About
History of Tucson Sing-In, Inc.
In 1977, when the Temple of Music and Art was privately owned, had fallen into disuse and was struggling for survival, several members of the Friends of the Temple of Music and art, specifically Peggy Damsky, Connie McConnell and Susan Jackson, conceived the Annual Community Messiah Sing-In to demonstrate to the community that the facility was viable and that it could function as originally intended. The first Sing-In was conducted by John Bloom, with soloists Nancy Davis Booth, Lois Shelton, Frank Rotolo and Russell Marshall. The chorus parts were provided by an audience of some 200 singers. The first four Sing-In's were held in the Temple.
By 1981, the Temple was in use as a movie theater and the Friends had been disbanded, but the Sing-In had developed a life of its own. The venue switched to Catalina Methodist Church in 1981, followed by seven years at Trinity Presbyterian Church, and the size of the chorus swelled to nearly 800, severely taxing the available facility.
In 1989, the steering committee incorporated as the non-profit Tucson Sing-In, Inc., and moved to Christ Community Church to accommodate the ever-increasing chorus size, which now numbers more than 1,200. Grace Chapel (now Grace to the Nations) became the Sing-In's home in 1997. The community flavor of the Sing-In has been perpetuated by the varying locales within Tucson, the strong local ties of the conductors and soloists, and by our policy of not charging admission, relying upon the generous donations of the participants. In 2014 Tucson Sing-In moved back to Christ Community Church.
We fondly remember our long-time conductor Dr. Jeffry Jahn, who passed away in February 2015.
The list of conductors and performers is a veritable who's-who of musicians in Tucson.
| Conductors | Sopranos | Altos | Tenors | Basses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|