Staff Songsters welcome Easter sunrise at Bowl

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The Salvation Army’s International Staff Songsters will give a featured performance in the legendary Hollywood Bowl Sunrise Service on Easter morning, joining in an Easter tradition that began in 1921.

A divisional brass ensemble will also take part in the service, said Southern California Divisional Music Director Bandmaster Kevin Larsson.

More than 15,000 are expected to attend.

The 6 a.m. service begins as the first rays of light create a magnificent silhouette of the mountaintops and a pre-dawn musical program leads into the sounding of carillon bells and the brass choir playing the “Gloria Patri.” Many parts of the program have become traditions: the singing in unison by the audience and the choruses of “Holy, Holy, Holy,” the reading of “The master is Coming,” and the masses of lilies that adorn the stage pulpit.

The Easter observance is community-wide, and non-denominational, with participants coming from all areas and churches.

The International Staff Songsters are on a Western Territory tour that includes concerts throughout the West. Songster Andrew Blyth is leader of the International Staff Songsters, and Songster Joan Spencer is the group’s deputy leader. Major Bill Cochrane serves as executive officer. (For more information on the tour, see the ad on page 11.)

For more information on the Hollywood Bowl Sunrise Easter Service, call 323-850-2000.

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