Every few years, the choir La Caccina turns the concert-going experience inside out. Rather than perform music programmed by its leadership, its Lifeline concerts invite audience members to submit their own songs, of any genre — songs that might have marked joyful milestones, gotten them through hard times, or otherwise captured a distinct life chapter.
Then, La Caccina’s members arrange those songs for performance. The last one, in May, ranged from the Great American Songbook to Chappell Roan.
To try to summarize what La Caccina does is a tall order. The treble choir’s witch-themed “Weird Sisters” — Oct. 25 and 26, just in time for Halloween — stretches from “W.I.T.C.H.,” Devon Cole’s viral pop hit from 2022, to Swedish composer Arne Mellnäs’ 1969 piece “Aglepta,” whose open-ended score directs performers to whisper, gasp and yelp. A witchcraft educator will be on hand to emcee both concerts, offering historical and cultural context between sets and tarot readings.
Mezzo-soprano Madeleine Xiang Woodworth sees a common denominator in everything La Caccina does.
“I think anything that is Caccina-branded is anything that portrays strong women,” she says. “It doesn’t matter the genre, per se, as long as it portrays everything that Caccina stands for: community, strength, healthy emotions and empathy.”
In La Caccina’s early days, the choir had much less repertoire to draw from, says artistic director Carling FitzSimmons. Originally from Oak Park, FitzSimmons started an all-women’s ensemble while a student at Kenyon College. She remained drawn to the unique sound even after she moved home in 2011.
FitzSimmons founded La Caccina that year with two Kenyon classmates, naming the choir after the Baroque composer Francesca Caccini. But FitzSimmons felt that the options for women’s voices were sorely lacking. In her telling, they usually fell into one of three categories: (1) “old chestnuts,” like Benjamin Britten’s “Ceremony of Carols,” (2) pieces written for children’s choir, or (3) pieces predominantly written by men on flat, feminine-coded subjects like motherhood or flowers.
“There are more meaty things we want to think about,” FitzSimmons says.
This year, La Caccina’s season is called “Dangerous Women.” After “Weird Sisters,” it will pay tribute to Hildegard von Bingen, the medieval polymath and mystic, in the winter. In the spring, they’ll devise an a cappella adaptation of Carole King’s “Tapestry,” again arranged by La Caccina members.
Artistic Director Carling FitzSimmons, left, and Alana Grossman, sing during La Caccina’s rehearsal for their fall concert, “Weird Sisters,” on Oct. 6, 2025. FitzSimmons is one of the original members of the group when it was founded in 2011. (Anastasia Busby/for the Chicago Tribune)
Choirs for women, led by women, are “rarer than you might think in the choral world,” says soprano Megan Fletcher. And despite La Caccina’s growth over the years — it started as a trio but now claims nine permanent members — it hasn’t lost its small-ensemble sensibility.
“It’s less like the conductor is passing down their expertise to everyone in the group, and more that we draw on each other’s expertise in the room,” Fletcher says. “It’s a really different feel than a lot of other choirs I sing with.”
Another marker of growth: La Caccina’s commissioning muscle. The ensemble prioritized new music from its earliest days, even when it was cash-strapped. In turn, some composers were so eager to write for treble choir that they made their fees attainable for a group of La Caccina’s size and budget.
Today, La Caccina’s fiscal picture is much rosier, with a network of donors who can help underwrite fresh commissions. It also co-runs an emerging composers residency with the musical nonprofit Hearing in Color, which has become a reliable new-works engine.
A recent awardee, Nyandeng Juag, has since joined La Caccina herself. A college visit by the ensemble while Juag was a freshman at Kenyon left a lasting impression.
“I don’t come from a background where I knew a lot of working artists,” Juag says. “It was definitely a pivotal moment.”
Nyandeng Juag takes notes during a rehearsal of La Caccina’s fall concert, Oct. 6, 2025, at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Chicago. (Anastasia Busby/for the Chicago Tribune)
Listening to La Caccina, it’s no wonder Juag was hooked. Even amid Chicago’s top-flight choral scene, the ensemble’s sound is special. At a recent preview of “Weird Sisters,” presented by the ongoing Ear Taxi Festival, the Caccinas boasted a pearly blend and intonation so pitch-perfect that it resonated even in PianoForte Studios’ acoustically matte recital hall.
FitzSimmons credits the choir’s unique rehearsal schedule for forging its unique sound. Unlike most professional ensembles, which might rehearse four or five times in the days just ahead of a performance, La Caccina rehearses eight to 10 times each concert cycle, over the course of several weeks.
That long sweep, she says, “allows us to be playful in rehearsal and have a less hierarchical structure.”
“Although we could get away with fewer, I strongly believe that the magic of La Caccina exists in how well we know each other, and how much time we spend singing together,” FitzSimmons says.
Magic, indeed.
“Weird Sisters,” 7:30 p.m. Oct. 25 at Mrs. Murphy and Sons Irish Bistro, 3905 N. Lincoln Ave., and 3 p.m. Oct. 26 at the Charles Gates Dawes House, 225 Greenwood St., Evanston; general admission $30, $27 livestream, $20 students; more information at lacaccina.org.
Hannah Edgar is a freelance writer.