Experience the Mercersburg Community Chorus and Orchestra’s 2017 Christmas concerts at the Irvine Memorial Chapel of Mercersburg Academy Campus. Concerts are set for Saturday, December 2, at 3:30 PM and 7:30 PM, and Sunday, December 3, at 3 PM. The chorus and orchestra, under the direction of Richard Rotz, will perform Magnficats by Schubert and Pergolesi as well as chorales and hymns by Lauridsen and Holst. Soloists include soprano Elisabeth Turchi, contralto Kathryn Honan-Carter, tenor Sammy Huh, and baritone Thaddeus Ennen.
The Mercersburg Community Chorus and Orchestra is a local treasure, bringing together regional and local residents who simply enjoy singing. Organized in 1975 for its first performance, performances of seasonal music are presented to the public free of charge prior to Easter and Christmas.
As lovely as the music is the setting of the Irvine Memorial Chapel. The chapel was designed by American architect Ralph Adams Cram, who was well-known for his design of collegiate and religious- related buildings. The spire of the chapel marks the highest area of the campus and is a local landmark, visible for miles in the distance, marking the bucolic southern Franklin County countryside. The spire is reminiscent of the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Oxford, England.
Mercersburg Community Chorus is just one of many memorable holiday moments in Franklin County.