Mississippi College Singers Performing 2016 Concerts in Austria and Germany

MC Singers conducted by Mark Nabholz

Sales of T-shirts promoting the 30^th annual Festival of Lights will help raise funds for the Mississippi College Singers to perform in Europe.

Costing $20 each, the T-shirt sales boost a drive to pay for the trip by the MC Singers to Austria and Germany in May 2016. Stops during the two-week journey include such cities as Munich, Salzburg, Cologne and Berlin and travels aboard a cruise ship along the River Rhine.

MC Singers conductor Mark Nabholz and music professor Bob Knupp, both Clinton residents, will accompany about 25 students on the May 10-May 22 trip overseas.

In recent years, the MC Singers were showcased in concerts in Europe and South Africa. Performances around the USA have taken the award-winning group to famous venues like Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York City.

Each MC Singer seeks to raise about $2,500 through T-shirt sales and other efforts in the months ahead.

T-shirts go on sale just in time for the 30^th anniversary of the Festival of Lights to embrace the Christmas holidays on the Clinton campus. The concerts at Provine Chapel are set for December 3-5.

The festival usually attracts more than 1,200 guests to pack the pews at MC’s oldest building. Provine Chapel first opened its doors in 1860.

This year’s three-day festival features the premiere of “We Travelers,” the piece written by MC music professor Ben Williams.

The MC Singers were conducted by Dr. Richard Joiner at the initial Festival of Lights on the Clinton campus in 1986. Joiner returns to conduct the final piece, “Still, Still, Still” in early December.

Audiences treasure the moments when the MC Singers enter and exit Provine Chapel by candlelight as the student group performs “Of the Father’s Love Begotten.” Festival of Lights performances begin at 7:30 p.m. each evening. There will be a reception for MC Singers dating back 30 years at the Aven Hall lobby following the Friday December 4 concert.

Tickets cost $15 for adults and $10 for faculty and staff. The price is $5 for students, children and $10 for senior citizens.

For more information on the T-shirt drive and the Festival of Lights, contact Dottie Serio of the MC Music Department at 601-925-3440 or mc.edu/marketplace.