before - and after - at oldest church

This time, "Voices In Sacred Song" was at First Baptist Church, which has been here on Chippewa Square for 200 years.

I was the first SVF13 volunteer to show up and happened to catch the singers in mufti.

That's Benjamin Sokol, Henry Drangel, James Wright III, Jason Lambros, Lavonya Johnson, Ina Torres O'Ryan, Ashley Nunez, and Samantha Talora, left to right.

That was just before 4 PM.

Flash forward to about twenty past 6 PM.

The last vibrations of Handel's "Hallelujah" still linger from the 103-year-old organ.

Now our line-up has Benjamin Sokol, Ryan Lustgarten, Ashley Nunez, Henry Drangel, James Wright III, Jason Lambros, Lavonya Johnson, Ina Torres O'Ryan, and Samantha Talora.

That means we started with 8 singers and now have 9.

What gives?

Ryan Lustgarten wasn't there for the rehearsal and used a tablet for the two songs he performed; in solidarity, Samantha Talora also used a tablet for their duet.

Very nice, y'all!!!

I did love singing "Hallelujah" with everyone at the end, too.

That's a long-standing tradition at these free gospel concerts.

The best part is watching Sherrill Milnes as he enthusiastically conducts it!

Very nice!!!