Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Members of the Yampa Valley Singers, Steamboat Chamber Singers and the Steamboat Springs High School chorus will join vocal forces in a performance of Schubert’s Mass in G on Wednesday.

The concert features each group on individual pieces. Guest soloist and gospel singer Carmen Marie Coleman is set to perform a solo, and all the choruses will join together for a gospel finale, said Yampa Valley Singers and Steamboat Chamber Singers director Marie Carmichael.

Routt County Singers Keri Rusthoi, David Henderson and Elliott Ross-Bryant will be soloists on the Schubert Mass. The piece had a Steamboat performance about 10 years ago but hasn’t been performed locally since, Carmichael said. Members of the Steamboat Symphony Orchestra will accompany the joint chorus for the Mass.

“It’s a very beautiful and accessible piece, both for the singers and for the audience,” Carmi­chael said.

To balance out the somewhat solemn mass, the gospel-style pieces and guest spots by Coleman will be more up-tempo, Carmichael said.

“The first half is more of a quiet, sacred mood, and the other half of the program is more upbeat,” she said.

Soloist Coleman is a singer in the San Francisco Bay Area, and is known for a singing style that blends elements of jazz, soul, R&B and gospel. She’s performed alongside The Blind Boys of Alabama and appeared at venues including The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Coleman has performed locally with Carmichael at United Methodist Church.

The music starts at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Steamboat Springs High School auditorium. Tickets cost $10 for general admission or $6 for students.