April 30, 2019
The Northern Arizona University Shrine of the Ages Choir is celebrating its 86th year and will have a concert at 7:30 p.m. May 3 at the Shepherd of the Hill Lutheran Church.
Under the direction of Edith A. Copley, regents’ professor of music and director of choral studies, Shrine will perform historic and contemporary choral works by Thomas Weelkes, William Billings, Benjamin Britten and Shawn Kirchner. The featured work will be a baroque oratorio by Giocomo Carissimi entitled “Historia di Jephte”featuring student soloists and NAU voice faculty soprano Christine Graham.
Founded in 1933 by Eldon Ardrey, the Shrine of the Ages Choir brought tremendous recognition to the mountain campus through its annual participation in the Easter Sunrise Service at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. The service was broadcast nationally on NBC radio affiliate stations until 1968, including broadcasts overseas to servicemen during World War II. Shrine performs a major choral/orchestral concert each spring with the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra. Shrine has also appeared in Carnegie Hall and at national and regional conferences of the National Association for Music Educators and American Choral Directors Association.
The Shrine of the Ages Choir tours on a rotational basis—within Arizona, around the Southwest region and internationally to provide students with an educational global perspective. In May 2020 Shrine will tour South Korea and Hong Kong.
Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church is located at 1601 N. San Francisco St. Admission is free.