MOUNT VERNON — Cornell College’s annual holiday concert will feature college and community voices uniting in Handel’s “Messiah” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, in King Chapel. Admission is free.
About 120 singers — Cornell students, faculty and area residents — will join an orchestra of students, faculty and area professionals. The orchestra will use Mozart’s transcription of Handel’s original score, which features a more colorful, expanded instrumentation, including brass, woodwinds and timpani. Associate professor of music Martin Hearne is the conductor.
Soloists will be Cornell seniors John Stumpff of Norway, Jacob Spinsby of LeClaire and Tonya Spanier of Belgrade, Minn.; sophomore Amber Swenson of Brooklyn Park, Minn.; freshmen Anna Hendricksen of Chicago and Joe Okell of Eagan, Minn.; and Tjett Gerdom of Mount Vernon, a 2001 Cornell graduate.
“The holiday concert has often featured major works, and this is our presentation of the most beloved and popular major work associated with the holiday season,” said Lisa Hearne, director of choral music. “The concert will include the traditional Christmas portion of the oratorio, along with several other choruses from the Easter sections, which are perhaps less well-known, but powerful and important parts of the ‘Messiah’ story.”
The last college and community collaboration of “Messiah” was in 1998 for the 22nd annual “Messiah” sing-along. Professional vocalists in the area were soloists; the chorus, which many years numbered over 100, included area residents who gathered for a single rehearsal just hours prior to the performance.