October 11, 7:30 pm

Mary Patricia Gannon Concert Hall

WFC is elated to headline on Chicago’s 2025 Ear Taxi Festival; a celebration of new vocal music in Chicago, and to join forces with DePaul’s Ensemble 20+ for the midwest premiere of Christopher Tin’s The Lost Birds.

Themes of memory, environmental awareness, and artistic legacy take center stage in this celebration of new choral music. True to our mission of celebrating the music of living composers, WFC will celebrate some of our city’s finest, with works by Stacy Garrop, Augusta Read Thomas, Ayanna Woods and Ben Zucker.

At the heart of the program is The Lost Birds, a striking and cinematic oratorio by Grammy-winning composer Christopher Tin. This elegy to extinct bird species mourns the devastating consequences of human activity on the natural world while celebrating the fragile beauty of the creatures we have lost.

Scored for choir and orchestra, Tin’s work fuses classical tradition with soaring filmic lyricism, connecting the grandeur of nature with urgent modern themes of conservation.

During intermission, composer Christopher Tin will sit down with Ear Taxi Festival Director, and WFC artist LaRob K. Rafael for a special on-stage conversation exploring the work’s inspiration, creative process, and the role of music in addressing global issues.