California choir to perform in Virginia City Sunday

A Virginia City church will be alive with the sounds of music later this month as 50 singers from California come to share the spirit.

The Pleasant Hill Adventist Academy Concert Choir and Chamber Singers will perform at St. Mary in the Mountain's Catholic Church at 11 a.m. Sunday.

The group, from the Pleasant Hill, Calif., academy, travels throughout the Western U.S. and has appeared at Orange County's Crystal Cathedral and San Francisco's St. Mary's Cathedral as well as appearances on television and recordings.

This will be their third appearance at St. Mary in the Mountains. They performed in April 2002 and January 2006.

Church administrator Nick Nicosia said the event was in keeping with the Ecumenical tradition established by Bishop Manogue in the 1800s of sharing acoustical brilliance with inter-denominational talents.

Nicosia said there is no admission charge and the special performance will take place before, during and after the regularly scheduled 11:30 a.m. Mass. He suggested participants arrive by 11 a.m.

"Our other planned choir performances may be curtailed during 2008 pending the restoration of this historic structure that will be supported in part by the National Park Service's 'Save America's Treasures' program," he said.

Pleasant Hill Adventist Academy is a private, Seventh-day Adventist, K-12 school that accepts fewer than 300 students a year. The Music program is one of these areas, and the school has a flourishing band, two choirs, a hand bell ensemble, and stages several music productions each year.

The choir's 2007 tour took them to Seattle, and so far in 2008 they have performed with the Sacramento Symphony under the direction of Christian music legend Ralph Carmichael, and also appeared for the third time at Disneyland's Candlelight Processional.

Their director, Michael Spencer, is a composer, arranger, and keyboardist who also accompanies and arranges for the nationally known men's chorus, Christian Edition.

Free tours of St. Mary's museum and the Mad Monk Fine Wine Cellar as well an opportunity to meet the singers will be available immediately after the performance. Reservations are suggested.

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or 881-7351.

If You Go

WHAT: Pleasant Hill Adventist Academy Concert Choir and Chamber Singers concert

WHEN: 11:30 a.m. Sunday

WHERE: St. Mary in the Mountains Roman Catholic Church, 111 E St., Virginia City

CALL: 847-9099