Over the Mountain Festival to feature Rutter works

For the third time in its eight-year history, the Over the Mountain Festival, celebrating sacred music, is returning to Bluff Park United Methodist Church. The free program will take place Sunday, Feb. 14 at 4 p.m.

This year, the program will be based on the works of John Rutter. The featured piece will be Rutter’s “Requiem,” which was completed in 1985.

The selections are not what board member Gaston White said most would consider “contemporary Christian music,” but the pieces are more modern than what the festival has featured in the past.

White said it was this year’s director, Milburn Price, who suggested basing the program on Rutter’s work.

In addition to “Requiem,” the program will feature two other pieces by Rutter: “Thy Perfect Love” and “The Lord Bless You and Keep You.”

White said this year’s chorus will be comprised of about 70 voices and will be accompanied by between 25 and 30 professional musicians, many of whom are in the Alabama Symphony Orchestra.

There will also be hymns where the congregation will join the chorus, and the program will be about an hour in length.

Doors will open at 3:30 p.m., and White suggested those hoping to attend arrive early, as last year’s event was standing-room only. “The place was just really packed full,” he said.

The festival has been made possible by grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information about the festival, visit otmfestivals.org.