The world-renowned University of Notre Dame Folk Choir will perform at two churches early next month during its first tour of Northwest Florida.
“We’re really excited,” said Joey Ferreira, a Fort Walton Beach resident who has been working for several years to bring the choir to the area. “It’s an honor to host them and to try to make it available to as many people as possible.”
The 50-student choir has performed at Mass every Sunday and all over the English-speaking world since it was founded about 35 years ago, Director Steve Warner said.
The choir tours the United States at least twice a year, travels to Ireland and Scotland regularly and have performed for Pope John Paul II.
They specialize in all types of liturgical music, from Mozart and Handel to Irish, Spanish or German tunes.
“We’re not what you would call a typical church choir,” Warner said.
During its visit here, the choir will sing original compositions written by Warner or his co-director, Karen Schneider-Kirner.
Warner said he looks forward to visiting an area the choir hasn’t seen before.
He said he has a great group of students who love to meet new people and see new areas, even when packed onto a tour bus. That’s a benefit because the choir stays with host families in whatever communities they visit.
The trip south also is a bonus for them.
“I live in northern Indiana, so a concert tour to Florida is a dream come true, especially in January,” Warner said.
WANT TO ATTEND?
The University of Notre Dame Folk Choir will perform at 7 p.m. Jan. 6 at Christ Our Redeemer Catholic Church at 1028 White Point Road in Niceville and at 7 p.m. Jan. 7 at St. Mary Catholic Church at 110 S.W. St. Mary Ave. in Fort Walton Beach. Admission is free. Donations are requested to help victims of the typhoon in the Philippines.
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Lauren Sage Reinlie at 850-315-4443 or lreinlie@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @LaurenRnwfdn.
