The St. Charles Singers, led by founder and music director Jeffrey Hunt, will open its 41st concert season with “Time to Explore,” a program that illuminates how classical composers have availed themselves of folk melodies.

“Time to Explore” will be offered at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18 and 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 19 at Baker Memorial United Methodist Church, 307 Cedar Avenue, St. Charles.

“Some of these works are rarely heard anywhere, and all but two are new to the St. Charles Singers’ repertoire,” Hunt said in a news release. “It’s the start of a season filled with musical discoveries that our choir will relish and that will surprise and delight our listeners.”

The mixed-voice chamber choir will give what it believes will be the American premiere of five of Dublin-born, Anglo-Irish composer Charles Stanford’s recently rediscovered, late-Romantic Irish folk songs. Stanford’s style reflects his love for Irish music and also German Romanticism, especially the music of Johannes Brahms, according to the release.

Known for his serious, introspective vocal works, Brahms takes an uncharacteristically charming and mischievous turn in his “Zigeunerlieder” (Gypsy Songs), Op. 103, inspired by Hungarian folk music.

The St. Charles Singers co-commissioned Illinois composer Lee Kesselman’s “Hymn to Time” for mixed choir and piano. It’s a meditation on time, with lyrics by science fiction and fantasy author Ursula K. Le Guin. With soaring lyricism, the piece follows a circular path. The music suggests ticking clocks and Westminster chimes.

Composer and keyboardist Dan Messe wrote “Half Acre” for his critically acclaimed “countrypolitan” chamber-pop band Hem. Arranged for choir by Gregory Good, the piece reflects Messe’s affection for his native rural Michigan.

The music of Grammy-nominated composer Jake Runestad, a native of Rockford, is appearing more frequently on the St. Charles Singers’ programs. His “Come to the Woods” is based on writings by pioneering naturalist and conservationist John Muir. The song captures the exhilaration of waiting out a windstorm outdoors amid the trees.

Hunt reached far back into the ensemble’s history for one item on the program: Celebrated dance-band era singer and arranger Stuart Churchill’s arrangement of the Appalachian folk song “Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair.” The St. Charles Singers first performed the piece in the 1980s when they were the 12-member Mostly Madrigal Singers.

The St. Charles Singers first performed Shawn Kirchner’s “I’ll Be on My Way,” a song of reverence and free-wheeling joy, at its 2025 “Choral Connections” concerts in joint performances with local high school choruses.

Single-admission tickets for “Time to Explore” are $50 for adults, $45 for seniors, and $12 for students. Group discounts are available.

Tickets and information are available at stcharlessingers.com or by calling 630-513-5272. Tickets also may be bought at the door on the day of the concert, depending on availability.