Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The choir at First Presbyterian Church of LaGrange recently had an opportunity to perform at the historic Biltmore Mansion.

The Biltmore Mansion in Ashville, North Carolina, does an annual candlelight tour series around Christmas time, which features caroling groups. The church choir at First Presbyterian submitted an audition to perform, and they were accepted to perform.

“We were invited to go and put on a concert inside the Biltmore Mansion. It’s a special opportunity that we auditioned for, and we got the opportunity, and it was a ton of fun,” said Andrew Harry, Music Director for First Presbyterian.

Harry said they submitted recordings from major choral services that they performed to give them an example of what they sound like. They liked what they heard, but they were already booked up for the season. But then, following all of the recent storm damage in Asheville from Helene, they had cancelations, and they had an opening come up, so they were invited to perform as substitutes.

On Nov. 6, the First Presbyterian Choir performed at the Biltmore Estate, performing a 30-minute concert four separate times. 

“You go on, sing your concert, take a little break, go out and do it again. They alternate musicians as guests come into the house,” Harry said.

“It’s a really beautiful setting, and really beautiful for the guests to experience,” Harry said. “It was so much fun. They were, they were so excited.”

For the performance, First Presbyterian combined forces to take this trip together with the concert choir from Point University. 

Harry said their performance included many traditional Christmas carols.

“As guests come into the house, the choir is right in the center of the house. So, while they tour the main level of the house, they keep coming back and hearing us singing throughout their entire tour of the downstairs of the house. It’s a really beautiful setting and really beautiful for the guests to experience,” Harry said.