VIRGINIA CHORALE TO PLAY FREE CONCERT OCTOBER 18 AT HUNGARS EPISCOPAL CHURCH

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Cindy Mackey, 757-754-4553, cindymackey@cox.net
VIRGINIA CHORALE TO PLAY FREE CONCERT OCTOBER 18 AT HUNGARS EPISCOPAL CHURCH
MACHIPONGO, Va. – (September 2015) – Hungars Music Ministry presents a concert with the Virginia Chorale on Sunday, October 18 at 4 p.m. Hungars Episcopal Church is located at 10107 Bayside Road, Machipongo. The event is free and open to the public.

The Virginia Chorale is the Commonwealth of Virginia’s premier professional chamber chorus. In its 32nd season, the Chorale is performing music from across the French-speaking world: Belgium, Haiti, Switzerland, and, of course, France. Swiss composer Frank Martin’s exquisitely beautiful ‘Mass for Double Choir’ is featured.

The Virginia Chorale is a fully professional performing and educating ensemble drawn from across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Under the artistic direction of Charles Woodward, the singers perform a series of five concerts with programs that feature the world’s greatest choral music. In addition to the annual concert series, the Chorale sponsors the Young Singers Project, a unique opportunity for select high school students to be mentored by the Chorale singers through the rehearsal and performance process

For more information, please call 757-678-7837 or visit www.hungarscureparish.org.

Hungars Episcopal Church’s history dates back to 1623 making it the third oldest church congregation in America. After the Revolutionary War, the church was unused for nearly 40 years and was stripped of its colonial furnishings. It was repaired in 1819 and used again until 1850, when it was declared unsafe for use. A contractor from Snow Hill, MD, Thomas Stevenson, salvaged the building by shortening it and closing the side doors, replacing them with two new doors in the west wall. The present interior was completed in 1892. The oak floor was laid in 1922. In 1950, lighting and central heat were added, the south vesting room enclosed, and a brick floor was laid in the vestibule. Recent improvements include air conditioning added in 1985, a brick walkway to the parish house and a memorial pulpit completed in 1991. Repainting and wood work restoration was done in 1992. The new custom-built grand pipe organ that dominates the gallery was designed with 13 stops to accommodate the intricacies of the music in the Episcopal liturgy. The result is a sound with warmth and clarity that made its debut in March 2013.