New Jersey Symphony To Return With Holiday Tradition HANDEL'S MESSIAH

New Jersey Symphony will present three performances of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah. The Symphony will perform the entire oratorio.
 
The performances will take place Friday, December 20, 2024, at 8 pm and Saturday, December 21, 2024, at 8 pm at Richardson Auditorium in Princeton; and Sunday, December 22, 2024, at 7 pm at Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark.
 
The concerts will be conducted by Jeannette Sorrell, founder and artistic director of Apollo’s Fire. Joining the Symphony and Sorrell are guest vocalists: Sonya Headlam, soprano; John Holiday, countertenor; Ed Lyon, tenor; and Kevin Deas, bass-baritone. Singing the choral sections are the Montclair State University Singers, under the direction of Heather J. Buchanan.
 
Preceding the performance on Friday, December 20, at 7 pm, audiences are invited to join Buchanan and the Montclair State University Singers as they lead a singalong of holiday songs and carols, including the famous “Hallelujah Chorus.”
 
Handel composed the famous oratorio in just 24 days. Messiah was premiered in Dublin, Ireland, in April of 1742. The performance of this masterpiece became an annual tradition in London after 1750 and has been performed countless times by orchestras and choruses around the world since.