The Timothy and Abigail B. Walker Lecture Fund will present Concord's 79th annual performance of George Frederick Handel's “Messiah” on Dec. 5 at 2 p.m. and Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. The performance on Saturday is an open rehearsal (chorus and soloists), while the Sunday performance will be a full production, including orchestra and professional soloists. Both performances are free and will be held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 21 Centre St.
For the fourth year, these performances of Handel's oratorio will be under the direction of Benjamin Greene of Concord, a well-known music educator with the Concord School District and conductor/director of the Lakes Region Symphony Orchestra. Greene will direct the 79-voice Concord Community Chorus. Members of the chorus who have been singing “Messiah” in Concord for more than 20 years include Catherine Denoncourt, Beverly Edwards, Margaret Morrill, Sara J. Slawski, Sara Willingham and Philip Yeaton.
This year's performance will again include accompaniment by a professional orchestra. The orchestra includes musicians from Massachusetts and New Hampshire, many of whom also perform with the Granite State Symphony. “We were very pleased with the audience reaction to the addition of an orchestra last year, and the chorus members and soloists also appreciate having the orchestral accompaniment,” Greene said. According to past records, Concord's annual performance was accompanied by an orchestra in the 1950s, but an orchestra was not part of the performance again until 2008.
Joining the chorus for the Saturday open rehearsal and the Sunday evening full performance are professional soloists Peggo Horstmann Hodes of Concord (soprano), Jennifer Carol Hansen of Lebanon (alto), Mark Andrew Cleveland of Nashua (bass) and Charles Lindsey of Chester (tenor).
Doors to St. Paul's Church will open 30 minutes before the performances, and the audience is urged to arrive early to assure seating.
For more information, call 225-9004 or 224-4285.
