The Cumberland Oratorio Singers (COS), the CANTATE Chamber Choir and St. Patrick Church Parish Choir, under the direction of Stephan Barnicle, will combine their choral talents in a performance of Franz Schubert’s Mass in G and Giovanni Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater as part of the St. Patrick Music for Charity Series on Friday, March 19, at 7:00 p.m. at St. Patrick Catholic Church, 2844 Village Drive, in Fayetteville.

The mission of the St. Patrick Music for Charity Series is to “provide outstanding musical performances to the Cumberland County community” and “heighten awareness of and raise funds for local charities through the performing arts.”

“The event is the first time that COS will partner with the Music for Charity Series,” said Michael Martin, Artistic Director and Conductor of COS. “It’s a great opportunity to work with Stephan, who is nationally known and an accomplished composer.”

Barnicle, Director of Music Ministry at St. Patrick Catholic Church and Artistic Director for the Music for Charity Series, is equally excited about the concert.

“Both composers were very young when they wrote these pieces,” said Barnicle. “Pergolesi was only 26 when he died. Stabat Mater was one of his later works and is regularly used for devotion of the Stations of the Cross, and we will be performing the piece during Lent. Schubert only lived to 31 and wrote his Mass in G when he was 18. It is very simple and a great piece for choruses to sing. The pieces are very contrasting in style. Pergolesi composed during the baroque period, and Schubert was a master of the early romantic period.”

The CANTATE Chamber Choir will open the evening’s program with Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. COS and the St. Patrick Parish Choir, accompanied by a small string orchestra, will perform Schubert’s Mass in G.

Proceeds from the performance will benefit CONTACT of Fayetteville, Inc., a nonprofit Christian-based 24-hour telephone crisis hotline and referral service. Anne Rogers, Associate Director for Music Ministry at St. Patrick Church and soprano soloist in the concert, volunteered at CONTACT upon first moving to Fayetteville.

“It was one of the most valuable things I’ve ever done,” said Rogers. “It is a very worthy cause.”

The Cumberland Oratorio Singers began in 1991 and currently has 65 members. Supported by the Arts Council of Fayetteville and Cumberland County through private contributions and grants from the City of Fayetteville, Cumberland County and the North Carolina Arts Council, the group offers three full-length concerts and a free community Messiah sing each year.

“We have members from all walks of life,” said COS President Mary Potter. “Retirees, senior citizens, students, teachers, doctors, young and old. We pay dues to buy music and raise money from ticket sales and through donations. If you have a love of singing, show up, buy the music, and sing!”

Tickets are available at the door for $12; students are admitted free.

For more information about the concert, call (910) 323-2410, ext. 117 or email arogers@stpatnc. org. For more information on COS, call (910) 822- 4447 or (910) 630-7153.