Middleport Community Choir will perform at 2 churches in Orleans

Provided photo – Members of the Middleport Community Choir rehearse this week for their upcoming concerts in Orleans County.

MEDINA – The Middleport Community Choir and The Middleport Belltones have two upcoming performances in Orleans County.

The choir will present “Down By The Riverside”on Sunday, May 15, and Friday, May 20. The May 15 performance will be at 4 p.m. at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Medina. The May 20 performance will be at 7 p.m. in at Gaines-Carlton Community Church located at 14585 Ridge Rd. in Albion.

“I really wanted to perform a concert that would be fun for the choir and audience,” said Ric Jones, director of the community choir. “This performance is sure to get everyone’s toes tapping. It is full of recognizable spirituals and gospel songs.”

Besides the Middleport Community Choir, the concert will also feature The Middleport Belltones, under the direction of Debby Clark. The performance will also feature numerous soloists from the choir, a drummer, and a bassist.

A free will offering will be taken during the performance. For more information about these performances, please contact Jones, the musical director, at (716) 523-0846.

Jones is the owner of Imagine Music Publishing. In addition to being the musical director of the Middleport Community Choir, he also serves as musical director of the Brighton Symphony Orchestra and The Genesee Chorale. He is also the organist at St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church in Medina and Trinity Lutheran Church in Wolcottsville.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Ric Jones, director of the Middleport Community Choir, is shown here on Dec. 7, 2014, leading the Genesee Chorale in a concert at the First Presbyterian Church in Albion.

The Middleport Belltones is directed by Debby Clark, who has been an organist for over 35 years. During that tenure, she has accompanied and directed numerous cantatas. Under Clark’s direction, the Middleport Belltones have travelled to Germany in 2002, 2008, and 2015.

Clark currently enjoys being a substitute organist for several churches. In addition, she has been an office facilitator for a financial advising firm for over 17 years.

The Middleport Community Choirs are “a community of churches that sings from the heart.” They are two choirs: the vocal choir (The Middleport Community Choir), and the hand bell choir (The Middleport Bell Tones).

The Middleport Community Choir is a voluntary organization made up of approximately 40 active members from Middleport, Medina, Gasport, Lockport, Akron, and Lyndonville. Their performance repertoire consists of a variety of mediums, including sacred, secular, Broadway, and contemporary choral works.