NEW: Bring your voice to the Annual Messiah Sing!

If you have a score, bring it with you.
December 3, 2010
by Penny Vane

The music is familiar, uplifting, inspiring . . . and now part of a new community tradition! It’s time to take your holiday voice out of the shower and join friends and neighbors at the Second Annual Messiah sing-along.  Lest we forget, Handel’s famous Messiah is much more than just the Hallelujah Chorus! 

There’s a whole score-ful of beautiful music, and we’ll perform it all together this Sunday, December 5, at 5:00 p.m., gently guided by the skillful direction of Stephen Fancher, music director of St. Mary the Virgin, and featuring solos by numerous talented local vocalists.

You can cluster together in groups with your fellow sopranos, altos, tenors or basses . . . or linger in the back and just listen.  No charge and open to all at Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Greeley Avenue, next to Bell School, Chappaqua, New York. 

P.S.  A limited number of scores will be available for sharing, so if you happen to have one of your own, please bring it along!

A recital of arias, art songs and spirituals, December 12 at 3:00 p.m. at St. Mary the Virgin

The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin once again has the rare opportunity to hear Melissa Shippen Burrows, a rising star in the operatic world, sing in the intimate setting of its historic sanctuary. She will perform arias, art songs and spirituals accompanied by Stephen Fancher, music director of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, on Sunday, December 12 at 3:00 p.m.

Highlights from Burrows’ career include being named a 2009 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions District Winner and Regional Finalist. In 2008 she produced the recording Belle Nuit for RCA with Vesselina Kasarova. She made her Asian debut with the Hong Kong Philharmonic in 2008 singing Gorecki’s Symphony No. 3, Sorrowful Songs. And in 2007 she was awarded a grant from the prestigious Giulio Gari Foundation.

Stephen Fancher has performed as a soloist and accompanist, including appearances at the Julliard Theater in New York and St. Martin–in-the-Fields in London. He currently teaches music at the Julia A. Stark Elementary School in Stamford, CT, directing five choruses and many performing ensembles. He is the music director at St. Mary the Virgin, where he has been since 2004.

You are invited to meet the artists at a reception following the recital. Proceeds of this concert will go toward helping make St. Mary’s accessible to everyone, including those with disabilities.

For reservations, please mail this form (click here for form) along with your check to: The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, P.O. Box 380, Chappaqua, NY 10514. Tickets are $30 for general seating and $60 for preferred seating, and are tax-deductible. Tickets will be held at the door, which will open at 2:30 p.m. The Church is located at 191 South Greeley Avenue, Chappaqua, NY. For more information, call 914-238-8751.