A Cappella Choir and Brass Ensemble Spring 2025 Tour will span five states

The Lenoir-Rhyne University A Cappella Choir and Brass Ensemble will tour much of the East Coast from March 27-April 1, 2025. The itinerary includes performances in North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York City. The choir and brass will perform at the historic Cathedral of St. John the Divine and participate in Sunday morning worship at St. James Episcopal Church in Manhattan.

“This year’s tour revives our planned 2020 tour, which was canceled just days before departure when the university closed due to the pandemic. This tour has been long-awaited, and we are overjoyed to return to New York City for the first time since 2016,” said Ryan Luhrs, Ph.D., associate professor of music and director of the A Cappella Choir.

Tour Performance Dates

• Thursday, March 27, 2025, 7 p.m. – First Lutheran Church, Norfolk, Virginia

• Friday, March 28, 2025, 7 p.m. – Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Lansdale, Pennsylvania

• Saturday, March 29, 2025, 10:30 a.m. – Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City

• Sunday, March 30, 2025, 9:10 a.m. – St. James Episcopal Church, New York City (Participation in worship services)

• Sunday March 30, 2025, 7 p.m. – St. Martin’s Lutheran Church, Annapolis, Maryland

• Monday, March 31, 2025, 7 p.m. – Muhlenberg Lutheran Church, Harrisonburg, Virginia

• Tuesday, April 1, 2025 (morning performance time TBA) – Roanoke College Chapel, Salem, Virginia

• Tuesday, April 1, 2025, 7 p.m. – First ARP Church, Statesville, North Carolina

Luhrs added that this tour also offers the choir multiple opportunities to connect with alumni throughout the itinerary. “We are excited to have five LR alumni hosting us: Ryan-Michael Blake ’06 is music director at First Lutheran in Norfolk; Kenneth Miller ’10 is music director and organist at St. James Episcopal Church in Manhattan; Micah Krey ’13 is pastor at St. Martin’s Lutheran Church in Annapolis; Chris Bowen ’95, M. Div. ’01, is the campus pastor at Roanoke College in Virginia; Leslie Overcash ’13 and his wife Amanda Watts Overcash ’14 are director of music ministry and organist, respectively, at First ARP Church in Statesville.”

Musical selections

All performances are open to the public and no tickets are required. The program will feature choral and brass music from a variety of time periods and styles, including Ola Gjeilo’s “Dark Night of the Soul” and highlights from André Thomas’ “Mass: A Celebration of Love and Joy,” an extended work performed in fall 2024 with the Hickory Choral Society. Other selections include music by Christopher Tye, Henry Purcell, Evan Ramos, Taylor Scott Davis, Joel Thompson, the Soweto Gospel Choir, and F. Melius Christiansen. The A Cappella Choir is directed by Luhrs and accompanied by Jeana Neal Borman, collaborative artist and pianist. Christopher Nigrelli, DMA, professor of music, conducts the LRU Brass Ensemble.

History of the A Cappella Choir

Founded in 1935 by St. Olaf Choir alumnus Kenneth Lee, the Lenoir-Rhyne A Cappella Choir is Lenoir-Rhyne University’s flagship choral ensemble. The choir performs frequently, including an annual fall concert, A Lenoir-Rhyne Christmas, and spring tour. In May of 2023, the choir traveled to Spain and performed in Toledo, Seville, Grenada, and Madrid. In 2019, the choir traveled to Ireland and presented concerts in Galway, Belfast and the Dublin area.

Other recent events include a hymn festival tour and a capstone worship event commemorating the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation (2017), a spring tour to Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina (2018), joint performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (2018), Dan Forrest’s Jubilate Deo (2020), and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana (2024) with the Western Piedmont Symphony Orchestra, performances with the National Lutheran Choir (2020, 2024), and fall concert with the Hickory Choral Society (2022).

Luhrs began leading the A Cappella Choir in 2016 and is the ensemble’s fourth director, he follows the tenures of Paul Weber (1999-2016), E. Ray McNeely (1971-1999), and Kenneth Lee (1935-1971).