The Mennonite Children's Choir of Lancaster (MCCL) will host a benefit concert featuring music from the Czech Republic and the Moravian Church on Sunday, March 13, at 4 p.m. The event will take place at Stumptown Mennonite Church, 2813 Stumptown Road, Bird-in-Hand.

The concert will highlight music from the Czech Republic and the Moravian Church, including "Hymns To Be Sung at the Pianoforte" by Moravian composer Johannes Herbst, a piano transcription of the orchestral piece "The Moldau" by Bedrich Smetana, and selections by Czech composers Antonin Dvorak, Gustav Mahler, and Bohuslav Jan Martinu. The concert experience will conclude with a serenade of Moravian sacred music while guests enjoy a traditional Moravian Lovefeast of coffee and sweet buns.

The concert will include performances by the MCCL Chamber Choir, MCCL staff ensembles, and guest artists Jeffrey Gemmell, baritone, and Jonathan Keener, piano. Other participants will include Elisa Chodan, soprano; Sarah Wingard, soprano; Rosemary Siegrist Blessing, piano; and Monica Hochstedler Carlson, piano.

As director of music ministries at Lititz Moravian Church and assistant professor of choral studies at Millersville University, Gemmell has spent many years researching and editing a collection of the music of Herbst, a significant composer in the Moravian church tradition. Keener studied at Eastern Mennonite University and James Madison University, and he has performed around the world.

Masks are required. A freewill offering will be received to support the MCCL Chamber Choir and its summer international tour to the Czech Republic in partnership with Eastern Mennonite Missions' GO! program. There is a recommended donation.

While in the Czech Republic, MCCL Chamber Choir high school singers will perform music and learn about God's work in the community. In the upcoming months, the singers will work together to raise funds to support their tour, and they will participate in monthly language, culture, and discipleship trainings led by EMM and MCCL staff members.

For more information, visit http://www.mennonitechildrenschoir.org.