In December 2000, St. Mary's Syrian Orthodox Church felt it was necessary to begin a church choir. Auditions for the choir were conducted during the month of January 2001. The criteria for the audition included a voice test, range, keeping with the tempo, the ability to identify pitch, and staying in key. After two weeks of reviewing the candidates, six individuals were selected for St. Mary's Celestial Virtues, the church choir. In the preliminary stages, practices were held weekly and focused primarily on Qurbana songs. Following a month and a half of practices, the choir was able to lead all the songs during the Holy Qurbana. The choir continues to create and learn new tunes for the Holy Qurbana and also has learned several christian hymns for evening prayers. Celestial Virtues strives to improve the quality and sound of their music, and they hope and pray their melodies will touch the lives of those who attend the services.