Two members of Mother Seton Parish will represent Germantown. Gaithersburg churches are also well represented, with 10 members from St. Rose of Lima, six from St. John Neumann and one from St. Martin of Tours.
About 560 people attended last month’s auditions, which were only open to singers involved with music ministry in the church, Dempsey said. About 45,000 people are expected to attend the Mass.
More than 110 of the singers come from Montgomery County, Dempsey said. Among the Montgomery musicians are at least 25 from Rockville, 15 from Silver Spring, 13 from Bethesda, 10 from Potomac, eight from Olney, six from Kensington, four each from Derwood and Garrett Park and two each from Burtonsville, Damascus and Wheaton, Dempsey said. And 76 of the 175 youths randomly selected from a pool of more than 400 applicants from around the region to sing in the children’s choir are also from the county.
‘‘I’ve never auditioned for anything in my life, so I was scared to death,” said Linda May, 60, of Laytonsville. ‘‘...It’s beyond excitement. It’s awesome, it’s such a thrill. I’m a convert to Catholicism, so to be able to sing for the pope, it’s a shock.”
May, a legal secretary at a Gaithersburg law firm, converted in 1987, three years after she joined St. John Neumann’s choir.
She auditioned for the Papal Mass Choir at urging of her music director in Gaithersburg, Mary Lu Hartsell, who also won a spot.
The group had their second practice Monday night at St. Mark the Evangelist in Hyattsville with director Tom Stehle, pastoral associate of music and liturgy at Our Lady of Mercy in Potomac. Stehle is also directing the other musical groups who will be performing at the Mass, which are an inter-cultural choir featuring 65 singers from 44 countries, an 80-member gospel choir, a children’s choir and a 25-piece orchestra for the event.
‘‘I’m not really nervous because I’m pretty used to it,” said Christine Soler, 17, of Germantown. In addition to participating in both the English and Spanish choirs at Mother Seton, Soler is a member of three choirs at Northwest High School and recently performed in the school’s production of ‘‘Les Misérables.”
Despite having to learn about 134 pages of music for the Mass, Soler said she was eager to perform for the pope.
‘‘Not a lot of people get a chance to do it,” she said.
the pope’s visit
