Messiah Project, Inc. will present "Messiah: From Prophecy to Acclamation," featuring portions of Handel's Messiah at All Saints Anglican Church, 2751 E. Galloway Street, on Sunday March 20th at 7:00pm to mark the beginning of Holy Week. It's free and open to the public.
Messiah Project founder and director Lindsey Robison says "we're taking a little different slant on this performance. Along with great music by the Messiah Chorale under the direction of Sharon Wilkins, we also have Jonathan Story, a master organist out of Fayetteville, Arkansas; and we have Credo Dance Academy doing choreography to 'How Beautiful are the feet of them that bring good news,' which is pretty appropriate for dancing. We'll start out with the prophecy from Isaiah, then on to Christ's passion, ascension, to Christ's reception in heaven, the beginnings of gospel preaching, God's ultimate victory (the 'Hallelujah Chorus', of course), and then the acclamation of the Messiah, which is 'Worthy is the Lamb' and the 'Amen.'" Jonathan Story will start the evening with an organ prelude before the performance of the Messiah excerpts, and he'll provide an organ postlude following--as well as accompanying the singers. Kate Riegler provides the choreography for the Credo Dance Academy.
A major part of the performance will feature All Saints Anglican Church's pastor, says Lindsey Robison. "We are very fortunate to hvae, at All Saints, such a Biblical scholar in Father Doug McGlynn, and he will tie the event together with short narrations that will bring us through the work, which will include just about an hour's worth of music."
In addition, Lindsey himself will give a presentation about the mission and activities of Messiah Project and their plans for the future of the ministry. "Messiah Project is not only music; we are the parent organization for Credo Dance Academy, and we do a lot of international work. In fact, I just got off the phone with our contacts in Greece: we'll be taking a tour to Greece, and also to Austria and Poland, this summer. So we do a lot of international work both in music and art, but also in relief, with missions especially into Iraq. We sent a whole trailer load of food there last year. I've had meetings with the Kurdish National Symphony to try to work out a concert with them, but current conflicts in the Middle East prevented that happening. But we have two tours this summer--one with a dance academy out of Houston, Texas (which will travel to Greece) from June 7th through the 20th, then we'll just be back-to-back with Jonathan Story and a small ensemble of singers visiting the great cathedrals of Austria and Poland." That tour will run through June 30, and the Chorale will perform the Schubert Mass in G.
Spots are still available for the summer tour, estimated cost of which is $3,300 which includes travel, lodging, and one meal per day. Registration deadline is April 30. For information call Messiah Project at 883-5274 or visit http://www.messiahproject.org.
