HANDEL'S MESSIAH SPECTACULAR to be Presented at Ocean Grove

Join Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association for their first Messiah Spectacular! Join a distinguished roster of conductors, soloists, and a chamber orchestra as you become the chorus! 

There is no prior rehearsal, with doors opening at 6:30pm for a 7pm concert start. Pre-registration is encouraged and can be completed here.

Their featured soloists include Christina Major (soprano), Laura Zahn (mezzo-soprano), Victor Starsky (tenor), and Justin Beck (bass). Our conductors include Marina Alexander, Dr. Cindy Bell, Thomas Berdos, Rider R. Foster, Dr. Thomas Juneau, Dr. Martin Sędek, and Dr. Jason Tramm.

Save the date for our final event of the season: our Sacred Masterworks Concert on August 24 at 7pm - featuring Arthur Honegger's majestic oratorio, King David.

Jason Tramm (Conductor):

Maestro Tramm has been hailed as a "conductor to watch" by Symphony Magazine, "filled with Italianate passion" by the Huffington Post, and an "orchestra Pied Piper" by the New York Concert Review. Maestro Tramm's work in the operatic, symphonic, and choral realms has received critical acclaim throughout the United States and abroad. He holds the following appointments: Executive Director, Light Opera of New Jersey, the Director of Music Ministries, Ocean Grove Great Auditorium, Artistic Director, MidAtlantic Artistic Productions, Music Director of both the Taghkanic Chorale and Putnam Chorale. Dr. Tramm serves as an Associate Professor and Director of Choral Activities at Seton Hall University, where he conducts the University Chorus, Chamber Choir, and Orchestra. As a guest conductor, he has led symphonic and operatic performances in Italy, Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic throughout the Unites States.

Christina Major (Soprano):

American Soprano Christina Major has been praised in the Dallas Morning News for her sumptuous and agile "Italianate sound" that brings back memories of the earlier greats. She was hailed in Opera News as being a "sensitive actress" who "brought the highest emotional stakes of the evening." San Francisco Chronicle's Joshua Kosman describes her as having "expressive verve and technical command."

The 2025-2026 season finds Ms. Major returning to Opera Tampa to sing Lady Macbeth in Verdi's Macbeth. Summer will find her in Ocean Grove, New Jersey where she will be the soprano soloist in Handel's Messiah in the historic Great Auditorium. Celebrated in Verdi, she will also sing the role of Leonora in Il Trovatore at Seton Hall under the baton of Jason Tramm and directed by Andrea DelGiudice. Just before returning to Tampa, she will be a featured artist with Teatro Lirico D'Europa in "A Tribute to Pavarotti" Gala Concert at the Jacksonville Performing Arts Center.

In 2024-2025 Ms. Major returned to Carnegie Hall to debut the soprano solos in Mozart's Requiem K. 626. At Opera Tampa she sang a role debut as the Gingerbread Witch in Hansel and Gretel. In 2023 Carnegie Hall she sang the soprano solos in Vivaldi Magnificat with the New England Symphonic Ensemble and Mid- America Productions.

Previous debuts brought her Buenos Aires where she sang the title role of Norma with the prestigious Teatro Colón under the baton of Maestro Renato Palumbo. She was the featured soprano soloist at Carnegie Hall with the New England Symphony in Vaughan Williams Dona nobis pacem as well as celebrated works by John Rutter on two separate engagements. Under the direction of Maestro Enrique Diemecke, she performed the soprano solos in the Mahler No. 2 symphony. Last year saw Ms. Major in her debut in the role of Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana with Opera Tampa. She returned to the University of North Texas Symphony to sing Brahms Requiem. She sang the role Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with the Mid-Atlantic Symphony and returned to the Lensic Theater in Santa Fe, NM for Beethoven's Ninth Symphony under the baton of Maestro Joe Illick. A special engagement included the role of Elettra in Idomeneo with Opera San Jose in a joint production with Packard Humanities. Earlier debuts include role of Mimi in La Boheme with Fort Worth Opera and Knoxville Opera.

Laura Zahn (Mezzo-Soprano):

Mezzo-Soprano Laura Zahn, a Philadelphia native, has been praised for her "warm, voluptuous voice clearly destined for Puccini and Verdi." This year, Ms. Zahn joined Opera Orlando for their Viva Verdi season, which focused on the works of Giuseppe Verdi. During her residency in Orlando, Laura performed Maddalena (Rigoletto), Giulietta di Kelbar (Un giorno di regno) and Flora Bervoix (La Traviata). In May, Laura sang the role of Marguerite (La Dame Blanche) with New Amsterdam Opera. In previous seasons, Ms. Zahn has performed La frugola (Il tabarro), Florence Pike (Albert Herring), Mother Goose (The Rake's Progress), Mother (Amahl and the Night Visitors), Dorabella (Cosi fan Tutte), Pepa (Goyescas) and Marcellina (Le nozze di Figaro).

An adept competition singer, Laura was most recently a Finalist in Opera Mississippi's 2021 John Alexander National Vocal competition. She also semi-finaled in the 2020 NYIOP/Premiere Opera Foundation Competition and the 2016 Mildred Miller International Voice Competition. Ms. Zahn holds degrees from The Boston Conservatory and Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music.

Victor Starsky (Tenor):

Tenor Victor Starsky, a native of Richmond Hill, New York, received critical acclaim this year for his performances as Don José in Sarasota Opera's production of Bizet's CARMEN, as well as his role debuts with New York City Opera as Mario Cavaradossi in Puccini's TOSCA and Maurizio in Pittsburgh Festival Opera's production of Cilea's ADRIANA LECOUVREUR. Starsky made his debut as Nemorino with Charlottesville Opera in their production of Donizetti's L'ELISIR D'AMORE.

Starsky performed the role of Jim Casy in Master Voice's Carnegie Hall presentation of Ricky Ian Gordon's THE GRAPES OF WRATH. Of Starsky's Don José, The Observer writes "While possessing a voice that flexes with nuance, the genius of Starsky's stage performance is how he shares each tiny tear in his moral fabric as he follows and succumbs to Carmen despite every effort to cling to what he knows is moral and right. Watching his slow crumbling into unhinged desperation is unforgettable." Starsky returned to Sarasota Opera as the tenor soloist in their fall 2024 Season concert, "THE MUSIC OF Giuseppe Verdi", and looks forward to the title role in Verdi's STIFFELIO with Sarasota Opera in winter 2025. In 2023, Starsky made his debuts as Radamés in Verdi's AÏDA and George Gibbs in Rorem's OUR TOWN at the Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theater. He performed Roméo in Gounod's ROMÉO ET JULIETTE with New York City Opera and Rodolfo in Puccini's LA BOHÈME with Wichita Grand Opera.

Justin Beck (Bass):

Bass-baritone Justin Beck has had a varied career both as an opera and concert soloist as well as a choral singer. He studied music with a focus on vocal performance at the University of Texas at Austin, and Texas State University. He was a Young Artist at Austin Lyric Opera for two seasons singing roles in Gounod's Faust, Puccini's La fanciulla del West, and Verdi's Rigoletto. He also spent two summers at the Aspen Music Festival in their opera theater center. Additional opera credits include three seasons with Opera Company of Middlebury in Vermont performing in Massenet's Thaïs, Puccini's La rondine, and Bizet's The Pearl Fishers. Other favorite roles include Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Dr. Falke and Frank in J. Strauss Jr.'s Die Fledermaus, both with Opera Manhattan.