For most, the opportunity to sing one of the world’s most beloved oratorio’s in the company of musicians from Chicago’s Lyric Opera would be something of a Christmas miracle. But that miracle will come true when Grace Lutheran Church in River Forest, hosts a Sing-Along Messiah on Dec. 20.
Or you can just sit and listen; your choice.
This sing-along concert performance of Handel’s “Messiah,” which features the iconic “Hallelujah Chorus,” is a presentation of Credo. Based at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music at Oberlin College in Ohio, Credo is a program in which participants develop their musical gifts to share with the community, according to founder Peter Slowik, who will conduct the Sing-Along Messiah.
The concert represents a homecoming for Slowik, who founded Credo in 1999 when he was the chair of the string department at Northwestern University.
“I had traveled all over the country for the best music festivals and I didn’t think they addressed musicians as people,” he said. “I have played with numerous great artists such as Yo-Yo Ma and I feel that the greatest musicians were the greatest people. The idea (for Credo) was to create something where people would challenged in their art and nourished and challenged as human beings.”
The Credo program’s motto, he said, is: “Develop the gift (of music). Acknowledge the source (of the gift). Respond with service to others.” In that regard, proceeds from the concert will benefit the Harmony Food Pantry at the Harmony Community Church in Chicago.
This is the first time that Credo has mounted a Sing-Along Messiah in the Chicago area. Audience members will be seated in sections according to vocal range. There will also be a section for those who only want to listen.
“If you come as a non-singer and feel like singing, that will be okay,” Slowik said. “Everybody has fun, nobody gets hurt, and everybody leaves with the spirit of Christmas.”
The concert, Slowik also noted, is “an invaluable intergenerational experience” that affords the Credo students and alumni to perform alongside their professional cohorts.
For Olivia Boen, 20, a voice major at Oberlin and featured soloist in the concert, the Sing-Along Messiah literally hits close to home. A River Forest native, her family lives just a few blocks from Grace Lutheran Church. She will be performing, “I Know That My Redeemer Liveth” as well as several sung narrations called recitatives.
“This is really special for me,” she said. “It’s a beautiful time of year when we focus on spending time with the ones we love. But this is also a wonderful way for me to share meaningful music with people I don’t know and connect with the community.”
And community is a key component in Credo’s mission. “So much going wrong with our world is due to a lack of community,” Slowik said. “Music nurtures an intimate connection. People don’t know each other when the evening starts, but when it’s over they’ve gone on this emotional journey together and have created a community that had not been there.”
Sing-Along Messiah
When: 4 p.m. Dec. 20
Where: Grace Lutheran Church, 7300 Division St., River Forest
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Cost: Free admission. Bring your own score or rent one for $5.
Information: www.credo-music.org or 440-774-3658