On April 2, the parking lot at Mechanic Grove Church of the Brethren was filled with vans, trucks, and sedans as people made their way inside for a home-cooked meal. The Southern Lancaster County Community Choirs (SLCCC) organization was hosting its annual dinner and concert fundraiser, which featured hamloaf, macaroni and cheese, stewed tomatoes, green beans, applesauce, dinner rolls, and dessert served buffet-style. After people's bellies were full, their ears were graced with the sound of 36 voices from the SLCCC Crescendo Choir. The choir performed a variety of songs, including "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "Africa," "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home?" and "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?"

"This year has been awesome," said Crescendo Choir director Rebecca Hess. "We have more choir members this year than we've ever had. My favorite part is just getting up in front of that group, pushing them to sing more and better than they think that they can."

The Crescendo Choir consists of singers from the Solanco community and beyond who have been rehearsing together since mid-September. The choir is a program that exists under the umbrella of SLCCC, a nonprofit focused on providing quality music experiences and education to singers of all ages. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, SLCCC went a year without rehearsing and performing. The annual dinner and concert fundraiser is the only event where the organization collects money for itself.

"I'm excited to see how our community has come together and brought music back to life again, and even if they're not up there on stage, it's great to see the community supporting it," stated Hess.

The Crescendo Choir will perform a spring concert at Providence Church, 269 Cinder Road, New Providence, on Sunday, May 15, at 4 p.m. The concert will be free to the public, but donations will be accepted and given to Celebrate Recovery, a Christ-centered recovery program for individuals experiencing addiction, trauma, and more. A group from Celebrate Recovery meets at Providence Church, which is where Crescendo Choir rehearses on Monday nights. As a result, SLCCC has become aware of this organization's mission. If individuals show their spring concert programs to staff at Son's Ice Cream, 319 W. State St., Quarryville, then Son's will donate 15% of these customers' proceeds to Celebrate Recovery.

"Providence Church is very generous; they have never charged us for anything, so this is just a way for us to give back to a mission that the church is trying to support," explained Hess.

Auditions for the Crescendo Choir are held twice a year. Interested singers are asked to come to auditions with a prepared song to be performed a capella, or without accompaniment. At the audition, prospective members will be asked to sing through several vocal exercises so that SLCCC members can evaluate the individual's accuracy of pitch, depth of range, and ability to read music. Those interested in auditioning can email slcchoirs@outlook.com.