Weekend concert also honors service members

As the music director of the Springfield Choral Society listened to “Jul, Jul, Strålande Jul,” a song from Sweden that means “Christmas, Christmas, Beautiful Christmas,” she became mesmerized by its meaning.

“The text says point-blank, ‘Christmas take away from the blood and the war,’” van der Loo says. “It’s the essence of what I feel personally. I want everyone to come home safe to their respective homes — Germany, Korea, France, Italy, United States, Pakistan, anywhere. I want people to be safe and free of the fear and the alarm of war.”

Van der Loo, who’s starting her fifth season as head of the 40-year-old choral society, started looking for music about peace from other countries. She had previously conducted her chorus through languages like Russian, French and German, but van der Loo didn’t want to stop there. This time, in addition to Swedish, she challenged them to learn Latvian and Chinese.

This weekend, van der Loo and the Springfield Choral Society will present “Peace in All the Earth,” a concert of 22 songs from 12 different countries, in eight different languages. The chorus will dedicate its program to men and women serving in the military.

Van der Loo hopes that at least 700 people will attend the choral society’s performances on Saturday and Sunday and leave with thoughts of hope and peace.

“No one’s going to understand all of the words we sing at this concert,” she says. “But they’re going to understand the combination of voices and lives and intentions.”

The organization’s growth could be attributed to van der Loo’s experience. She started her career on the east coast as a professional singer and later transitioned to conducting professional choruses and orchestras. In addition to her latest role in the Springfield music scene, she also teaches voice at Millikin University in Decatur.

But when asked why singers keep coming