Chorus, orchestra team for Handel's 'Messiah'

The Union-based Great Bend Chorale and an orchestra perform George Frideric Handel's classic oratorio "Messiah" at 7 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Sunday at Shelton United Methodist Church, 1900 King St.

General admission is $24, $20 for seniors and military.

The "Messiah" oratorio is the best-known work of the Baroque composer, born in Halle, Germany, in 1685. Handel wrote operas, oratorios and instrumentals. His best-known works include "Water Music" (1717) and "Music for the Royal Fireworks (1749). Handel was already famous when "Messiah" debuted.

According to the Smithsonian magazine, the oratorio about redemption, hope and triumph was originally an Easter offering when it debuted at Musick Hall in Dublin on April 13, 1742. The audience swelled to a record 700, as ladies had heeded pleas by management to wear dresses without hoops in order to make room for others. Handel's status was only one of the draws: many had come to check out the contralto, Susannah Cibber, who was then embroiled in a scandalous divorce.

In most of Handel's oratorios, the soloists dominate and the choir sings only brief choruses.

Today the "Messiah" is a fixture of the Christmas season. For many amateur choirs, the work is the high point of the year.

Matthew Melendez, the founder and executive director of the Great Bend Center for Music, is also the conductor and director of the chorale. He has a long history with the piece: he wrote his doctoral thesis on the work and has directed many local productions, starting in 2009.

"It was the first thing the board asked for," he said in an interview with the Journal.

The group's staging in 2010 prompted an invitation to perform at the Lincoln Center in New York City.

Melendez said Handel was facing bankruptcy when he penned the "Messiah" in 21 days, and then orchestrated it in another three. "He was never poor again after the 'Messiah,' " he said.

Handel "felt he was a channel of God" while composing it, Melendez said. He donated the proceeds to help people who were in debtor prisons and orphanages, he said.

Unlike many oratorios, "Messiah" is unusual, "where the choir does the story rather than the soloists," Melendez said.

The members of the chorale are all local, with three soloists coming from Seattle and one from New York City. Most of the members of the orchestra are from Seattle.

The group's chamber singers will perform choral music dedicated to the Virgin Mary at the concert "A Rose in Winter" at 8 p.m. Dec. 13 at St. David of Wales Episcopal Church in downtown Seattle. Admission is $12. Patrons who bring three or more nonperishable food items to be donated to Turning Pointe Survivor Advocacy Center will receive a $4 discount on admission.

IF YOU GO:

WHO: Great Bend Chorale and an orchestra

WHAT: Handel's "Messiah"

WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Shelton United Methodist Church, 1900 King St.

ADMISSION: $20-$24