Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
The seventh annual performance of Handel's Messiah by the Warsaw Community Choir is set for 3 p.m. Sunday at First United Methodist Church in Warsaw.
The choir includes almost 70 voices from 20 area churches and is directed by Rev. Richard L. Anderson.
The 90-minute program will include the "Hallelujah Chorus" and Beethoven's "Hallelujah" from "Mount of Olives."
Featured soloists include Mary Lu Cannon, Dr. Roberta Rose, Lynn English and Stephen Royal.
Cannon, a soprano and native of Warsaw who lives in Oklahoma, has been a featured soloist for many events across the country. She studied voice at Greenville College and recorded "Gramma's Quilt ... Bits and Pieces," featuring a blend of sacred, gospel and contemporary Christian music.
Rose, a contralto, is an orthopedic surgeon originally from Anderson. She was the only non-music major in the elite "Choraleers," and is a regular participant and promoter of the community choir.
English, a tenor from Illinois, has performed with the choir three times. He has a degree in music education. After teaching school for several years, he is the minister in music, worship and pastoral care at First Church of God in Columbia City.
Royal, a bass soloist, is a native of Michigan and has a degree in music, social work and religion from Western Michigan University. He was organist at St. Anne's Episcopal Church in Warsaw before joning the St. Thomas The Apostle Catholic Church in Elkhart.
The community choir has been together since 1984 and was organized by Anderson. The group is assisted at all rehearsals by Mary Parr, an accomplished area pianist, and will be accompanied at the December presentation by the Warsaw Instrumental Ensemble and by organist Alison Lewis.
An offering will be taken, but admission is free.
