Traverse City resident David Rice featured soloist in Olivet's 77th annual production of Handel's "Messiah"

BOURBONNAIS, IL (11/26/2012)(readMedia)-- David Rice of Traverse City is the featured bass soloist in Olivet Nazarene University's 77th annual production of Handel's "Messiah" on Saturday, December 1, 2012, 7 p.m., in the Betty and Kenneth Hawkins Centennial Chapel on Olivet's campus.

Other student soloists are Ashley Raffauf, soprano (Homewood, Ill.); Taylin Frame, alto (Centreville, Va.); and Seth Lowery, tenor (Kankakee, Ill.).

This year's performance also features the University's Concert Singers, Chrysalis Women's Choir, Testament Men's Choir and Orpheus Choir. The University Orchestra and University String Ensemble, including the harpsichord and the Ruffatti pipe organ, provide musical accompaniment. Dr. Jeff Bell and Dr. Neal Woodruff, music professors, conduct the orchestra and choirs.

"Messiah" 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.

There is no charge to attend either event. A free-will offering will be received the night of each performance.

For more information, 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.

###

More ONU news is available at www.olivet.edu, www.facebook.com/olivetnazareneuniversity, www.twitter.com/olivetnazareneu and www.youtube.com/olivetnazareneu. Licensed University photos and official logos available upon request.

Contact:

Laura Warfel

Public Relations Specialist

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, Ill.

www.olivet.edu

815-928-5403

lwwarfel@olivet.edu