Nov 29, 2002 2 min read

SCOTTDALE – The Scottdale Choral Society will present its annual Christmas concerts in December. The 59-year-old organization is under the direction of Rodney A. Sturtz, who has worked with the choral society as its director since 1995. The accompanist is Sue Booher of Scottdale.

The choral society’s schedule of concerts includes:

– 7:30 p.m. Sunday Perryopolis United Methodist Church.

– 7:30 p.m. Monday, Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, East Crawford Avenue, Connellsville.

– 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8, Southmoreland High School Auditorium in conjunction with the Southmoreland High School Choir. Dwight Brown is the director.

– 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8, St. John’s Roman Catholic Church, Broadway, Scottdale.

– 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 9, Cochran Memorial United Methodist Church, Dawson.

The repertory for the 2002 concert will feature seven choruses from “The Messiah” by George F. Handel, including “And the Glory of the Lord,” “The Lord Gave the Word,” “Hallelujah!” and the challenging “Amen,” an eight-lined contrapuntal fugue.

After an intermission, during which the audience will be given an opportunity to make a contribution to the on-going efforts of the choral society, the remainder of the concert will feature selected compositions and traditional carol arrangements.

Among them will be the opening chorus from the Vivaldi Gloria. In addition, the choir will sing “Salvation is Created” from the Russian Orthodox tradition, two carol arrangements by English composer John Rutter and a string Gospel arrangement of “O Holy Night.”

Again this year, the Scottdale Choral Society has prepared a CD recording of their 2002 “Christmas Concert.” The recordings may be purchased following each concert. The CD was recorded with the assistance of Dwight Brown, chorus director at Southmoreland High School. Proceeds from the sale of the CDs will benefit the continuing work of the Scottdale Choral Society.