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 \u2014 songs that might have marked joyful milestones, gotten them through hard times, or otherwise captured a distinct life chapter.<\/p>\n
Then, La Caccina\u2019s members arrange those songs for performance. The last one, in May, ranged from the Great American Songbook to Chappell Roan.<\/p>\n
To try to summarize what La Caccina does is a tall order. The treble choir\u2019s witch-themed \u201cWeird Sisters\u201d \u2014 Oct. 25 and 26, just in time for Halloween \u2014 stretches from \u201cW.I.T.C.H.,\u201d Devon Cole\u2019s viral pop hit from 2022, to Swedish composer Arne Melln\u00e4s\u2019 1969 piece \u201cAglepta,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
Mezzo-soprano Madeleine Xiang Woodworth sees a common denominator in everything La Caccina does.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think anything that is Caccina-branded is anything that portrays strong women,\u201d she says. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter the genre, per se, as long as it portrays everything that Caccina stands for: community, strength, healthy emotions and empathy.\u201d<\/p>\n
In La Caccina\u2019s 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\u2019s ensemble while a student at Kenyon College. She remained drawn to the unique sound even after she moved home in 2011.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s voices were sorely lacking. In her telling, they usually fell into one of three categories: (1) \u201cold chestnuts,\u201d like Benjamin Britten\u2019s \u201cCeremony of Carols,\u201d (2) pieces written for children\u2019s choir, or (3) pieces predominantly written by men on flat, feminine-coded subjects like motherhood or flowers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are more meaty things we want to think about,\u201d FitzSimmons says.<\/p>\n
This year, La Caccina\u2019s season is called \u201cDangerous Women.\u201d After \u201cWeird Sisters,\u201d it will pay tribute to Hildegard von Bingen, the medieval polymath and mystic, in the winter. In the spring, they\u2019ll devise an a cappella adaptation of Carole King\u2019s \u201cTapestry,\u201d again arranged by La Caccina members.<\/p>\n
![\"Artistic](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CTC-L-ENT-CACCINA-WEIRD-SISTERS_0776-e1760383159579.jpg\")
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)<\/p>\n
Choirs for women, led by women, are \u201crarer than you might think in the choral world,\u201d says soprano Megan Fletcher. And despite La Caccina\u2019s growth over the years \u2014 it started as a trio but now claims nine permanent members \u2014 it hasn\u2019t lost its small-ensemble sensibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s less like the conductor is passing down their expertise to everyone in the group, and more that we draw on each other\u2019s expertise in the room,\u201d Fletcher says. \u201cIt\u2019s a really different feel than a lot of other choirs I sing with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another marker of growth: La Caccina\u2019s 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\u2019s size and budget.<\/p>\n
Today, La Caccina\u2019s 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. <\/b><\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t come from a background where I knew a lot of working artists,\u201d Juag says. \u201cIt was definitely a pivotal moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Nyandeng](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CTC-L-ENT-CACCINA-WEIRD-SISTERS_0195.jpg\")
Nyandeng Juag takes notes during a rehearsal of La Caccina\u2019s fall concert, Oct. 6, 2025, at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Chicago. (Anastasia Busby\/for the Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n
Listening to La Caccina, it\u2019s no wonder Juag was hooked. Even amid Chicago\u2019s top-flight choral scene, the ensemble\u2019s sound is special. At a recent preview of \u201cWeird Sisters,\u201d presented by the ongoing Ear Taxi Festival<\/a>, the Caccinas boasted a pearly blend and intonation so pitch-perfect that it resonated even in PianoForte Studios\u2019 acoustically matte recital hall.<\/p>\n FitzSimmons credits the choir\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n That long sweep, she says, \u201callows us to be playful in rehearsal and have a less hierarchical structure.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough 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,\u201d FitzSimmons says.<\/p>\n Magic, indeed.<\/p>\n \u201cWeird Sisters,\u201d 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<\/a>. <\/p>\n Hannah Edgar is a freelance writer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every few years, the choir La Caccina turns the concert-going experience inside out. Rather than perform music programmed…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":315877,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,171,2961,1370,224,5337,5424,1072],"class_list":{"0":"post-315876","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-la","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-los-angeles","14":"tag-losangeles","15":"tag-music-and-concerts","16":"tag-things-to-do"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115400627438996955","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315876\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}