By Joseph Earl
A performance of Handel’s “Messiah” will be conducted at Bluffton University from 4 to 6p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 12, in Yoder Recital Hall. Arts and lecture credit will be available.
“Messiah” is an oratorio by classical composer George Fredrick Handel. Handel went throughout the Bible, extrapolated information about Jesus’s story from the Old and New testament then put his story into a large-scale musical work.
Bo Young Kang, assistant professor of music and director of choral activities, is coordinating the “Messiah” performance this year. Kang said the performance will consist of quite a few different parts. She also said there are quite a few rehearsals conducted for this performance and she expects a large audience on the performance day.
Roy Couch, associate professor of music, said the music program struggled in the 2020-21 academic year and that Covid-19 made it difficult for Bluffton’s music program to thrive. Couch said they were not performing in front of live audiences. Now the department is back on its normal schedule and has had many musical events take place this fall, and Handel’s “Messiah” is one of them.
This will be the 126th performance of Handel’s “Messiah” on Bluffton’s campus. The performance itself is presented by faculty, students, and other local professionals. Junior Kayden Cordell and Professor of Communication Gerald Mast will each be part of the performance.
“I think it’s interesting,” said Cordell, a music education major. “I enjoy that I am able to learn that kind of stuff… not in a classroom… in more of an ensemble format.”
Cordell said he enjoys rehearsing with community and faculty members.
“There has been one guy who’s done it for like 70 years,” Cordell said.
Mast has been singing in The Messiah for 13 years. He said likes the way the performance delivers the redemption story and believes it is “the fullest representation of the Christmas story.”
“It is exciting to be a part of telling the story [of Jesus Christ],” said Mast.
The performance is free and open to the public, though tickets are required. Students, faculty, staff, and community members may reserve a ticket at http://www.bluffton.edu/tickets .
