Sing along to Handel’s ‘Messiah’ at one of the nation’s highest renditions
Lori Oury/Courtesy photo
A local group of musicians will present the 26th annual Mountain Messiah Sing Along on Saturday, Dec. 14, at Snow Mountain Ranch YMCA chapel. This free holiday event, featuring Handel’s “Messiah,” begins at 3 p.m.
Vocal and instrumental performers will entertain the chapel crowd, with scores available for those who want to sing along.
“Local instrumentalists, piano accompanists, vocalists and conductors pool their talents to bring this 283 -year-old iconic composition to life … without any rehearsals,” Mountain Messiah organizer Lori Oury wrote in an email. “You just show up and sing.”
The performance begins with local music students regaling the audience with holiday songs. Then the “Messiah” singalong starts at 3:30 p.m.
The Mountain Messiah started in 1997, when the late Joan Shaw, a retired music therapist, received a foundling box of “Messiah” musical scores and decided to put them to good use.
“Thus, the Mountain Messiah Sing Along was born,” Oury wrote. “After much research, (Shaw) declared it the ‘Highest Sung Messiah,’ at 8,858 feet elevation, in the U.S. if not the world. We are lucky enough to be the beneficiaries of her brainchild.”
Joan and her husband, Roger Shaw, a physicist and musician, served on the Grand Concerts board and taught music in area schools for many years.
A classic work by 18th century composer George Frideric Handel, “Messiah” is a Baroque oratorio, culminating with the “Hallelujah” chorus that traditionally brings everyone to their feet.
Intended to be sung in concert, “Messiah” carries both religious and universal themes. The score tells the story of Jesus with French, English, Italian and German musical influences. Handel wrote the entire score in 24 days — extremely fast for such a complicated composition.
First performed in 1742 in Dublin, the composition remains one of the most frequently performed choral works in Western music and his most popular work.
Support Local Journalism
Support Local Journalism
The Sky-Hi News strives to deliver powerful stories that spark emotion and focus on the place we live.
Over the past year, contributions from readers like you helped to fund some of our most important reporting, including coverage of the East Troublesome Fire.
If you value local journalism, consider making a contribution to our newsroom in support of the work we do.