Bluffton University's music department has announced the soloists for its 115th performance of Handel's "Messiah," at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 12, in Founders Hall. Soloists are Kristin Sims, soprano; Mary Stucky, alto; Hal Hess, tenor; and Tom Sherwood, bass.

Kristin Sims
Sims is chair of the voice department at Millersville University in Lancaster, Pa., as well as a performer who has appeared nationwide as a soloist with opera companies and orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra and the New Jersey Pops. She has sung leading operatic roles with Opera Lancaster, the Harrisburg Symphony, Bel Canto Lyric Opera and Trinity Opera Theatre. She earned bachelor's and master's degrees in vocal performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Mary Stucky
Also at Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music, Stucky is professor of voice and voice department chair. She previously taught at the St. Louis Conservatory of Music and Syracuse University's L'Ecole Hindemith in Vevey, Switzerland. From 1982-90, she was artist-in-residence in voice at Washington University in St. Louis and, from 1990-95, was associate director of the Summer Institute for Advanced Vocal Studies in Paris.

As a performer, Stucky sang more than 30 roles in opera houses in Germany, Belgium and Switzerland from 1974-81. She has also been an oratorio soloist and recitalist, and has recorded art songs and contemporary works, including music recorded with her husband, guitarist Rodney Stucky. She studied at the Eastman School of Music.

Hal Hess
Hess retired from public education after 33 years as a music teacher and administrator. Most of those years were spent working with junior high students as choral director and general music teacher. He has conducted the Junior Choir (grades 4-8) at Camp Friedenswald's Music Camp and currently chairs Cincinnati's Mennonite Arts Weekend, which celebrates the work of Mennonite artists from the United States and Canada. A Goshen College graduate, he completed his graduate studies in conducting and voice performance at Indiana University.

Tom Sherwood
Sherwood has been a professional soloist since age 4. A graduate of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music in choral conducting, he has appeared with the Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Atlanta Symphony, among others.

He taught high school music for 10 years and now teaches voice and sight-singing at Xavier University in Cincinnati. He is co-founder of the Vocal Arts Ensemble, founder and artistic director of the Bach Association and director of music at First Unitarian Church, all in Cincinnati.