
The chorus has performed frequently with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Chicago's Symphony Center, the Ravinia Festival, the
Grant Park Music Festival and New York's Carnegie Hall. It has participated in four Grammy Award-winning recordings with the CSO and performed under renowned conductors including Sir Georg Solti, Christoph Eschenbach, Claudio Abbado, James Levine and James Conlon. Recently a small number of singers participated in the Lyric Opera. It has toured throughout the United States as well as internationally to Canada, Europe, Australia, Brazil, China, South Africa, England, Spain, Morocco, and Greece. They are scheduled to tour to Norway in the Summer of 2020.
Anima is Latin for breath, life, soul, spirit. Anima-GECC promotes the joy of singing, fun, friendship, skill mastery, sharing, self-expression, professionalism, discovery, learning, teamwork, self-assessment, and outstanding opportunities through its mission to transform young lives through excellence in music education and choral singing. The guiding principle for the organization is to foster lifelong values including the love of music, the pursuit of excellence, self-discipline, teamwork, self-expression, self-confidence, and a greater understanding of oneself, the world, and its people.
Ensembles included in the Anima-GECC curriculum include KidSingers, Treble and Treble Plus Chorus, Concert Chorus, Touring Chorus, and Chamber Chorus.