A member of the Los Altos Grace Brethren Church, Long Beach, Calif. (Phil Helfer, pastor), was featured in yesterday’s Orange County Register. Carleda Hutton directed the choir at Brethren Christian High School for 52 years and returned recently as the guest director at the school’s Christmas concert. A portion of the story appears below. Click here for the complete article.
Former choir director returns to Brethren Christian stage
Students say the Brethren Christian High School Christmas concert is about celebrating. The season, the school, the music program and, for the past few seasons, the choir’s former director of 52 years, Carleda Hutton.
“To have (Hutton) come back is sort of a tradition that I inherited,” said current choir director Marian Mine,who began teaching at Brethren Christian in 2014. “I’m happy to have her come because she’s a legend we should treasure.”
Mine, who says she’s inspired by Hutton’s career as a female choir conductor, knows how much of an influence Hutton had on the choir program at Brethren, so she invited her to conduct the final number of the concert.
The “Hallelujah Chorus,” sung by 36 students, a handful of alumni and the entire audience, rounded out the program and connected several generations of the Brethren community.
“It was really fun to look around the group and see my family,” said senior Kaden Specht, whose mother and uncle sang under Hutton when they were in school. “It’s definitely something people look forward to, and it’s such a cool feeling, like pre-heaven almost.”
Click here for the complete article.