Early Music Vancouver and the Vancouver Chamber Choir are joining forces for their first-ever co-production of Handel's famous Messiah.
This well-loved work, written in 1741, has become a holiday staple known for its exhilarating tale of prophecy, drama and triumph. Choral moments such as the enthusiastic “Hallelujah Chorus” are familiar to audiences around the world alongside solo arias and orchestral passages.
The Vancouver Chamber Choir will be joined onstage by EMV's in-house players, the Pacific Baroque Orchestra, and directed by keyboardist and conductor Alexander Weimann, an instrumental force in the city's developing baroque music scene.
“Handel was above all a communicator who was trying to connect with everyone,” says Weimann. “In fact, his entire career was about that. If you have never experienced this piece before, trust us and open yourself to it.”
The audience will be able to hear this famous work just as the composer did, with period-accurate instruments and a smaller chamber choir. This production also brings together four soloists from across the world, including India-born soprano Sherezade Panthaki and Two-Spirit Cree-Métis baritone Jonathon Adams.
Praised for bringing "early music to modern ears," the Pacific Baroque Orchestra performs with cutting-edge style and enthusiasm.
One lucky reader will win a pair of A-level tickets to this holiday performance on Dec. 8 at Vancouver's historic Orpheum theatre. Bring a friend, family member or loved one and celebrate this work that speaks to this season of light. Enter to win below.
About Early Music Vancouver
Early Music Vancouver has been a much-loved and vital contributor to Vancouver’s cultural scene for more than 50 years, featuring some of the most renowned artists in the early music genre drawn from all parts of the globe.
While ‘early music’ often refers to European music from the Medieval Period through to the Baroque, EMV also encompasses music from outside the western European tradition within the same period, such as the Tang Dynasty in China and the Ottoman and Persian empires.
Read more: Music
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