Music found Michael Costello early. When the current artistic director of Chicago Choral Artists and cantor at Grace Lutheran Church in River Forest was three, his mother one day heard him “plunking out the tune” like Schroeder in Peanuts. “Do you want to take lessons?” She asked. He did.
All of the piano teachers in town thought he was too young. But when he did finally start taking lessons, at five, his teacher told his family that they had to buy a piano for him. He had that much promise.
“I still have that piano,” said, smiling. “It’s very precious to me.”
Costello was born in 1979 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in a decidedly non-musical family.
“My mom worked for what at that time was Bell of Pennsylvania,” Costello said. “She was one of the first women to be climbing poles. My dad was in HVAC work his entire career.”
Still, Costello’s musical gifts were recognized and encouraged.
“When I was young, our pastor wrote an arrangement of ‘Amazing Grace’ so that at the age of six, I could play on the piano in church.” Costello still has the sheet music for that arrangement hanging in his office.
In elementary school, Costello became the kid who played for school assemblies, and the school choir — a role he continued to play in junior high, high school, and in college.
In college, he majored in music education, thinking he might become a music teacher. But secular music just didn’t do it for him.
“From a very young age I was drawn to the hymns and the liturgy,” Costello recalled. “For some reason even as a child that spoke to me.”
He was also fascinated by the church organ. “Probably because as a little kid — who wouldn’t like to play and press all the buttons?”
Costello ended up transferring to a school that specializes in sacred music, Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, North Carolina, where he got his bachelor’s degree. Costello then went on to Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina, to get a Master of Divinity degree.
Costello was ordained as a Lutheran minister in 2006 and has been the cantor at Grace Lutheran since 2008, where he holds the title of cantor rather than music director because, as he explained, “That’s the title that Bach had in his church in Leipzig, Germany. So, you know, why not do it like the German Lutherans?”
As cantor, Costello is responsible for all things musical at Grace Lutheran. The music in the weekly service, where he plays the organ. Working with the Grace Lutheran children’s choir.
“We also have our monthly Bach Cantata services,” Costello said. Plus, weddings, funerals. “Yeah, you name it.”
How did someone who grew up in Pennsylvania, and went to school in North and South Carolina, end up in River Forest, Illinois?
“So, there was a professor at Concordia University,” Costello explained, “who was also associated with Grace Lutheran Church by the name of Carl Schalk. His daughter was the professor of oboe at the University of South Carolina, Rebecca Schalk Nagel.”
Nagel would sometimes play at Costello’s church in Columbia, South Carolina.
“One time after church, she said to me: ‘Your choir sounds so good. I really haven’t heard church music like this since I grew up in River Forest.’” She then mentioned that the role of cantor had opened up at Grace Lutheran Church.
Costello was too intimidated to apply, but several months later, Nagel brought up the position again.
“You know, Michael,” she told him, “They’ve interviewed a number of people and they really can’t find someone they like. You ought to throw your name in the ring.”
And at that point, Costello thought, “OK, this has come up more than once. I should at least contact them. I contacted them. And a few months later, they flew me up to interview.”
At 29, he was hired as the new cantor. And the rest is history.
During this time of year, Costello is a blur of activity. There are the special Advent worship services on Sundays and Wednesdays, the Advent/Christmas Concert, the Longest Night Worship service Dec. 21, four services on Christmas Eve, and, of course, Christmas Day.
As if that were not enough, Costello is also the artistic director of a small choral group, The Chicago Choral Artists, and they have an annual holiday concert, Yearn for Peace, Dec. 16 and 17.
Chicago Choral Artists was founded in 1975 as the James Chorale by James Rogner. The group changed their name in 1997 to Chicago Choral Artists. This is Costello’s 10th season as artistic director.
Costello described the upcoming concert as a mixture of secular and religious tunes associated with the holidays: “Traditional carols [Away in a Manger, O Little Town of Bethlehem, the Coventry Carol], and some anthems if those people happen to have a religious affiliation or background. There are also some things that are distinctly secular, that speak about peace in a general sense. One piece in particular that has been a pretty big project for us to pull off, called Gloria Kajoniensis [by Hungarian composer, Levente Gyöngyösi.] It’s based on a 17th century collection of prayers. And it’s written in a way that it almost sounds Latin in its kind of background, but it’s two violins, bongos, and choir. It is fast and furious. It’s a wild ride,” Costello said.
But Costello would not have it any other way. Costello said that having lots of pots boiling at once “really resonates with his learning style.”
“That’s the way my brain works. I get to jump around and do, you know, 50 different things and I’m energized by that. If I sit still and do one thing for too long, I tend to get bored.”