Waukegan Community Chorus director Randy Casey looks forward to the annual Do-It-Yourself “Messiah” at the First Methodist Church when the public is invited to sing along in one of the most famous Christmas oratorios, written by G. P. Handel, and end with the familiar and joyous “Hallelujah Chorus.”
“I delight in the people who are there singing and how they latch on to what an amazing piece it is,” Casey said.
This year’s “Messiah” will be Saturday and feature the chorus and the Waukegan Symphony Orchestra, directed by Stephen Blackwelder. The Kenosha Chamber Choir will also join the ensembles.
Anyone who’d like to sing is invited. The audience can bring their own scores or purchase or rent one at the door the day of the concert.
Waukegan’s first Do It Yourself “Messiah” was performed at the Genesee Theatre Dec. 22, 2007, in honor of Joseph A. Favero, who taught music in Waukegan’s public schools until he retired in 1992, and who served as a park district board commissioner until he died in 2006.
“Fellow commissioners wanted to memorialize Mr. Favero’s contributions to Waukegan’s cultural arts and determined the annual concert was a fitting tribute to him as a long-term Waukegan park district commissioner, arts advocate and beloved Waukegan High School music teacher,” said Teddy Anderson, a spokeswoman for the Waukegan Park District.
“The church is packed every year for the event,” said Casey. “People like singing ‘The Messiah.’ They know it. They’ve sung it their whole life. It never seems to get old.”
Casey said Handel discovered “the right formula for igniting people’s imagination, not that he was a formulaic composer. He was one of the great composers of all time.”
Handel wrote “The Messiah” in 1742 for Easter, but it soon become a Christmas favorite with choirs and soloists singing “For Unto Us a Child Is Born,” and other sections related to the holiday.
Casey said the “Hallelujah Chorus” was actually the ending of the second part of the work, not the big finale of the piece.
“‘The Messiah’ has three parts. We do part one, plus the ‘Hallelujah Chorus,'” he said. The text for part one is about the Nativity.
Casey said Blackwelder aptly leads the orchestra, vocalists and participants in the audience, giving him the opportunity to sit back and revel in the music.
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance writer.
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Joseph A. Favero Memorial Do It Yourself Messiah and Carol Sing-Along
When: 7 p.m. Saturday
Where: First Methodist Church, 128 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., Waukegan
Tickets: $15; ages 18 and younger are free
Information: 847-360-4740; www.waukeganparks.org/events/events.htm