MANSFIELD, PA— Nine members of the Mansfield University Festival Chorus were honored for their long-time service to the chorus on April 28. 
Erin Bemis, a psychology major, and Tacie Tews, a music major with tuba as her primary instrument, will graduate in May having sung in the chorus for four years.
The other seven honored are community members.
Yvonne Maris, community volunteer and advisor for the MU cheerleaders, has reached the 20 year mark as a Festival Chorus participant.
Maria Cruz, a physician at Laurel Health System, Barbara Auman, from Wellsboro, Dave Rappleye from Elmira, NY, Tom Wiersbowski, mayor of Mansfield, and Ryan Stanley, on the MU staff in records and financial services, have all sung in the chorus for 10 years.
Michelle Smith, a librarian from Wellsboro, has been participating for five years as a volunteer singer.
The Festival Chorus is a mixed chorus of over 100 voices under the direction of Peggy Dettwiler, which is open to all university students as well as community singers. The group rehearses three hours a week and performs a wide variety of choral styles in the fall semester and major choral works during the spring semester.
Large-scale performances with orchestra and professional soloists have included Handel’s Messiah, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Orff ‘s Carmina Burana, Haydn’s Creation and Mass in Time of War, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacem, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Honegger’s King David, Jenkins’ The Armed Man: A Mass of Peace, and the Requiems by Brahms, Mozart, Fauré, Rutter, and Verdi.
The Festival Chorus has produced 13 CDs and numerous cassette recordings.