- Haenssler
- Tannersville
- Newbury
- Max Jacob
- BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra
- NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester
- Multi Faith Centre
- Verklärte Nacht
Handel's Messiah
A selection of forthcoming performances
The oratorio Messiah was written by George Frideric Handel between 22 August and 14 September 1741 in London UK. The text compiled by Charles Jennens is based on the King James Bible and the Coverdale Psalter.
Portrait of George Frideric Handel attributed
to the German painter Balthasar Denner
There are many performances of Messiah at this time of the year. Tell us about yours, and we'll include it here.
In December 2024, Chamber Choir Ireland will give two performances of Handel's masterpiece with the Irish Baroque Orchestra in the Republic of Ireland. At 7.30pm on 5 December they perform at the National Opera House in Wexford, and at 7.45pm on 6 December at St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin - the city where Handel's oratorio was first performed on 13 April 1742. Peter Whelan directs, and members of the choir will sing the solos. Further information: chamberchoirireland.com
Poster for Chamber Choir Ireland's
December 2024 Messiah performances
On 6 December 2024, 8-10pm at Union Theological Seminary, 3041 Broadway, Manhattan, NY 10027, USA, New York's Dessoff Choirs are organising a community sing, which provides audience members with the opportunity to join the choir for Handel's vibrant choruses, with Dessoff members performing the arias. This event is part of Celebrating 100 Years of Dessoff - the organisation was founded in 1924 by Margarete Dessoff. Further information: dessoff.org
The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment appears at Holmens Kirke in Copenhagen, Denmark at 7.30pm on 6 and 7 December 2024 for performances of Messias by G F Händel. The soloists are Julia Doyle, Kayleigh Decker, Robin Tritschler and Morgan Pearse. The choruses are sung by the Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir and the conductor is Mogens Dahl. Further information: mogensdahlkammerkor.dk
On 7 December 2024 at Worcester Cathedral in Worcester, UK, Worcester Festival Choral Society's performance features soloists Hannah Davey, Judith Le Breuilly, Paul Smy and James Cleverton. Samuel Hudson conducts. Further information: wfcs.online
Worcester Festival Choral Society's Messiah concert poster
for 7 December 2024, with a montage of soloists
The Wayne Oratorio Society will present its annual concert for the holiday season on 7 and 8 December 2024 7:30pm at the Wayne Presbyterian Church, 125 E Lancaster Ave, Wayne, Pennsylvania, USA. The concert, which is non-ticketed, but with a free will offering to support the society, will be presented in the church's sanctuary with one-hundred-and-forty singers and a forty-piece professional orchestra. The soloists for this performance are Melanie Sarakatsannis, soprano, Raffaella Lo Castro, alto, David Price, tenor and Mark Hightower, bass.
Conductor John Grecia, Director of the Wayne Oratorio Society, which is part of the ministry of the Wayne Presbyterian Church, comments:
Messiah, written in 1741, expresses the power of Handel's imagination, wealth of ideas, depth of inspiration, and the variety of invention that continues to astonish today. Handel's masterpiece has been presented many thousands of times all over the world. Once again, two-hundred-and-eighty-three years later, we are again pleased to perform this great work for our audiences in Wayne.
Further information: waynepres.org
At 7.30pm on 14 December 2024 at the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra's Messiah in the middle of New Zealand's summer, features soloists Madison Nonoa, Anna Pierard, Filipe Manu, Benson Wilson and the Tudor Choir. Thomas Blunt conducts. Further information: nzso.co.nz
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Chorus will be touring their December 2024 Messiah offering at four different locations in Victoria, Australia: West Gippsland Arts Centre, Gippsland (Friday 6 December, 7.30pm), Costa Hall, Geelong (Saturday 7 December, 7.30pm), Ulumbarra Theatre, Bendigo (Friday 13 December, 7.30pm) and Hamer Hall, Melbourne (Saturday 14 December, 7pm and Sunday 15 December, 5pm). The chorus director is Warren Trevelyan-Jones, and the performances will be conducted by MSO artist in residence Erin Helyard. Soloists Cathy-Di Zhang, Helen Sherman, Michael Petruccelli and David Greco complete the line-up. Further information: mso.com.au
Also in Australia, at the Sydney Opera House concert hall, 13-15 December 2024, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and Orchestra conducted by Graham Abbott provide three weekend performances. The soloists are Penelope Mills, Margaret Plummer, Louis Hurley and Christopher Richardson. Further information: sydneyoperahouse.com
The Helsinki Chamber Choir (with soloists from the choir) and the Finnish Baroque Orchestra conducted by Nils Schweckendiek will perform what is presumably the whole of Messiah, as the concert duration is three hours and thirty minutes, at the Musiikkitalo concert hall in Helsinki at 4pm on Sunday 15 December 2024. After all the recent bad press about a primary school in Finland cancelling a Messiah performance because of its religious content, we hope that this Helsinki performance remains firmly in the schedules. Further information: musiikkitalo.fi
Five Canadian Messiah performances in Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto, Ontario, between 17 and 22 December 2024, will be given by soloists Sherezade Panthaki, Nicholas Burns, James Ley and Enrico Lagasca, with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jean-Sébastien Vallée. Further information: tso.ca
'It's not Christmas without Messiah!' The Dublin Bach Singers present another Dublin performance on Thursday 19 December 2024, 8-10pm at St Andrew's Parish Church, 44 Westland Row, D02 W274, Dublin 2, Ireland. The choir is joined by soloists Rachel Croash, Sarah Richmond, Rory Lynch and John Molloy, the Marlborough Baroque Players and conductor Blanaid Murphy. Further information: journalofmusic.com/listing/04-11-24/messiah
Le Chœur et Orchestre de l'Opéra Royal's contribution at the Royal Chapel in Versailles, France, 21 and 22 December 2024, is Le Messie by Georg Friedrich Haendel, sung in English with French surtitles, and conducted by Gaétan Jarry. The soloists here are Marie Lys, Nicolò Balducci, Rémy Burnens and Halidou Nombre, and the performances are part of Noël à la Chapelle Royale. Further information: operaroyal-versailles.fr
Soloists Rachel Nicholls, Alexander Chance, Makoto Sakurada and Toru Kaku join Bach Collegium Japan and conductor Masato Suzuki - son of Masaaki Suzuki - on 21 December 2024 at 3pm for a Messiah performance at Karuizawa Ohga Hall in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture in central Japan. Then at 6.30pm on Christmas Eve, the same artists will perform at Suntory Hall in Tokyo, for a performance that will also be live-streamed and available on demand. Further information: bachcollegiumjapan.org
Posters for Bach Collegium Japan's
December 2024 Messiah performances
The Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Chorus, with soloists Ruby Hughes, Diana Moore, Nicholas Mulroy and Stephan Loges, conducted by Nicholas McGegan, and chorus prepared by Stephen Doughty, celebrate the New Year with Handel, 3pm on Thursday 2 January 2025 at the Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Scotland, UK. This Messiah performance will feature British Sign Language interpretation, provided by Paul Whittaker. Further information: rsno.org.uk
Posted 15 November 2024 by Keith Bramich
