Gala will be final time Lindsey Wilson music professor and director of choral programs Gerald Chafin will conduct choral group in an entire concert.
COLUMBIA, KY. (04/08/2025) A celebration of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah, a performance of a Joseph Haydn piano concerto and a grand finale are among the highlights of this year’s Lindsey Wilson College Singers Gala Concert.
The concert, which is free and open to the public, will be performed at 2 p.m. CT Sunday, April 13, at Columbia Christian Church, 206 Campbellsville St.
This year’s Gala Concert will be the Singers’ 25th overall Gala, and it will also be the final time Lindsey Wilson music professor and director of choral programs Gerald Chafin will conduct the choral group in an entire concert. (He will lead the Singers at the college’s 2025 spring commencement on May 3.) In addition, the April 13 concert marks the 780th performance of the Lindsey Wilson Singers under Chafin, who has directed the music ensemble since the 1997-98 school year.
In the coming years, Chafin will continue to serve Lindsey Wilson as the college’s director of church relations.
“As the author and thought-leader Jeff Henderson has said, ‘It’s better to change a year too soon than a day too late.’ That’s what helped me to make the 2024-25 school year the finale as the director of choral programs,” said Chafin.
Chafin pointed out that his wife, Sonja, has been a big part of the Singers’ legacy.
“The travel and touring tradition that our ensemble has established is truly remarkable,” he said. “Sonja and I cannot begin to express what working with these students has meant to us. And everyone definitely knows that none of these incredible tours would have been possible without Sonja’s incredible planning skills. We know that ‘teamwork truly makes the dream work.'”
Debut of the ‘Messiah’
The date of Chafin’s final Lindsey Wilson Singers concert purposefully coincides with the anniversary of the debut Handel’s Messiah. The famous oratorio was first performed on April 13, 1742, in Dublin, then premiered in London the following year.
Last summer, the Chafins took a group of Lindsey Wilson Singers to Dublin to perform at St. Patrick’s Cathedral during the international Dublin Choral Festival. The trip included visiting the site of the Messiah’s first performance, which inspired Chafin to add the “Hallelujah” chorus to the program of this year’s Gala. Audience members — which are expected to include more than five dozen Lindsey WIlson Singers alumni — will be invited to join.
The April 13 concert will also feature retired Lindsey Wilson music professor Robert Reynolds performing Joseph Haydn’s Piano Concerto No. 11 in D major. Reynolds, who taught at the college for more than four decades, will be accompanied by a string quintet. In addition, the concert will also feature sacred anthems that the Lindsey Wilson Singers have performed on past concert tours and will include Singers alumni. Especially significant will be the performance of “Many Gifts, One Spirit,” the anthem that has become the heart of the Lindsey Wilson Singers and first performed in 1997.
“It’s been an absolute honor and joy to have been given the opportunity to lead such a wonderful and talented group of young people over the years who have exhibited so much energy, intensity and passion in their work,” said Chafin. “It’s been such a blessing to serve as choral director here, and I look forward to contributing to and helping to advance the Lindsey Wilson mission in my next role for the college.”
Lindsey Wilson College is a vibrant liberal arts college in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey WIlson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson has an enrollment of more than 4,000 students, and the college offers 28 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The college’s 28 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.
PHOTO: The Lindsey Wilson College Singers Gala Concert will be performed at 2 p.m. CT Sunday, April 13, at Columbia Christian Church, 206 Campbellsville St. It is free and open to the public.
(Duane Bonifer – Lindsey Wilson College)