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Hallelujah! "Messiah" sing-in returns to Slee
Audience can belt out Handel's famous holiday chorus during Sinfonietta concert
By SUE WUETCHER
Reporter Editor
Looking for a musical way to get into the spirit of the holidays? Ever get the urge to belt out the "Hallelujah Chorus" somewhere other than in the shower?
The Slee Sinfonietta, UB's resident professional chamber orchestra, will perform a holiday-themed concert on Dec. 5 that will include a “sing-in” of selected portions of Handel's “Messiah.”
Last year's "sing-in" of selected portions of Handel's "Messiah," which was presented as part of the Department of Music's popular "Brown Bag Concert Series," drew so much interest—and enthusiasm—that the music department this year will hold the "sing-in" during an evening performance of a holiday-themed program by the Slee Sinfonietta.
The Sinfonietta concert, to be held at 8 p.m. Dec. 5 in Slee Concert Hall, North Campus, will feature the UB Symphony, UB Choir and UB Chorus, as well as guest performer, soprano Ingrid Smolinska.
The Sinfonietta, UB's resident professional chamber orchestra conducted by Magnus Mårtensson, will perform during the first half of the concert works by Handel, Puccini, Franck and Dvorák, as well as a selection of holiday songs. Smolinska will appear as guest soloist throughout the concert.
Following intermission, the UB Symphony, with conductor Mårtensson, and UB Choir and UB Chorus, with conductor Harold Rosenbaum, will take the stage with the Sinfonietta for the sing-in.
Rosenbaum also conducts an annual Messiah sing-in in Avery Fisher Hall in New York City.
This portion of the concert will feature most of the choruses from part one of the Messiah, as well as the "Halleluhah Chorus" and selected solos.
Musical scores of the "Messiah" choruses will be available for members of the audience. Audience participation is strongly encouraged—"it is, after all, what makes this event truly special," says Amy Greenan, assistant concert manager.
A reception, hosted by Kappa Kappa Psi, that national honorary band fraternity, will be held in the Slee lobby immediately following the concert.
Tickets for the concert are $12 for the general public; $9 for UB faculty, staff and alumni, senior citizens and WNED members with card, and $5 for students. They may be obtained at the Slee box office from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, at the Center for the Arts box office from noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and at all Ticketmaster locations.
In addition to the Sinfonietta performance, the Department of Music will present a variety of concerts by student ensembles during the month of December. All are free of charge and open to the public. The performance schedule:
UB Contemporary Ensemble, Jonathan Golove, director, 8 p.m. Dec. 3, Baird Recital Hall, North Campus
UB Symphonic Band, Jon Nelson, conductor, 8 p.m. Dec. 4, Slee
New Chamber Music III, Jon Nelson, director, 8 p.m. Dec. 6, Baird Recital Hall
Plosion: UB's Flute Ensemble, Cheryl Gobbetti Hoffman, director, 5 p.m. Dec. 8, Baird Recital Hall. Hoffman also will present the Brown Bag concert for the month, "A Gift to the Community," at noon on Dec. 3 in the Slee Hall lobby. The concert, which will feature student performers, will be free of charge.
Pan-Am Ensemble, Jon Nelson, conductor, 8 p.m. Dec. 9, Baird Recital Hall
For further information about Department of Music events, contact the Slee Concert Office at 645-2921.