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Messiah Project Previews European Tour With Local Concert

(Logo courtesy Messiah Project)

Messiah Project, the local Christian organization whose mission is to “present our Judeo-Christian heritage through the visual and performing arts,” will tour Austria and visit Krakow, Poland during a two-week performing and sightseeing trip later this month.  Some twenty members of the group’s Credo Chamber Choir, directed by Heather Nelson, will make the trip, along with frequent Messiah Project collaborator, Arkansas-based concert organist Jonathan Story, and soprano Kara Story.  They’ll give Springfield a preview of their concert-tour repertoire at a concert Sunday June 5th at 7:00pm at All Saints Anglican Church, 2751 E. Galloway.  It’s free and open to the public, but donations will be appreciated.

Heather Nelson tells us the featured work on the program is the Mass No.2 in G major by Schubert.  “And we’re adding a really lovely arrangement of Amazing Grace by—well, I call him a ‘kid,’ but he’s probably 23 years old—E.W. ‘Skip’ Stradtman III, who just graduated from Florida State University.  And we will actually give the European premiere of that piece—we’ll beat out a festival in Ireland by about three days!  The choir will also perform The Majesty and Glory of Your Name by Tom Fettke.”

In addition to stops in Vienna and Salzburg, the group will also visit Hallstadt, Austria, which Heather describes as “a very picturesque city along a lake.”  We’ll be there a couple of days and perform in one of the cathedrals in that town.  We have a wonderful opportunity to basically drive through almost the entire country of Austria.  One of the reasons that we’re able to take this tour is that Jonathan Story has been invited to perform an organ recital at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. That will be the very first event that we have when we get into Austria. He has a Tuesday noon concert, I believe, and this is a very prestigious thing for him.  We don’t get to sing, but we will be able to be there to support him. He has been instrumental—pardon the pun—in putting this tour together and getting us the locations to sing.”  Story will perform some of the organ works for his Mozarteum recital at Sunday’s concert in Springfield.

The troupe will also visit and perform in Krakow, Poland as part of this two-week tour, scheduled for June 16-30.

For more information visit www.messiahproject.org.

Randy Stewart joined the full-time KSMU staff in June 1978 after working part-time as a student announcer/producer for two years. His job has evolved from Music Director in the early days to encompassing production of a wide range of arts-related programming and features for KSMU, including the online and Friday morning Arts News. Stewart assists volunteer producers John Darkhorse (Route 66 Blues Express), Lee Worman (The Gold Ring), and Emily Higgins (The Mulberry Tree) with the production of their programs. He's also become the de facto "Voice of KSMU" in recent years due to the many hours per day he’s heard doing local station breaks. Stewart’s record of service on behalf of the Springfield arts community earned him the Springfield Regional Arts Council's Ozzie Award in 2006.