NEW HAVEN, October 27, 2010: Celebrate the spirit of the holiday season with music from the New Haven Symphony Orchestra (NHSO) and special guests:
For centuries audiences have reveled in the magnificence of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah and its Hallelujah chorus. Join the NHSO, Music Director William Boughton, and the voices of the Cathedral of Saint Joseph Schola Cantorum in a performance of the Christmas portion of Handel’s epic masterpiece Saturday, December 11, 2010, 7:00pm, First Congregational Church of Old Lyme and Sunday, December 12, 2010, 7:00pm, First Congregational Church of Madison. Considered Handel’s best known work, Messiah premiered in Dublin in 1742 at a charity benefit concert at the Foundling Hospital, an organization for underprivileged children, which still exists today as The Thomas Coram Foundation.
Associate Conductor Gerald Steichen leads the NHSO Pops! in Holiday Extravaganza, a concert packed with yuletide cheer on Saturday, December 18, 2:30pm, at Hamden Middle School and Sunday, December 19, 3:00pm at Shelton Intermediate School. On the program is a blend of seasonal favorites featuring your own NHSO Pops!, mezzo-soprano Heather Johnson and the angelic voices of the New Canaan High School Madrigal Ensemble under the direction of David Gomez. Holiday favorites such as Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride are sure to put you in the spirit of the season. Rounding out the New Haven holiday tradition is the long-standing audience sing-a-long.
Founded in 1997 by Archdiocesan Music Director and Organist, Dr. Ezequiel Menéndez, the Cathedral of Saint Joseph Schola Cantorum is a mixed choir comprised of twenty-one professional singers. Under the direction of Yale School of Music professor Jeffrey Douma, the ensemble’s primary duty is providing music for Sunday liturgies and special Archdiocesan services. In addition to their liturgical function, the Schola also maintains an active concert schedule. Their repertoire is very diverse and illustrates the choir’s facility in a wide range of musical styles.
Hailed by Opera News as “a dramatic singer in the truest sense,” Heather Johnson has received critical acclaim for her work on both the opera and concert stage. Ms. Johnson has appeared at venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, as well as the Boston Pops Orchestra.
The NHSO performances of Handel’s Messiah and Holiday Extravaganza are generously supported by Essex Meadows, Lawrence & Memorial Hospital, New Haven Register, Newtown Savings Bank, R.D. Scinto, Star 99.9, Whitney Center, and WTNH News Channel 8.
