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Anyone who is interested in being a part of a new choral group, the Lower Alabama Community Choir, is invited to attend a “Meet and Greet” gathering at Saints Café next week.

Eric Mancil, who will direct the group, said this is something he’s wanted to be a part of for a long time.

Mancil and his family moved to Andalusia in January when he became the rector of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church. He is a former member of the LBW Ensemble and the Auburn Singers, and taught choir in junior high and high schools for six years before he entered the seminary.

“I had a sense that a choral group was something people might be interested in,” he said. “During the pandemic, not a lot of people could do things together. This is a way to come together and be connected with something they enjoy doing.”

He first reached out to Ken Thomas, who is the choir director at Enterprise State Community College and is also a former Auburn University Singer. From there, he began working with Kristy White and the Lower Alabama Arts Coalition, which has agreed to sponsor the group.

Mancil plans to have the meet and greet event at Saints Café from 6 until 7 p.m. on Monday, August 7. The group will begin rehearsing on Monday, August 21. Rehearsals will be from 6 until 8 p.m. on Mondays, in the Dixon Conference Room (beside the auditorium) on the Andalusia Campus of LBW Community College.

During the fall, Mancil said, the group will focus on preparing for a concert of sacred and secular music for a Christmas concert set for December 12 in the Dixon Center at LBW. Long range, the second goal will be a spring concert in May.

The group is open to anyone who is interested, including high school students. No prior experience or music reading ability is required, he said.

For additional information, contact Mancil at enmancil@gmail.com.