Tickets Now on Sale for 2015 Wesley Choral Festival Gala Concert to Benefit Imagine No Malaria
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (PRWEB) March 24, 2015 -- Tickets are now on sale for the 2015 Wesley Choral Festival Gala Concert, an event featuring choirs and individual choral singers from across the nation. The concert will be held at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 23, at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., with 100 percent of ticket sales benefiting Imagine No Malaria, an initiative of the people of The United Methodist Church to reduce preventable deaths from malaria.
“Though malaria is treatable and preventable, it is surprising to learn that more than 600,000 people die each year from the disease,” says Dr. James Ramsey, Director of Music and Arts at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Highlands Ranch, Colo., and founder of the Wesley Choral Festival. “Because of The United Methodist Church’s Imagine No Malaria initiative, lives are being saved and communities are being transformed through bed net distributions, health worker education and life-saving medications and diagnostic kits. Imagine No Malaria’s impact is being seen all across Sub-Saharan Africa and we are honored to help support the work through the Wesley Choral Festival.”
The gala concert is the culminating event of the four-day festival, where both performers and non-performance participants take part in four days of activities, including tours of Washington, D.C.
The 2015 gala concert will feature Ramsey as co-conductor, along with Helen Cha-Pyo, conductor of Empire State Youth Orchestras (ESYO) Youth Orchestra, as the guest conductor. Festival veteran Tim Koch will serve as artistic advisor and Midwest Emmy Award winning soprano Adrienne Danrich will be the featured soprano soloist. Dove Award-winning pianist, composer and producer Mark Hayes has joined the 2015 festival team as the commissioned composer, along with Kenrick Mervine as accompanist/organist.
About Imagine No Malaria:
Imagine No Malaria is an extraordinary ministry of the people of The United Methodist Church, putting faith into action to end preventable deaths from malaria in Africa, especially the death of a child or a mother. With a comprehensive approach to fighting this killer disease, Imagine No Malaria empowers the people of Africa to improve health infrastructure and achieve a sustainable victory over malaria.
About The Wesley Festival:
James Ramsey, Director of Music and Arts at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Highlands Ranch, Colorado founded the Wesley Choral Festival in 2007 to create a high-profile event that brings people together to support a common cause and promote worthwhile charities. The first festival celebrated the tercentenary of the birth of the historic hymn writer and co-founder of “Methodism,” Charles Wesley. Dr. Ramsey’s vision for the future of the Wesley Choral Festival will bring people together through music in venues nationwide to aid critical missions of the United Methodist Church.
Crystal Caviness, United Methodist Communications, +1 615.742.5138, [email protected]
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