Music Ministry
I will sing of God’s love and justice
The mission of the music program at Kenilworth Union Church is to inspire and enhance meaningful worship of God through the study and performance of outstanding sacred music.
Ensembles feature the talent of church members from as young as five-years-old to seniors. We offer a wide range of music of different styles and periods, from Classical Baroque to Gospel. We frequently have instrumental music accompanying our choral works, including full orchestra for some of our Special Music Sundays.
Ensembles
Watch and Listen
Special Music with Orchestra
Chancel Choir
Youth and Children
Bells
Staff and Organ
Lisa Bond
Minister of Music
Read More...
Lisa directs the Chancel Choir, KUC Youth Choir, Cherub/Rejoice Singers and Ringers, Bambino Choir, Alumni Choir, Junior Bell Choir and Adult Bell Choir. She closely collaborates with Kenilworth Union’s top-notch music staff, talented choir volunteers, and superb section leaders. She encourages the choirs to boldly profess their faith while embracing the Music Ministry mantra, “We Must Work to Bring Our Best to God.”
Lisa studied choral conducting, piano, and music education, earning a bachelor’s degree from Florida State University, and a Master of Music degree from DePaul University. She frequently attends national sacred music conferences, seeking out the expertise of national leaders in church music. She lives in Hoffman Estates with her supportive husband Andy and two grown children, Sarah and Nicholas.
Email Ms. Bond
Alyssa Bennett
Assistant Director of Choirs, Section Leader, and Soloist
Alyssa Bennett has served as a section leader and soloist with the Chancel Choir at Kenilworth Union Church since 2001, and Assistant Director of Choirs since May 2015. She received her BA in Music at Luther College and her MM in Voice and Opera at Northwestern University.
Read More...
She has enjoyed a varied performing career in Chicago, and as cultural emissary for US embassies and consulates in eleven countries in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Alyssa currently teaches classical voice at Lake Forest College and The Chicago Academy for the Arts, and performs as chorus member and soloist with Music of the Baroque and the Grant Park Music Festival.
Eun Joo Ju
Organist
Eun Joo received both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Hansei University in South Korea, as well as an additional Master of Music from Manhattan School of Music in New York. In 2016, she earned a Doctorate of Musical Arts in organ performance and literature from the University of Illinois.
Read More...
Eun Joo Ju has over 30 years of experience as organist for many different denominations, and is also the afternoon organist at Elliott Chapel of Presbyterian Homes in Evanston. She is thrilled to be a part of our church’s music ministry team. Eun Joo lives in Buffalo Grove with her husband and two children.
Ryan Belongie
Assistant Director of Rejoice and Bell Choirs, Section Leader, and Soloist
Ryan Belongie has served as a section leader and soloist with the Chancel Choir at Kenilworth Union Church since 2017, and Assistant Director of Children’s and Bell Choirs since 2019. He received his BMus in Voice Performance and Music Theater Certificate at Northwestern University.
Read More...
He is a graduate of the Merola Opera Program and Adler Fellowship at San Francisco Opera and has appeared as a soloist with opera companies and orchestras throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, including locally with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Opera Theater, Music of the Baroque, and the Grant Park Music Festival. Ryan teaches voice at New Trier as well as an active private studio.
Kaleb Drawbaugh
Section Leader and Soloist
Kaleb Drawbaugh has sung with Kenilworth Union Church since the spring of 2022. He is a recent graduate of Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, where he sang in a number of stage productions including; Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, and more.
Read More...
During his time at Northwestern Kaleb was also an active member of the university’s Alice Millar Chapel Choir, with whom he appeared as a frequent tenor soloist. In addition to singing at Kenilworth Union, Kaleb operates an active recording studio focused on the recording and live streaming of classical music in the Greater Chicago area.
Kasey Nahlovsky
Section Leader and Soloist
Originally from San Diego, California, Kasey Nahlovsky moved to Chicago in 2020 to pursue a Master of Music degree in Voice and Opera (‘22) from Northwestern’s Bienen School of Music. They previously lived in Denver, Colorado, where they attended The University of Denver.
Read More...
In Colorado, Kasey performed, maintained a private voice studio, taught middle school choir and drama, and assisted non-profit programs that supplemented social and medical needs of people experiencing homelessness, PWUID, and people living with HIV. As a member of the Trans/Gender Nonconforming community, they ascribe to Bishop Yvette Flunder’s Fellowship of Affirming Ministries’ tenets of Radical Inclusivity and grace. Kasey is versed in Opera, Musical Theater, Commercial, and Choral music, and they are thrilled to be part of Kenilworth Union’s Chancel Choir community.
Kelsey Sandefur
Section Leader and Soloist
Kelsey Sandefur, soprano, is at the launching point of an exciting career. She has been a soprano section leader and soloist with the Chancel Choir at Kenilworth Union Church since September of 2019. A 2017 graduate of the Ball State University’s Vocal Performance program, Miss Sandefur is currently pursuing her Master of Music degree in Voice and Opera Performance at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music.
Read More...
Miss Sandefur has performed roles such as Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), The Witch (Hansel and Gretel), and both Marcellina and Barbarina (Le nozze di Figaro). A versatile artist, Miss Sandefur has performed in numerous young artist programs, recitals, opera galas, and concerts throughout America and Italy.
Johnathan Wilson
Section Leader and Soloist
Jonathan Wilson has served as the baritone section leader with the Chancel Choir at Kenilworth Union Church since 2015. Jonathan frequently performs with many Chicago opera, choral, and theater companies across a wide range of musical styles including Renaissance polyphony, Classical and Romantic opera and choral masterworks, golden age musical theater, and contemporary opera and art song.
Read More...
He currently sings with the Lyric Opera Chorus, the Chicago Symphony Chorus, and the Grant Park Festival Chorus. Jonathan is also passionate about math and science, greatly admiring the creative overlap between the scientific and musical arts. He holds degrees in physics, mathematics, and electromagnetics from the Universities of Illinois and Michigan.
Barbara Pierson Falk
Pianist
Barbara Pierson Falk has been the pianist for the youth choirs at Kenilworth Union since 2010. She has played the piano since age 4 and received her formal training in piano performance at Chicago Musical College where she was the recipient of the Rudolf Ganz Piano Award, the Ruth Friedman Award and a Chicago Farwell Award.
Read More...
Barbara also accompanies for several local voice teachers, the Music Institute of Chicago and the choir program and musical at Deerpath Middle School in Lake Forest. She has lived on Chicago’s North Shore for over 30 years where she raised her 8 children, who have blessed her with 14 grandchildren and counting.
Austin Sanders
Section Leader and Soloist
Austin Sanders has been serving as a section leader here at Kenilworth Union Church since the fall of 2022. He received his BM in vocal performance in 2017 at Viterbo University in La Crosse, WI, and
earned his masters in music in 2020 at Roosevelt University. He’s competed in numerous competitions over the years and placed 1st at the Schubert Club competition.
Read More...
Recently he’s performed with the Atlantic Music festival as Don Alfonso in Mozart’s Così fan tutte.
Karli Cabrera
Section Leader and Soloist
Karli Cabrera joined the altos of the Chancel Choir at Kenilworth Union Church in January of 2023. Originally from Pawnee City, Nebraska, she has both a Bachelors (2018) and a Masters (2020) degree in Voice performance. Karli moved to Chicago in August of 2022 to explore new performing opportunities and to experience what the city has to offer.
Read More...
She currently works with children ranging from 3-6 years old at Guidepost Montessori in the Edgewater area. Some noted roles for Karli during her undergrad and postgrad years are Meg (Falstaff), Mustardseed (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Lady of the Lake (Spamalot), and several other small and partial roles for opera programs, workshops and musical theater. She is looking forward to making new strides in her career as a soloist and ensemble member in Chicago.
In 2003, Kenilworth Union Church made a significant investment to purchase an organ built by Dobson Pipe Organ Builders. It has enhanced both the sound of the sacred music that fills the church and the beauty of our sanctuary.
Learn more about our organ
Although we believe that our new organ for Kenilworth Union Church looks and sounds completely at home, the apparent ease with which this was accomplished belies the fact that building an organ for a divided chancel location can be surprisingly difficult. For one thing, space is at a premium, with clergy, musicians, altar furniture, handicap ramps and organ all vying for the same scarce real estate. Such placement also challenges the projection of the organ’s sound into the church, since the organ does not directly face the nave or transept. Many worshipers therefore hear the organ’s sound only after one or more reflections from building surfaces, which is why the renovations undertaken to improve the acoustics are so important. Our desire that the organ sound excellent everywhere explains the weeks of careful listening and precise adjustments during the tonal finishing of the organ.
Since the architecture of Kenilworth Union Church strongly recalls historic English parish churches, an organ case of modern design would appear out of place. Inspired by a 19th century organ in the parish church of St. Mary Magdalene in Twyning, Gloucestershire, England, our instrument has two symmetrical fronts, or facades, that are constructed of white oak and are enriched with painted accents and 24-karat gold leaf. The wood’s dark color comes not from an applied stain but from a process called fuming, during which the naturally occurring oak tannins are oxidized by exposure to strong ammonia vapors. The polychromy conforms to the gothic custom of color orientation.
Red represents the earth and is always on the bottom of a molding. Blue represents the heavens and so is always above the red. Gold represents divine guidance or enlightenment and therefore appears between the red and blue colors as a symbol of the connection between man’s earthly endeavors and the assurance of his place in the heavenly world.
The pipes are divided into three groups, or divisions. Two divisions, the Great and the Swell, are played by keyboards for the hands known as manuals or manual keyboards. The Great and Swell are located in the case on the west side of the chancel by the console. The organist plays these divisions through a system of linkages known as mechanical action or tracker action. This system, used by Bach and his contemporaries, gives the organist control over the speech of the pipes and provides important tactile feedback about exactly when the valves under the pipes open and close. The Pedal pipes (those played by a keyboard for the feet) are located on the east side. Because of the distance from the console, and the fact that these large pipes played by the feet don’t require the same sensitive control, an electric control system is used for the Pedal.
This organ is our Opus 81, the 81st new organ our company has built. Twenty dedicated craftspeople worked about 11,000 hours to build, install and voice it, and are proud to sign their work: our names can be found on one of the rear doors of the west case.
It is our hope that this instrument will for many years be an encouragement to the worship life of the people of Kenilworth Union Church.
Dobson Pipe Organ Builders
Lake City, Iowa
Latest News
Thanks be to God for the gift of Advent and Christmas music!
Sunday, December 10 This Sunday at both the 8:30 and 10 a.m. worship, Kenilworth Union Church’s Chancel Choir and Chamber Orchestra will be offering A Light in the Stable by British composer Alan Bullard. This delightful choral work will have members of the...
Music Schedule
