The Hope College Chapel Choir will
perform at Beverly Reformed Church in Wyoming on Sunday,
March 11, at 6 p.m.

Beverly Reformed Church is located at 2141 Porter
Street, SW, in Wyoming.

The public is invited. Admission is free,
although a freewill offering will be taken in support of the
choir's upcoming tour of France and Italy.

The program will include sacred music of the 16th
and 20th centuries, including the music of four American
composers. The composers include 1975 Hope graduate Alfred
Fedak of Menands, N.Y.

The Chapel Choir was organized in 1929 and began
touring annually in 1953. The choir has made a European
tour five times, most recently in May of 1997, and in 1989
presented a concert tour of the former Soviet Union.

Last March, the choir toured in the state of
Washington. This year, the choir will perform in southern
France and Italy between May 7 and 17, visiting cities
including Nice, Florence, Venice and Milan.

The choir is featured annually in the Hope College
Christmas Vespers program, which is heard on radio stations
nationwide. The choir has appeared on the "Hour of Power"
from the Crystal Cathedral in California, and has sung for
the Easterdawn services at Radio City Music Hall in New
York.

The 39-voice choir is composed of student
musicians representing many areas of the college, and
performs sacred and secular choral music of the past five
centuries. Students in the choir are selected by audition
and maintain a vigorous rehearsal schedule in preparation
for their concert tour and other engagements throughout the
year.

The choir is directed by Dr. Brad Richmond,
director of choral activities at Hope. Richmond is in his
third year at the college, where he also teaches conducting
and private voice. In addition to the Chapel Choir, he
directs the College Chorus and the Collegium Musicum.

Prior to his appointment at Hope, he served as
director of choirs at Southeastern Louisiana University.
During summers he conducts the high school choral ensembles
at Interlochen Arts Camp in Traverse City.