Owosso resident Emily Fernette featured soloist in Olivet's 78th annual production of Handel's "Messiah"

BOURBONNAIS, IL (11/25/2013)(readMedia)-- Emily Fernette of Owosso is featured as soprano soloist in Olivet Nazarene University's 78th annual production of Handel's "Messiah" on Sunday, December 8, 2013, 6 p.m., in the Betty and Kenneth Hawkins Centennial Chapel on Olivet's campus.

This beloved oratorio expresses the life of Jesus Christ in music. Composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel in just 24 days, it is still one of the most popular works in Western choral literature. "Hallelujah" is undoubtedly its most well-known chorus.

The University Orchestra and University String Ensemble, including the harpsichord and the Ruffatti pipe organ, will provide musical accompaniment. Dr. Neal Woodruff, music professor at Olivet, will conduct with Dr. Jeffery Bell, music professor, as organist.

Other student soloists are: Ashley Raffauf, soprano (senior, Homewood, Ill.); Seth Lowery, tenor (senior, Kankakee, Ill.); David Rice, baritone (senior, Traverse City, Mich.); Lillian Guenseth, alto (senior, Galesburg, Ill.); Ben Geeding, bass (senior, Manteno, Ill.); Taihla Eddins, alto (junior, Bloomington, Ill.).

For more information about this concert and other Department of Music events, call 815-939-5110 or email lrutter@olivet.edu.

Olivet Nazarene University is an accredited Christian, liberal arts university offering more than 100 areas of undergraduate and graduate study, including the Doctor of Education in ethical leadership. Olivet has one main campus in Bourbonnais, Ill. - just 50 miles south of Chicago; three sites: Rolling Meadows and Oak Brook, Ill., and Hong Kong; and more than 100 School of Graduate and Continuing Studies learning locations throughout Chicagoland and the Midwest. From Oxford to Tokyo, hundreds of Olivet students also experience the global classroom each year, whether through study abroad opportunities or worldwide mission trips.

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Contact:

Laura Warfel

Public Relations Specialist

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, Ill.

www.olivet.edu

815-928-5403

lwwarfel@olivet.edu