The Hope College Chapel Choir will perform a home concert on Monday, March 24, at 7:30 p.m. at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Holland.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
The Chapel Choir will be performing repertoire from its March 14-18 spring break tour of the Chicago area. The program will feature music that spans the globe and the generations, including songs from the traditional choral repertoire, folk songs, and vocal jazz.
The Hope Chapel Choir, founded in 1938, is Hope College’s premier choral ensemble. Made up of 40 auditioned singers, Chapel Choir has toured extensively throughout the United States and Canada, and has traveled abroad on eight occasions. The choir is featured along with other music ensembles in Christmas Vespers, a tradition that stretches back to 1941. Award-winning broadcasts of Christmas Vespers by WGVU of Grand Rapids are shown on PBS stations around the country at Christmastime.
Mark Webb, visiting professor of music at Hope this semester, is conducting the Chapel Choir during Brad Richmond’s sabbatical leave. Webb received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education and choral conducting from the University of Michigan, and his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in choral conducting from Michigan State University. He retired from public school teaching in 2009, after serving for 33 years as a secondary vocal music teacher, teaching in the Kentwood and East Grand Rapids Public School Districts. His past positions include choral/opera coordinator and director of the International Choral Ensemble at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp; visiting professor of music at Albion College; and president of the Michigan School Vocal Music Association, from which he received Teacher of the Year recognition in 2003. Webb is currently an adjunct associate professor of music at Aquinas College and the director of the Chamber Choir of Grand Rapids and the Chancel Choir at Mayflower Congregational Church. He has been a guest clinician for school and church choirs throughout Michigan.
St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church is located at 195 W. 13th St., on the corner of 13th Street and Maple Avenue.