Menno Heirs, the musical, celebrates 200 years of American Mennonite Hymnals. The Foresingers of Lancaster County, Pa., will present the musical at Rieth Recital Hall, Goshen College Music Center, Saturday, June 19 at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $5, payable at the door or in advance by calling the Goshen College Welcome Center (closed for vacation after June 16), at 574-535 -7566.

Menno Heirs features hymns common to two Mennonite hymnals published 200 years ago-Zion's Harp of 1803 and Gesangbuch of 1804. The Foresingers sing in both English and German and dress in period costume. Director Glenn Lehman wrote the script and arranged the music. The musical is for all ages.

The drama tying together three scenes depicts a fictitious Martin family of Pennsylvania's Weaverland Valley whose parents both die from consumption. The children gather at the farmhouse to settle the estate with the help of a Franconia Mennonite squire. Inspired by their musical heritage, the family reunites after their loss and a daughter marries.

Hymn singing in colonial and early America," said Lehman, "was mostly an oral tradition. Historians have preserved architecture, genealogy and texts, but what do we have of the tunes?"

Research took Lehman to folk music traditions of Old Order groups who still use the hymnal, as well as to published research on diverse groups. "A whole rich treasure was lost from our hearing. We give glimpses of a practically extinct music that represented for two centuries the heart and soul of a people. And it was not much different from other American churches of the time. It was truly made in America.'"

The dozen musicians of the Foresingers are Joel Alderfer, Nancy Hess, Dennis Kauffman, Jessica Landes, Lonnie Leaman, Varden Leasa, Glenn Lehman, Sarah Lehman, David Sauder, David Rempel Smucker, Lynn Sommer, and Gretchen Thomas. The voices are accompanied at times by handbells, harp and zither. Since their first performance in Philadelphia, 1993, they have given performances at Penn Alps, Md., Scottdale, Pa., Philadelphia, Pa., and Waterloo County, Ontario.

The Foresingers is a project of Harmonies Workshop, a nonprofit Fraternal Ministry of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference since 1992. Harmonies is committed to creating new Christian music resources for the church worldwide through performance, resource development, leadership training, and product creation. Founded in 1987, Harmonies is accountable to an independent Board of Directors and depends entirely upon the financial support of individuals and congregations. Some funding for this tour is supplied by the Berks Art Council.

The program in Indiana is sponsored by Michiana Anabaptist Historians, Goshen College, Greencroft Retirement Communities and the Mennonite Church USA Historical Committee, Goshen, Ind.