Dust off your vocal chords and get ready to raise your voices to the rafters of St. Mark’s Church in a rousing and jubilant sing-along of Handel’s beloved masterpiece, Messiah.
Veteran choral conductor, Mervin Fick, leads The Messiah Chorus (and you) in an extraordinary concert that features a choir of seventy-five glorious voices, joined by soloists Lauren Halasz, Michael Dodge and Matthew Cassils.
Conductor Mervin Fick has been transforming choirs, and inspiring and raising their performances for more than 35 years. One of the greatest gifts he brings to performances, through the singers under his direction, is his ability to deliver truly joyful singing.
The Orchestra of St. Mark’s features musicians specially selected for this performance of Handel’s Messiah. The fullness of sound of this orchestra coming together with a fabulous choir of 75, joined by four soloists, will deliver a once-in-a-lifetime concert you won’t want to miss.
The sing-along program will be based on selections from Handel’s Messiah and song sheets will be provided at the concert so that everyone can easily follow along.
The program will start off with a Christmas section, move into Easter, then finish off with The Trumpets Shall Sound, a piece with huge sound and great moments of rises and fall followed by Amen.
A program highlight will of course be the beloved Hallelujah Chorus.
Music Niagara Festival’s Artistic Director Atis Bankas programmed the Sing-Along Messiah concert as part of this year’s inaugural ChoralFest, which runs Nov. 16 to 25 in Ni-agara-on-the-Lake and Niagara Falls.
Bankas is particularly excited about the sing-along and the excellent musicians, soloists and choir that have been assembled for this occasion. “I encourage everyone to attend, because this is a rare opportunity to hear 75 spectacular voices, accompanied by an orchestra composed of tremen-dous musicians, performing some of the most uplifting and magnificent music ever made,” says Bankas.
“I hope we attract people of all ages who will come together and raise their voices in song.It doesn’t matter how well we sing, it only matters that we’re all there together, raising our voices in unison in celebration of Handel’s glorious Messiah.”
The concert coincides with the upcoming 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, says Bankas. “When he passed away, Beethoven’s scores were found at his residence and there were very few that weren’t his own compositions. But one of them was Handel’s Messiah. This showed the extent of respect, understanding and admiration Beethoven had for Handel’s work.”
The Sing-Along Messiah takes place at St. Mark’s Church Nov. 23 at 7 p.m.
Tickets are available at musicniagara.org and through the Shaw Festival Box office at shawfest.com
