"Messiah" Concert to Usher in Holiday Season

MORRIS, Minn., -- The University of Minnesota, Morris' 2011 Carol Concert will feature George Frideric Handel's "Messiah" oratorio. Though originally intended to be performed around the Easter season, Handel's "Messiah" has become something of a Christmas tradition, one to be continued by Associate Professor Kenneth Hodgson and the concert choir and orchestra.

"I wanted to do a performance (of "Messiah") with the concert choir where we could be concerned for the nuance of the choruses in the overall work, with attention paid to every subtlety," says Hodgson. "To perform the work in its entirety would take nearly three hours, so we are doing selections from the work, focusing on those that are somewhat familiar to the listening audience."

The solos will be performed by choir members, with accompaniment on piano and harpsichord by Ann Duhamel, head of the University of Minnesota, Morris Piano Department. The UMM Orchestra will be performing the opening Overture and Symphony Pastoral, as well as accompanying the choir on the Hallelujah Chorus and the final chorus "Worthy is the Lamb".

Performance dates are Dec. 2 and 3 at 7:30 p.m., and Dec. 4 at 2 p.m. The concerts will be held in the Recital Hall of the Humanities Fine Arts building. General admission is $6; students, children, and seniors are $4. With an intermission, the concert will last for nearly two hours, followed by a reception and caroling outside of the Recital Hall.

Tickets may be purchased at morris.umn.edu/2011carolconcert or by calling 320-589-6239.