Voices from

a wide cross-section of Fayette County churches will form an ecumenical

choir presenting Franz Schubert's Mass in G this Saturday at 8 p.m. at

Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Peachtree City.

Choir members

of National Heights Baptist in Fayetteville; Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran,

First Presbyterian, Peachtree City United Methodist and St. Andrew's-in-the-Pines

Episcopal in Peachtree City; St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Mission, Sharspburg;

and St. Philip Benizi Catholic, Jonesboro, join with the choir of Holy

Trinity.

Claire Stroud,

organist and director of music at Holy Trinity, will conduct, and the

choral work will be accompanied by Kelly Plauché Whittier on the

pipe organ.

The Mass was

composed in 1815, and is set for soprano, tenor, and bass soli, in addition

to the chorus and organ. The late conductor Robert Shaw recorded the work

with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Choruses in 1990, and it is his

arrangement that will be presented here.

The soprano

soloist will be Cynthia Van Wert, who was born in Nazareth and raised

in Israel, the daughter of Baptist missionaries. Her undergraduate work

was at Eastern Kentucky University; she earned her master's in music at

the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Van Wert apprenticed

with the Knoxville Opera Company and was a regional finalist in the Metropolitan

Opera Audition Competition. At present the full-time mother of two, she

lives in Fayette County where she continues to perform and teach privately.

David Stivers,

tenor, was born in Dayton, Ohio and received his bachelor of music degree

and his master of music education at Eastern Kentucky. A member of the

Atlanta Symphony Chorus and the Atlanta Symphony Chamber Chorus for 15

years, he toured Europe with Robert Shaw in 1988. He currently serves

as soloist and choir director in several Atlanta area churches.

Baritone Bill

Killmeier grew up in Marietta and now resides in Newnan. After graduating

from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, N.J., he was selected as

soloist and member of the United States Army Band and Chorus in Washington,

D.C. He continued his career in Germany, singing for nearly ten years

as a full-time opera house soloist in several theaters. In addition to

several theater commitments in Germany over the next few years, he will

be heard as Sharpless in Atlanta Opera's 2004 production of Madame Butterfly.

Killmeier also co-authored "Auditioning in the 21st Century: An essential

handbook for those auditioning for and working in the German-speaking

theater 'fest' system."

Whittier studied

organ at the College of William and Mary, where she played at the historic

Bruton Parish Church. She graduated from Emory University with a BA in

music, then worked for a year in Vienna, Austria where she had the opportunity

to play many of the historic organs in the city, giving two concerts.

She is now director of music and liturgy at St. Philip Benizi Catholic

Church in Jonesboro, where she leads an adult choir and a children's choir

as well as playing the organ for three weekend Masses.

Stroud graduated

in music from East Carolina University in Greenville. N.C. where she served

as assistant conductor of College Chorale and carried a teaching fellowship

in organ. She taught music and served churches in several eastern cities

before moving to Peachtree City. She has been with Holy Trinity since

1983.

Stroud says

she sees herself more fully as parish musician than as organist and music

director, and works to develop the musical outreach of the church. She

has encouraged ecumenical growth and understanding in the community by

producing choral ventures like the Schubert. These have included Händel's

Messiah, the Gloria by Vivaldi and Requiem by Fauré. In addition,

Stroud has served on the Atlanta Board of Chorister's Guild and is an

active member of the Archdiocesan Choir Committee.

The public

is invited to attend this free concert, and a reception will follow. Child

care will also be available.

Holy Trinity

is located on the corner of Walt Banks Road and Ga. Highway 54 in Peachtree

City. Parking is available in the adjacent parking lot of McIntosh High

School. For more information, call 770-487-7672.

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