Handel's Messiah: More Than the Hallelujah Chorus!

MANCHESTER, Connecticut – Emanuel Lutheran Church (Manchester) and the Bethesda Music Series (New Haven) present an ambitious and unusual production of Handel’s Messiah at Emanuel Lutheran Church, 60 Church Street, Manchester, on Saturday, June 13, at 4:00pm. Brett Judson, a graduate of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, will direct the choirs of Emanuel and Bethesda with a professional orchestra and soloists Sarah Yanovitch, Mindy Chu, Gene Stenger, and Edmund Milly from the internationally renowned Yale Voxtet. Lars Gjerde, Director of Music at Bethesda, will play harpsichord. The 90-minute program will feature both well-known and lesser-heard selections from this work of unique popularity in Western choral music. While Messiah is usually presented before Christmas, the premiere was actually given in Dublin in April 1742. A summertime performance includes rich parts of the Messiah that are heard less often. Emanuel and Bethesda’s production brings together large forces of amateurs and professionals in beautiful union to offer an afternoon of moving and thrilling music. Both congregations have long traditions of lifting up great sacred music for the inspiration of all who want to listen. Admission to the concert is free, but donations will be accepted.

Between 1705 and 1741, Handel wrote dozens of successful operas to much acclaim. However, as public interest in opera faded in England, Handel turned his attention to writing oratorios. Oratorios were un-staged, vocal works about a sacred subject written in English, with several sections sung by a choir. Handel’s oratorios became so popular that he ended up never writing another opera. Charles Jennens, a wealthy countryman, compiled the text of Messiah from the Bible. However, when he learned that Handel wrote the music in only 24 days, he was not very pleased. Jennens felt that this oratorio was on a subject that excelled all others, so he made a vow to never put any more “sacred words” into Handel’s hands. Even though the work was written in “great haste,” as Jennens put it, it has enjoyed almost 275 years of unbroken performances around the world.

About the conductor

Brett Judson graduated from Yale School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music, Eastman School of Music, where he received the Barnes Award for Excellence in Pipe Organ, and Crystal Cathedral High School. He is Assistant Director of the New Haven Chorale, where he helped prepare Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus. He is Director of Music at Emanuel Lutheran Church in Manchester, CT, where he has conducted Benjamin Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb. He has studied conducting with Pamela Perry and Donald Neuen (student of legendary conductor Robert Shaw), and Handel’s Messiah with William Boughton, conductor of the New Haven Symphony. He has studied organ with William Porter, and Martin Jean, and he has coached with Fred Swann, David Higgs, and Paul Jacobs. Brett has appeared on the international television program Hour of Power with Robert H. Schuller and the radio broadcast Pipedreams!

Contact information

Brett Judson, Director of Music, music@emanuelmanchester.org, (860) 643-1193