St. Peter’s United Methodist Church in Wellington will present the Christmas portion of Handel’s Messiah on Saturday, Dec. 15 and Sunday, Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. each evening. The choir will be 40 voices strong, accompanied by a 13-piece orchestra. Joseph Farrar will conduct, Mei Mei Luo will be concert mistress, and Barbara Thompson will play continuo.
The soloists will be soprano Jennifer Jeffries, altos Ann Petersen and Annaleah Morrow, tenor Drew Personaire, and basses Tom Close and Joseph Farrar.
Messiah was written by George Frideric Handel in 1741. It was first performed in Dublin, Ireland in 1742. When the “Hallelujah” chorus was played, King George II stood, as was the custom of that time, and everyone stood when he did. It has become traditional now to stand when the chorus is sung.
St. Peter’s is located at 12200 W. Forest Hill Blvd., about one mile west of the Mall at Wellington Green. The performance will be held in the church sanctuary. There is no charge for the event. Rev. Dr. Rainer G. Richter is senior pastor of the church, and Joseph Farrar is director of music.
More information is available at www.stpeters-umc.org.
