Our Mission: Winchester Musica Viva creates artistic and cultural opportunities for musicians and the community that offer entertainment, education, and enrichment, through participation in diverse choral music.
WMV Performing at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church
Winchester Musica Viva, a chamber choir in its 29th season, creates artistic and cultural opportunities for musicians and the community that offer education, entertainment, and enrichment through participation in diverse choral music.
The group is comprised of singers from many different professions and backgrounds who share a love of choral music and a commitment to excellence in performance. The chorus was founded in 1981 by Dr. Will Averitt, an eminent composer on the faculty of Shenandoah University. Dr. Kenneth Nafziger of Eastern Mennonite University served as music director from 1992-2002. Donald Paul Richardson of Washington, DC, conducted the chorus from 2002-2005. Ken Nafziger returned as Music Director in 2006.
WMV enjoys a widespread reputation for fine choral music, with three successful international tours and performances by invitation at events sponsored by such organizations as the Contemporary American Theatre Festival, the American Choral Directors’ Association, and the Contemporary Music Festival to its credit. A nonprofit organization, WMV is partially funded by the Marion Park Lewis Foundation, the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
