Marking the season of Lent, the Chamber Singers of Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) will be singing a concert that draws from from Mozart to U2 during their Feb. 24-26 tour. The tour includes stops at Philadelphia Praise Center, Salford, and Blooming Glen.
Conductor Kenneth J. Nafziger said prayers and readings from the Psalms will be woven throughout the concert. “There are very direct biblical psalms with parallels to popular music that explore a common spiritual life,” Nafziger said.
The repertoire will range from introspective and penitential texts, several versions of the Kyrie eleison, and popular songs that share Lenten themes, including U2’s “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.”
“It is such a joy to bring our music to the churches and communities that we visit and see the way that our audiences respond to our music,” said Heidi Bauman, a senior at EMU. “I am particularly looking forward to singing an arrangement of ‘What wondrous love is this’ as well as Mozart’s ‘Laudate Dominum.’”
Aldo Siahaan, pastor of Philadelphia Praise Center, one of the churches that will be hosting the Chamber Singers during their Pennsylvania tour, is looking forward to the praise and worship with the choir. The EMU Chamber Singers will be joining the congregation for an interdenominational prayer meeting held at another Indonesian church in Philadelphia. Siahaan hopes that this will build relationships with other Indonesian churches “plus let the other churches know that PPC has wide connections in the Mennonite family.”
For more information contact Marci Myers, special events assistant, at
540-432-4589 or email myersmk@emu.edu.
***Tour schedule***
Friday, Feb. 24, at 7:30 p.m. – Indonesia Full Gospel Fellowship Church (Philadelphia Praise Center, host)
Saturday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m. – Salford Mennonite Church
Sunday, Feb. 26, at 9:30 a.m. – Blooming Glen Mennonite Church
Sunday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. – Pinto Mennonite Church