Illinois State Madrigal Singers Tickets

We were very disappointed in the evening as a whole! We have attended the ISU Madrigals for many years and always enjoyed as a kick-off to the Christmas season. We were disappointed when we found out there was not going to be a dinner but decided we would enjoy the music. My husband (who is a music major) said it should have been advertised as a choral concert. If such a drastic change was going to be experimented with, the choice of music should have been more Christmas and not winter. We will probably not attend next year if the same format is used. All the advertisements also said 7-9 and we arrived at 6:30 and had to wait until 7:45 for the concert to begin. The students did an excellent job and had beautiful voices!

The ISU Madrigal SIngers are a very talented group and every song was a pleasure to listen to as far as their execution of it. What spoiled the evening was the loss of the Madrigal elements: lovely period costumes, the mixing of the singers with the attendees, and period and seasonal-appropriate songs. Cost-cutting measures were in evidence. The evening began with the food being gone almost before the evening was to begin at 7, thus penalizing anyone that did not come early. There were not enough chairs or tables so many people were trying to juggling food and drink and still give their attention to the singers, who were crowded into a corner to sing a few songs, instead of strolling through the group as was expected. We then moved in to the second area where, thankfully, enough chairs were provided. A slice of a boar's head cake was offered, tasty but slim. The concert continued with the singers on risers, separating them from their audience and creating an unnecessary formality. The song selection was bizarre, having no obvious cohesive factor. Some songs were somber, even morose. The "World Premiere" piece was very distracting and did not belong at this event. The few fun songs that the singers could really get into were scattered and quickly forgotten by the next solemn selection. We felt bad for the singers, who did not get to experience or share a true Madrigal event. What ever agenda was being followed for this evening was misplaced and that person or persons should be apologizing to this wonderful groups of singers.