Ensemble to present classical chamber concert in historic church

HARPER ? Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra Music Director Robert McConnell and the Clear Creek Heritage Association will present a classical chamber concert at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Clear Creek Church southeast of Harper.

The ensemble will be performing music in the historic setting of the Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Church.

Members of the Clear Creek Heritage Association hosting the event see the concert as the first in a series of classical music programs for the greater community of southeast Iowa and are reaching out to music and institutional groups throughout the Midwest to schedule classical concerts for future seasons.

The concert Sunday features a 10-member chamber ensemble, with musicians from SEISO, Iowa Wesleyan College and the community at large.

The ensemble?s program features classical selections, like Bach and other baroque music, and folk tunes, including a double-oboe concerto and an audience sing-along of a traditional favorite.

McConnell will provide commentary and close-up ?introductions? to various string and wind instruments.

Everyone is welcome to attend. Admission is free. A reception will follow in the church?s social hall.

Freewill donations to SEISO will help to pay for the restoration of the Steinway grand piano at Iowa Wesleyan College, a special project undertaken by SEISO.

The Clear Creek Heritage Association sees the concert as keeping with the skills and optimism of their ancestors who founded and built the farming community and the church during the past 150-plus years.

In the early 1850s, a group of Catholic German families arrived in the area. During the decades, church, school and rectory buildings were constructed. In 1898, the present grand edifice was built.

The Clear Creek Heritage Association conserves the church as part of the history of Clear Creek Township, Iowa and the nation.

The church has many features, including stained-glass windows with German script and a carved wood statuary and altar.

The church facility is traditionally known by the following titles: Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, Clear Creek Church, and the current official title: The Clear Creek Heritage Association.

For more information, go to www.seiso.us or www.clearcreekheritageassociation.org. Patrons also can read about the chuch at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saints_Peter_and_Paul_Roman_Catholic_Church_(Harper,_Iowa) or on Facebook.