The Mississippi Baptist All-State Youth Choir and Orchestra is coming to Newton County Friday night.
This year’s choir, which will perform and lead worship at Clarke-Venable Baptist Church at 6:30 p.m. Friday, features two local students, Luke Williams of Hickory and Josh Mitchell of Decatur.
Both are students at Newton County High School.
Mitchell will play saxophone in the orchestra and sing with the choir while Williams was selected as a singer for the choir.
Williams, who is also the son of Clarke-Venable Minister of Music and Senior Adults Billy Williams, said this is his second year to minister with the choir.
“It was awesome last year, and I’m looking forward to it again this year,” Williams said last week prior to joining the choir for rehearsals on Monday. “It will definitely be one of the one of the highlights of my summer.”
The choir and orchestra features 121 students who auditioned for the choir last fall. Choir members performed a prepared solo, performed sight reading, gave their testimonies and also submitted letters of recommendation.
Those who were selected for the choir were notified earlier this year and given the music to practice prior to this week. Beginning on Monday, the participants went to Southwest Mississippi Community College on Monday and are rehearsing together for the tour, which heads around the state this week.
One of the Williams’ memorable stops during last year’s tours wasn’t even a scheduled performance. This time, their tour buses pulled into the Hancock County Jail, and the students played to a courtroom full of inmates from the jail.
“It was a unique experience to get to do that and to minister to them,” Williams said. “That’s one thing I will never forget.”
There is no admission charge to Friday night’s performance, but Billy Williams hopes to have a full house worshipping together with the choir.
“We’d encourage everyone to come out and bring someone with you to the concert this Friday night,” Billy said.
