Handel's Messiah

Nothing brings home the impending arrival of Christmas as the singing of Handel's Messiah. Last night I drove to Tryon (45 minutes away) to participate in the "do-it-yourself-Messiah".

You see I love choral singing. Before we moved I belonged to 2 area choruses. Schola Cantorum (the Norfolk, VA one) had around 25 singers, did smaller works, lots of acapella, really challenging to sing with. Cantata Chorus was the large chorus, around 50 people and always did large works with small ensemble accompaniment. Cantata Chorus did a concert every year of the Messiah, getting the best soloists in the area, and at least 10 instrumentalists. In Virginia Beach, there was always a Messiah singalong with hundreds of people and a full orchestra.

Here I'm singing with a chorus in Hendersonville, but that's a decent drive, but the music is very worth it. There used to be a county chorus, as well as a county orchestra, but the chorus director decided to retire (he was in his late 80s afterall). The orchestra lives on, but not the chorus. Maybe someone will revive it.

We shall see.