NEWS REPORT

The Danville Summer Singers will present a concert titled “Common Ground: A Concert for Unity” on Tuesday, Aug. 1, at 7:30 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church of Danville at 500 W. Main St.

The choir is the biggest it has ever been in its more than 30-year existence with 74 singers, ranging from high school through senior citizens. Special guests are two soloists who have moved beyond Danville, returning to join us for three pieces: Lydia Graham Goldie and Shauntina Phillips.

The concert is anchored by a recent piece Alice Parker, a dean of American choral music who visited Danville in the early 1980s to lead a hymn sing at the Presbyterian church. Her piece asks all to find common ground between the high and low, poor and rich, old and young, black and white, a theme carried through the women’s presentation of “One Voice,” the men’s singing of “Freedom, Come” and four movements of John Rutter’s Requiem whose message is the age-old prayer for those who have passed on as well as those left to mourn.

The performance will close with the spirited anthem from Les Miserables: “Do You Hear the People Sing.”

The concert is free, but donations are accepted.