Mercersburg chorus to present holiday concerts

The Mercersburg Area Community Chorus will soon present its annual concerts.

MERCERSBURG - The Mercersburg Area Community Chorus will celebrate its 32nd year with holiday concerts December 1st and 2nd at the Mercersburg Academy Chapel. Performance times are 3:30 and 7:30 PM on Saturday and 3 PM on Sunday. The 130 member chorus and full orchestra under the direction of Richard Rotz will be joined by soloists Jan Aaland, Kathryn Honan- Carter, Alex Helsabek and Paul McIlvaine. The concerts will feature selections from Handel's Messiah, among the most popular works in Western choral literature, and Rachmaninoff's Vespers, which have been praised as that composer's finest work, and the greatest musical achievement of the Russian Orthodox Church. Holiday carols will complete the performance.

Jan Aaland, soprano, is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and a former Metropolitan Opera Auditions Regional finalist. As a concert soloist, Ms. Aaland has appeared with the Delaware and Lancaster Symphony Orchestras, and she has performed leading operatic roles for the Maryland Lyric Opera, Harrisburg Opera and Annapolis Opera. Ms. Aaland is an instructor of voice at Hood College and has been featured frequently as a guest artist with The Hood College Chamber Players and The Hood College Choir. In April of 2006 she sang the role of Pamina in a concert performance of Mozart's The Magic Flute. She will sing the role of Dido in a concert performance of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas in March 2008 with the Maryland Concert Opera. Ms. Aaland is the soprano soloist at All Saints' Episcopal Church in Frederick and teaches private voice lessons at her home studio in Braddock Heights, MD.

Alex Helsabeck, baritone, was a member, soloist, and section leader of the United States Air Force Singing Sergeants, and is currently a member and soloist with the United States Army Chorus in Washington, D.C. He received Associate, Bachelor, and Master of Arts degrees in music from Academia Di Vocale in Lucca, Italy. Helsabeck directs an afternoon school vocal program in Washington, D.C., known as NOTEBUSTERS, whose productions include over 200 voices, children and adults combined; and in 1992 he was named to the list of "People Who Make a Difference" in Washington, D.C., for his charitable contributions through the arts. In recent years Alex's performances have included A German Requiem by Brahms, Mass in Time of War by Hayden, The Seven Last Words by Dubois, and Messiah by Handel. Alex has just completed his newest CD, My Altar By The Sea, a selection of spirituals sung a cappella.

Kate Honan-Carter, contralto, was a National Finalist at the Metropolitan Opera Competition and a two-time recipient of the Metropolitan Opera Education Fund Grant. She received her BFA from University of CT and her Master of Music Degree with distinction in Vocal Performance from The New England Conservatory. The San Francisco Chronicle hailed her "vibrant, colorful mezzo, and flexible, knowing stage presence" in the part of Carmen. She has performed other leading roles including Rosina in Barber Of Seville, Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte, Suzuki in Madame Butterfly and Cherubino in Le Nozze Di Figero, with such companies as New York City Opera, Washington Opera, Opera International, Wolf Trap Opera, and Mississippi Opera. Solo concert engagements include appearances with The Washington Concert Opera, The Paul Hill Chorale, The Washington Ballet, The National Chamber Orchestra and The National Symphony.

Paul McIlvaine, tenor, has sung as tenor soloist with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra, the Handel Choir of Baltimore, the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, and others in such works as the Andrew Lloyd Weber Requiem, Haydn's The Creation and the Verdi Requiem. The Philadelphia Forum described his as "a tenor voice of true heroic proportions". He has sung with a number of opera companies, including The Washington Opera, The Virginia Opera, The Greater Buffalo Opera Company, and The Opera Orchestra of New York. His first appearance in New York was with the Opera Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall and later as the tenor soloist in the New York premiere of the Schumann Requiem at Carnegie Hall. Paul has performed with The Mercersburg Chorus in the Messiah (Parts 2&3), the Hovhaness Magnificat, the Respighi Laud to the Nativity, the Vaughan Williams Hodie, and the Verdi Requiem.

Founded in 1975, the Mercersburg Community Chorus performs two concert series each year, in April and December. Admission to the Chorus' concerts is free; however, a free will offering will be taken. Seating at the Mercersburg Academy Chapel is limited and there are no reserved seats; therefore, early arrival is recommended. For more information about the Chorus' performances and recordings, call 717- 328-2324.