Hartsville, S.C. ­ The Coker Singers and the Masterworks Choir of Florence are celebrating spring with a performance of Franz Joseph Haydn’s “The Creation” on Sunday, April 23 at 7 p.m. at Central United Methodist Church in Florence and on Tuesday, April 25 at 7 p.m. in the college's Watson Theater. Admission is free.

Both performances will feature a 35-piece orchestra of musicians from the South Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra in Columbia and the Florence Symphony Orchestra.

Guest soloist will be bass Scott Guinn from New York as Raphael; Coker College voice professor and soprano Serena Hill as Gabriel; tenor Jaeyoon Kim, a native of Seoul, Korea, as Uriel; and baritone Scott MacLeod from Tallahassee, Fl., as Adam.

Considered Haydn’s greatest and most ambitious work, “The Creation” is a sweeping musical retelling of the Biblical story. Its primeval and eternal music first awed audiences in 1798. It is said that when Beethoven heard it in 1808, amidst rapturous applause, he was moved to kiss Haydn on the cheeks and hands.

The Coker Singers, founded in 1908, is the official choral ensemble of Coker College. The group has performed in Atlanta, Birmingham, Nashville, New Orleans, New York and throughout the Carolinas. In 2005, the Coker Singers sang at the United States Capitol in Washington, DC, and in New York City at St. Patrick's Cathedral and Carnegie Hall. Dr. William Carswell, assistant professor of music, directs the Coker Singers.

The Masterworks Choir, a regional choir of mixed voices, was founded in 1979 to satisfy the demands of musicians throughout the Pee Dee region who were interested in developing and presenting programs of serious choral music. The Masterworks Choir has delighted audiences in Florence, in Washington, DC's National Cathedral, in Baltimore, at the Spoleto Festival, and in Europe.

-30-

April 13 , 2006