The Moore County Choral Society (MCCS) announces Rebecca Shamberger and Graham Leonard, both of Southern Pines, will serve as choral ambassadors in the MCCS Student Enrichment Project for the 2012-2013

season.

MCCS student ambassadors work as liaisons between student interns, board and staff. Two student ambassadors are selected each season.

Project chair David Mosely said, "I'm very excited to see the leadership opportunities MCCS has given its young students. This has the potential to help not only MCCS, but the surrounding community as well."

Both Shamberger and Leonard are seniors at Pinecrest High School and plan to major in vocal performance and music education at East Carolina University.

Shamberger, a soprano, joined MCCS last season. She was winner of the 2012 Picquet Music Festival presented by the Kiwanis Club of the Sandhills in 2012.

Leonard, a tenor, has been an MCCS member for four years. He also sings with the Pinecrest Chamber Ensemble.

"Both have exposed me to high quality choral literature," he said.

MCCS choral interns for the season, in addition to Leonard and Shamberger, include Elyse Robb, of Southern Pines; Jesica Forest and Elizabeth Vaughan, of Carthage; Loren Skora and Rachel Skora, of Foxfire Village; Seth Brady, of Bennett; Cain Hall, of Robbins; and Deena Walters, of West End.

The MCCS Choral Internship Program provides the opportunity for area students to perform major choral works, often with professional orchestras and soloists, before live audiences.

Professional instruction and full membership benefits are underwritten by members of the organization.

The program received support from the St. Joseph of the Pines Charitable Endowment for Moore County, a component fund of the North Carolina Community Foundation, and the Moore County Unrestricted Endowment Fund, also a component fund of the North Carolina Community Foundation.

MCCS will ring in the holidays with a collection of holiday classics and seasonal music featuring Z. Randall Stroope's "Hodie," "Three American Carols," by Mack Wilberg and an array of joyous holiday harmonies.

The concert will be held Sunday, Dec. 2, at 4 p.m., in Owens Auditorium at Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst.

Tickets are on sale now at area ticket outlets, including The Campbell House, The Country Bookshop, Kirk Tours/Pinehurst, Sandhills Winery/Seven Lakes and online at www.moorecounty choralsociety.org.

The MCCS Spring Classical Concert will include "In Windsor Forest" and "Toward the Unknown Region," by Ralph Vaughan Williams, and "Feel the Spirit," a collection of American spirituals arranged by John Rutter.

The concert will feature orchestral accompaniment and be held Sunday, April 28, at 4 p.m., in Robert E. Lee Auditorium at Pinecrest High School in Southern Pines.

Students interested in receiving complimentary tickets to the performance may call (910) 215-0730 or email info@moorecounty choralsociety.org.