World famous organist Finney to perform at Lehigh

	John Finney

Internationally renowned and prize-winning organist John Finney, the current director of the University Chorale and the Boston College Symphony Orchestra, will present an organ recital at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17 in Packer Memorial Church.
The concert, which is sponsored by the Chaplain’s Office, is free and open to the public.
Finney has performed solo recitals throughout the United States and Europe, and has distinguished himself as a highly acclaimed choral and orchestral conductor of great vitality and versatility. He is also a prize-winner is several international organ competitions, including the competition in Bruges, Belgium.
He currently holds the title of Distinguished Artist-in-Residence at Boston College, where he leads the 150-voice chorale. With the University Chorale, he has performed in many of the world’s major cities, including Dublin, Rome, Prague and Vienna. He recently conducted the world premiere of Thomas Oboe Lee’s Mass for the Holy Year 2000, which was commissioned by Boston College for the chorale.
He is also director of the 90-voice Heritage Chorale in Framingham, and has directed that chorus in performances of works such as the Requiems of Mozart, Brahms, Faure, Durufle and Verdi, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and Handel’s Israel in Egypt.
Since 1984, Finney has been director of music at the Wellesley Hills Congregational Church, where he oversees an innovative and comprehensive music program that includes three choirs. He also serves as the associate conductor and chorusmaster of Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society, the oldest continuously active performing arts organization in the country.
A native of Ohio, Finney holds degrees in organ performance from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and the Boston Conservatory.
--Linda Harbrecht