Illuminate

Illuminate features the Wichita Symphony Chorus and WSO chamber orchestra, as well as Wichita State University Concert Chorale and Madrigal Singers.

The Wichita Symphony Chorus is presenting two modern works by wildly popular living composers Jake Runestad and Elaine Hagenberg.

Jake Runestad is a Minneapolis based composer; his Into the Light commemorates the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Herein Runestad’s goal was to address what reforming means in our world today. What are our issues and their causes? How are they being addressed? Runestad hopes this work “allows us to be immersed in the wisdom of some of the most important and influential reformers in history and challenge us to consider how we can move beyond fear and onto a path of love, compassion, and kindness.”

A former high school music teacher, Elaine Hagenberg is a full-time composer based in Des Moines, Iowa. Illuminare is receiving performances across the globe and is quickly becoming among the most frequently performed extended works for chorus and orchestra.  Her soaring melodies, cinematic effects, and poignant text settings take us through a season of beauty and goodness that has been disrupted by darkness and confusion. But, light gradually returns and hope is restored, illuminating our future. 

JAKE RUNESTAD Into the Light
ELAINE HAGENBERG Illuminare