ASTORIA — The North Coast Chorale is beginning rehearsals for its spring concert and welcomes singers of all levels to join. Rehearsals are held from 6:45 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays at the Clatsop Community College Performing Arts Center, located at 588 16th St.

North Coast Chorale is a community-based, nonprofit organization dedicated to the presentation of great choral literature.

Each year, the chorale, led by Denise Reed, presents two performances — one in December and one in May — each devoted to various music genres, such as jazz, traditional sacred and classical. Additionally, the chorale participates in the annual Astoria Music Festival in June and hosts a Messiah Sing-a-long, a fundraiser for local food banks. Because of the chorale’s commitment to music education and its affiliation with Clatsop Community College, students are given the opportunity to perform while earning college credit.

This spring, on May 21 and 22, the North Coast Chorale will perform “The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace” composed by Karl Jenkins. This piece was originally dedicated to the Kosovo Crisis, and although “The Armed Man” sounds like the music should be all about war, it is far from that.

Due largely to a grant from the Clatsop County Cultural Coalition, the chorale’s performance of “The Armed Man” will be accompanied by a symphonic orchestra, the driving force to producing the brilliance and intensity of this beautiful piece. Meant to stir the emotions and arouse the sensitivity and the sentiments of the audience, this presentation of “The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace” will be dedicated to victims of terrorism, with thanks to those who work to keep peace.

The second half of the spring concert will be the performance of “The Hour Has Come,” a choral symphony by Srul Irving Glick set to poems by Carole H. Leckner. This piece contains description of our loving connectedness to all mankind and the earth.

“Singing opens our hearts and minds,” says chorale director Denise Reed, “and I am convinced that through the message of music, we can make a difference in the way people look at their lives and the universe.”

Reed has been the music director for the North Coast Chorale since 2006; under her direction concerts often have a multi-cultural focus. Reed earned a Master of Science in music education from Chicago’s DePaul University and an Doctor of Education degree from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, ultimately teaching chorus and music theory in Tennessee, Florida, Nevada and here on the North Coast. She also composes and arranges music.

For more information, contact Reed at 503-338-8403 or Cheryl at 503-791-5681.