Come to the Messiah Sing-In at the Garfield Center for the Arts at the Prince Theatre at 8 p.m. Thursday, December 19 in Chestertown, and join with professional soloists, a string quarter, and members of the Chester River Chorale in joyous song the benefits the Kent County Food Pantry.
The program, presented by the Garfield Center and the Chorale, is called a Messiah “Sing-In” because you, the members of the audience, are invited to join in on selected choruses from the first two parts of George Frideric Handel’s beloved three-part oratorio.
Singing with you will be amateur singers from the Chorale and professional singers led by tenor Douglas D. Cox, the Chorale’s artistic director. Sammy Marshall, also with the Chorale, will provide the piano accompaniment.
Other soloists are Mark Huseth, bass-baritone, and Rachel Rose Farber, soprano, both of whom are veterans of prior Sing-Ins, and Alison Enokian, contralto.
Handel was German born but had lived in England for almost 30 years when he composed Messiah in 1741. The oratorio, now probably the most popular classical holiday work in the western music tradition, received little notice at first. But by the time of Handel’s death in 1759, it was soaring in popularity.
The Messiah premiered in Dublin in 1742 as a charity concert to benefit imprisoned debtors and hospitals for the poor.
In that spirit, the Garfield Center and the Chorale are sponsoring this year’s Sing-In to benefit the Kent County Food Pantry.
On nine weekdays a month in Chestertown, there is a bustle of activity inside Christ United Methodist Church’s Fellowship Hall, as a line forms outside near the entrance to the Food Pantry.
Inside, volunteers—mostly women—are sorting the cans and cartons from hundreds of pounds of donated food collected by churches, schools, and civic organizations. Most will go onto the shelves or back into the storage spaces. Some, beyond the sell-by date, will be discarded. Other volunteers deftly load carts with a variety of food items.
The doors open and the clients come in. Each gets about 50 pounds, enough to feed an average family for a week. Some 400 adults and 200 children receive over five tons of food each month.
The Great Recession has created a much greater need for food. Many worry that threatened cuts in food stamps are poised to create even more danger of hunger.
The suggested donation at the door to participate in—or just listen to—the Sing-In is $20. The Food Pantry can always use volunteers and non-perishable foods (more information at www.kentfoodpantry.org ), but for this night, cash or checks made out to the Kent County Food Pantry only, please.
Scores will be available for use during the concert. Audience members will be free to join in a dozen choruses, concluding, of course, with the “Hallelujah Chorus.” Singing or not, don’t forget to stand in honor of the composition when the first “Hallelujah!” rings out.
Both the Garfield Center for the Arts and the Chester River Chorale are non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations sponsored in part by Yerkes Construction Company, the Hedgelawn Foundation, the Mid-Shore Community Foundation, the Kent County Arts Council, and by an operating grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive.
The Garfield Centers mission is to enhance and inspire Maryland’s upper Eastern Shore community through arts and entertainment, cultural enrichment and performing arts education for youth and adults. As steward of the Prince Theatre building, the Foundation ensures the viability of this valuable community asset. For more information visit www.garfieldcenter.org.
The CRC’s Mission is to provide opportunity and inspiration for amateur singers to strive for artistic excellence. CRC performances entertain diverse audiences and enrich the cultural life of the community. For more information visit www.chesterriverchorale.org or call 410–928-5566.
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