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The Messiah by Handel can be an oratorio warhorse of epic proportions.  An annual favorite, orchestras and choruses all over the world join together to recount the life of Christ from cradle to crucifixion. The Independence Messiah Singers joined by the Kansas City Symphony and Chorus under the baton of Steven Jarvi "sang" in the holiday season last Saturday night at the Community of Christ auditorium.

There is enough musical meat on the Baroque bones of this composition to keep singers and players engaged year after year in uncovering its nuances and holy meaning.  But it is the economic viability of launching this colossal piece that keeps it alive.  The sheer numbers of volunteer singers on stage ensures seats full of family and friends willing to sit through Armageddon for grandmas, aunties, brothers and sons.

The Independence Messiah Choir began singing Messiah 93 years ago and some of its singers are in their 30^th year of the tradition. Holding handsomely bound scores with gilded edges, autographs of former conductors grace the inside covers.  Sticky notes with seating assignments are carefully arranged on the fly leaves.  These are the yearbooks, the proud mementoes of a community of close friends.

The Kansas City Symphony Chorus, however, is a community of intimate strangers.  Rehearsing once a week at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral downtown, many of the singers revolve, and new voices join each year.  What does unite is the dedication to creating beautiful sounds with other dedicated and talented people.  Monday rehearsal nights have been described as sonic therapy by some thankful chorus members.

Joining together with the Kansas City Symphony for this special holiday performance builds the ranks to an overwhelming number of solid voices.  This year over 250 black clad singers took the stage below the grand organ in the Community of Christ's Auditorium.  And 2009 is the third year of this very valuable collaboration.

Choral conductor Charles Bruffy brings a fresh perspective to the chorus' this year.  Bruffy shines the national choral spotlight on Kansas City through his Grammy award winning work with the Kansas City Chorale.  As the new conductor and director of the Kansas City Symphony Chorus, he brings a radical approach to singing with an orchestra.  His technique of intoning consonant endings is controversial, but highly effective when creating a unified sound with massive choirs. 

Saturday night's performance included the voices of some of the country's best and brightest talent.  Bass, Jason Hardy will be returning to the New York City Opera this year to play Leporello in a new production of Don Giovanni.  Described as a baritone in the program, his voice had strong bottom notes reminiscent of a young Samuel Ramey.  Tenor Gregory Warren is singing in Germany and the Netherlands this season in addition to Kansas City.  Unfortunately there aren't more Tenor solos in this piece, his voice was smooth and passion-filled.   Alto Janet Carlsen Campbell is best known for her solo work with the Phoenix Bach Choral (conducted and directed by Maetro Bruffy) and the Texas choral ensemble, Conspirare. 

But it was the stellar young Soprano Kiera Duffy who stole the show.  Effortlessly intoning every note of the lightning fast passages in "Rejoice Greatly" and easily popping off stratospherically high pitches in her elegant cadenza's, Ms Duffy is destined to be a world-class talent. 

With nearly every seat in the massive Community of Christ Auditorium filled, Messiah is a winner.  It is a gateway piece to the wonderful world of Baroque orchestral music as well as the holiday season.

(Megan Browne Helm is a membr of the Kansas City Symphony Chorus and sang in this performance.)

EVENT REVIEW:
Messiah by G.F. Handel
The Independence Messiah Chorus with
The Kansas City Symphony and Chorus
Saturday November 28, 2009
Community of Christ Auditorium
Independence MO
For more information www.kcsymphony.org

Top photo: Steven Jarvi

By Megan Browne Helm

Classical, Vocal and Theatre Contributor

Megan Browne Helm grew up singing, dancing and acting.  Inspired by Emma Kirkby as a high school student in St. Louis she went on to study voice and sing with the Collegium Musicum at the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio where she also had a radio show of contemporary classical music on WOBC.  At the University of Kansas she had the pleasure of working with former Kings’ Singer, Simon Carrington in his Collegium Musicum and Oread consort. Years later, she was a choral fellow at the Yale School of Music’s  Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.  She is currently singing with the Kansas City Symphony Chorus under the direction of Charles Bruffy. 

 As a freelance music and culture writer her work can be found on KCMetropolis.org, presentmagazine.com, the Lawrence Journal World, Shawnee Magazine, Leawood Lifestyle Magazine and KC Parent.  She was one of 26 journalists in the country chosen as a NEA Institute Fellow for Classical Music and Opera at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. 

Her current interest is how classical music remains relevant through active collaborations with artists in different fields, including science.  She also sees a connection between classical music, travel and food as a way to engage all of the senses in a 360 degree cultural experience.  She blogs at raworganum.wordpress.com.