ASPEN – Ray V. Adams, well-known Roaring Fork Valley conductor of community choral and orchestral events, was diagnosed in early February with a serious illness and is being treated in a facility in Colorado Springs.

Adams, 60, has lived in the valley for nearly 40 years and is perhaps best known for conducting annual Christmas performances of Handel’s “Messiah” in both Aspen and Glenwood Springs.

2012 was Adams’ 35th consecutive year conducting the piece for local audiences.

Medical bills are mounting for Adams’ family as a consequence of his illness, and the Aspen Choral Society, for which Adams is the resident composer and music director, is working on raising funds to help defray some of the costs.

A special benefit account has been established at Alpine Banks throughout the region under the name “Ray V. Adams Benefit Fund,” according to Virgil Simon, a member of the Choral Society and friend of Adams’.

Anyone wishing to contribute to the account may contact any Alpine Bank to do so. Checks or cash are preferred, although debit-card payments can be arranged, as well.

In addition to the bank account, Choral Society members are putting together a pair of benefit concerts, one for the Aspen area and one in Glenwood Springs, that tentatively are scheduled for late April.

jcolson@postindependent.com