CHIMACUM — Handel’s “Messiah” will fill the Chimacum High School auditorium, on the voices of the Community Chorus of Port Townsend and East Jefferson County, this Sunday afternoon and again next Sunday, Dec. 6.
The chorus, made up of 110 singers this year, has been performing the oratorio every five years for four decades now. It was the logical program choice back when the group formed in 1975, said spokeswoman Lynn Nowak.
Today, she added, the “Messiah,” a 273-year-old work, keeps on dazzling.
“There’s pathos, sheer joy and everything in between,” said Darlene Grunke, who sang in the chorus’ first “Messiah” performance in Port Townsend 40 years back.
The singers will step up at 3 p.m. both this and next Sunday at Chimacum High, 91 W. Valley Road, so patrons are urged to arrive no later than 2:40 p.m. to assure good seating.
Tickets are $15 at brownpapertickets.com, Crossroads Music at 2100 Lawrence St. in Port Townsend and at the door.
For information, phone 360-385-1402 or visit ptchorus.org.
“The feeling of singing such grand music with more than 100 singers is thrilling,” said Pat Hartman, who’s president of the nonprofit community chorus’ board.
The themes of the “Messiah” are universal ones, said chorus member Peggy Albers: birth, joy, praise, scorn, despair, redemption and gratitude all come through the music.
For Albers, who has sung this oratorio many times, every season brings new insights and experiences.
The same goes for Germaine Arthur, another longtime chorister. She’s marking her 10th performance of the “Messiah” this season; this year, her 16-year-old granddaughter, Lydia Arthur, will stand beside her on the risers for the first time.
Singing together, Arthur said, “is such a thrill for me.”
Leading the voices is Rebecca Rottsolk, who will retire from the community chorus after this season. She’s not leaving choral music, however; Rottsolk will keep conducting another local group, RainShadow Chorale, and co-directing Seattle’s Mirinesse women’s choir.
“I honestly am not thinking about it being my last Community Chorus concert,” she said.
“If this choir were all about me – well, then I’d think about it. But it’s not. It’s all about the singers and the music.
“Community Chorus singers are always so fresh,” added Rottsolk. “To many of them, the music is new, and doing something like this holds so much magic. Case in point is my husband, Tony Costa, who, at age 79, is singing ‘Messiah’ for the first time in his life. He is giddy about it and practices every day.”
Lee Ann Chearneyi, another chorister new to the “Messiah,” has only recently returned to singing. Working with Rottsolk and the chorus has given her confidence and, she said, “a joy in my voice.”
Handel was not a church musician, Rottsolk writes in her program notes.
“His sacred oratorios, like the opera of the time, were music for entertainment. He did not write a narrative drama about the birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ, but rather offered a lyric contemplation of the idea of Christian redemption.”
Rottsolk’s take on the classic might be attuned to Handel’s intention. She urges a light, dance-like approach from the singers and musicians.
Lisa Lanza of Port Townsend, the community chorus’ rehearsal pianist, will play the harpsichord keyboard in the “Messiah” orchestra.
“I love being part of a historical tradition that began over 300 years ago,” she said.
“I guess that is why I love playing classical music; it connects me to the past viscerally.”
The community chorus’ “Messiah” is especially satisfying because, Lanza added, “we create something together with everyone contributing. And then we share it with the rest of the community.”
