Featuring Fifteen Orange County Churches, Is Slated for November 15 at Jewish Temple in Aliso Viejo
— Director of All American Boys Chorus to Conduct Finale Performance of All Choirs Together
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— Event is Free to Public, But Food Donations for Needy Are Encouraged at Admission —
The 2009 Thanksgiving Interfaith Choir Festival, presented by the Interfaith Councils of Central Orange County for the sixth straight year, will take place Sunday, November 15, 2009 from 7:00-8:30 PM in Aliso Viejo.
The annual event is sponsored by the South Orange County Interfaith Council, Central Orange County Interfaith Council, Institute for Religious and Cultural Competency, O’Connor Mortuary, and SARAH. This year, the production will be hosted by Temple Beth El. The Jewish temple is located at 2 Liberty, near Aliso Creek Road and Pacific Park.
Eight choirs will perform songs from their own faith traditions. They include:
• All American Boys Chorus
• University United Methodist Church
• Christ Our Redeemer AME Church
• Temple Beth El
• Meats Brothers Quartet
• St. Joseph Catholic Church – Samoan Choir
• Laguna Niguel Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon)
• Mount of Olives Lutheran Church
The theme for this year’s festival is “Blending Our Voices.” In between the performances of the choirs, speakers from faiths that do not normally have choirs will address the audience for two minutes each with inspirational thoughts based on the theme and their faith traditions. Faiths represented by the various speakers include: Bahá’í, Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, Muslim, Sikh and Zoroastrian.
The Music Chair for the event is Wesley Martin, Director of the All American Boys Chorus, who will lead the finale performance of all eight choirs together. These 250 or so singers – accompanied by a brass/percussion ensemble from Irvine Valley College – will perform the anthem O Clap Your Hands. “We know that the choirs will enjoy performing under the expert guidance of one of the most accomplished choral leaders in the country and a luminary in the field,” stated Tom Thorkelson, this year’s chairman of the event and the Orange County Interfaith Director for the LDS Church. “And we expect this to be a spectacular event with over 1,500 attendees.”
The festival is open to the public at no charge. Each attendee will be asked to bring a generous donation of canned or packaged food which will be given to South County Outreach for distribution to the needy during the holiday season.
Questions? Contact Tom Thorkelson at tthork@cox.net, or 714-742-8899.
