Handel’s Messiah brings community together in song

The Ashland Chamber Music Society brings the beloved musical score, Messiah, by George Frideric Handel, to life in the 11th annual Sing-along.

Artistic director Tom Draughon conducts the 17-piece Ashland Festival Orchestra for an event that is informal and fun for the entire family. Even non-singers will enjoy just listening as the audience sings along with the orchestra on choral pieces. Arias and recitatives will be sung by sopranos Patricia Robertson, Rachel Beeksma and Amanda Shuga; tenors Russell Thorngate and Zachary Beeksma; and baritone Jack Gunderson.

Messiah has become one of the most loved and enduring choral works in all of classical music. Handel staged his debut performance of Messiah in Dublin on April 13, 1742. Although the work was conceived for secular theater and first performed during Lent, it has become common practice, since Handel’s death, to perform Messiah during Advent, the preparatory period of the Christmas season.

The Ashland Festival Orchestra performs it the way Handel originally scored the music. Some of the many choruses the audience sings together include “And the Glory of the Lord,” “For unto Us a Child is Born,” “Glory to God,” and of course, a rousing chorus of “Hallelujah.”

Messiah begins at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 21 at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church, Ashland. Music books will be provided at the door.

Admission is $15; students are free. Go to www.ashlandchambermusic.org.

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