Choral Program Director Leia Bennett directs the combined choirs on Sunday, April 15 at the Cape Elizabeth United Methodist Church.

Spirited youth, heavenly voices

Dr. Stephen Holmes has been bringing Maryland choirs to Maine throughout the past decade, each time creating a memorable visit to our church.

Past performances by the Maryland State Boychoir, the Notre Dame of Maryland Women’s Choir and the Singing Men of Maryland provided lessons of how fine-tuned and breathtakingly beautiful groups of young men and women can be.

It would be unfair to take anything away from the brilliance of the past performances, but Sunday’s performance by the Annapolis Area Christian School Upper Choir might have been Dr. Holmes’ best yet.

Dr. Stephen Holmes directs one of the Annapolis choruses.

Sunday’s performance during the 10 a.m. service included 80 high school students. At times they sang together but they also performed as a 40-voice Men’s Chorus, a 17-voice Madrigal Ensemble, and a 25-voice Women’s Chorus. Leia Bennett, choral program director at the Annapolis Christian School, conducted along with Dr. Holmes.

 The voices filled the sanctuary with traditional hymns, two of which Rev. Ruth Morrison said were her favorites, a range of special spiritual music, and one African folk song that had the entire congregation rocking to the beat.

The Annapolis Choir was in Maine as part of a spring tour of New England. While in Maine, they performed at the Littlefield Memorial Baptist Church in Rockland and at the Brackett Memorial UMC on Peaks Island. While not performing, they visited Portland, Freeport, Len Libby in Scarborough (can’t miss that chocolate moose) and the DeLorme Map Company in Yarmouth.

Thank you to Dr. Holmes for continuing to bring his choirs to our community and to our own Faith York for her friendship with Dr. Holmes that has made this magical connection possible.

Click here for more images of the Annapolis Choir:

Following the 10 a.m. service, the Annapolis Choir was served a pot luck lunch at the church before returning on two buses to Maryland.