The Choir That Was No More

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This arrangement, by my great and late friend, David Ayers, was sung by the Immanuel Singers a full 7 weeks after the Immanuel Church ceased to exist. Thus, this was a ghostly choir with no longer any church to call home. On the first day of 2008, the former Immanuel Presbyterian Church became Crossbridge Church, and with this radical "replanting," the choir and its concert series were phased out of existence, replaced entirely by contemporary sacred and praise and worship music. Michael Roy's position as music director ended, as did Diane Maltby's position as accompanist. Yet, on Feb. 20, 2008, the defunct Immanuel Singers lumbered back to life for one more concert down at the Homestead Nazarene Church. Even some members of the former choir at Redlands Community joined in this last hurrah of choral music unto the Lord of the music of the spheres. We did not know it at the time, but this concert was not only the last one ever to be presented by these singers under the direction of Michael Roy, but as Providence would decree, it was MR's last full scale choral concert of his career. He never again after this day, assembled another choir with the concertizing skills to perform on this level: this was the last picture show, the final out, the end of the long and winding road of big production, city-wide-publicized, large cast choral concerts. There had been 43 of them in all; Redlands Community Church hosted 33 from 1990 to 2001. The Redland Singers (a para-church chorale, or "people without a steeple") performed 4 major concerts during their two short years of interim existence; and Immanuel provided another 7 in four years between 2004 and 2008. Actually, this concert represented here was the 44th,..and final. This website is a compilation of audio files and photos of these 44 concerts, plus many Sunday morning choral pieces in the mix. The next choir for us, beloved, is in the heavenlies, as we stand washed in the blood of the Lamb.

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