A 40-member strong Methodist Chorale will be marking its 50th anniversary with a concert at the Saxthorpe Methodist Church in St Andrew, on Saturday, August 27.

Showtime for the jubilee concert is at 7:00 pm.

Chorale director Peter Brown is promising an evening of rich inspirational favourites.

“It’ll be a diverse selection. The chorale’s repertoire ranges from hymn arrangements, oratorio, classical, gospel, spiritual to folk,” Brown told Sunday Observer.

Margaret Thompson-Fairweather, contralto; Colleen Nembhard, soprano; Orville Manning, tenor and Mickel Gordon, counter tenor are rostered for solos while Roger N Williams, director at the School of Music at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, will be the evening’s pianist.

The chorale’s ranks will be bolstered by members residing overseas.

Brown, who is also director of music at the 175-year-old Coke Methodist Church in Kingston, said the half-century-old chorale is living up to its mandate.

“The primary purpose of the chorale is to use music as a tool of evangelism of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As a secondary function, to assist Christian organisations to raise funds to support their work. We do not charge for our services,” said Brown.

“In addition to celebrating our 50th anniversary, the concert will be used to provide funds to assist the Coke Memorial Methodist Church in its refurbishing efforts,” he continued.

Formally started in 1966 by Pastor Eric Bailey, the Methodist Chorale began as the Corporate Area Methodist Youth Choir. The chorale’s name change in 1973 was reflective of the changing character of the group as it matured and expanded its reach and repertoire.

In addition to local engagements, the Methodist Chorale has performed in The Bahamas, Panama, Belize, the Cayman Islands, Curacao and the United States of America.