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About 250 people became the chorus last week as La Grange’s Emmanuel Episcopal Church brought to life George Frederic Handel’s “Messiah” at the church on Kensington Avenue, backing four soloists in the rendition of the Christmas classic.
Mary Hopper, emeritus professor of Choral Music at Wheaton College, conducted the performance.
“This is great and such a great experience,” Hopper said before the performance. “People really enjoyed singing last year and I enjoyed that.”
Hopper described Handel’s most famous work as one that resonates with the American people.
“It’s the story of Christmas and the story of the Gospel,” she said. “It’s got music that’s familiar, probably the most familiar piece of classical music that anybody has.”
During her 43 years at Wheaton College, Hopper directed the Women’s Chorale and the Men’s Glee Club. She has toured nationally and internationally.
Since 2018, Hopper has been director of the Hinsdale Chorale, several of whose members were dispersed through the crowd at Emmanuel Episcopal for the performance, singing along to the choruses.
The oratorio, written in only 24 days by the German-born master, is considered among the most recognizable pieces of English language music.
The Messiah was first performed in Ireland in 1741, and quickly became a favorite of music-lovers of the era. While it originally was considered appropriate for the Easter Holiday, over the years “Messiah” has become a Christmas staple.
Oratorios are typically large-scale music works for orchestra and voices, focusing on religious themes; “Messiah” is no exception, with lyrics taken from scripture.
Chicago-based soprano Olivia Doig, who has performed in venues throughout the Midwest, also returned after performing in last year’s rendition in La Grange.
“Last year I was eight months pregnant and this year I’m not,” Doig said after the performance, “But my children are here this year.”
Doig is a veteran of venues like the Chicago Opera Theater, Ohio Light Opera, and the Haymarket Opera. She is currently a guest lecturer in voice studies at Wheaton College.
Other performers included mezzo soprano Janet Mensen Reynolds, who retired after 26 years in the chorus of the Chicago Lyric Opera, made her concert debut at Carnegie Hall, and currently has a private voice studio of 25 students. Baritone Ryan Cox has been a professional member of the Grant Park Chorus and the Chicago Symphony Chorus, and was the baritone soloist in the 2010 recording of Grant Park’s Pulitzer Project. Lyric Opera tenor Joseph Fosselman has been with the Opera since 1992 and has performed many solo roles in Lyric productions.
The Kaia String Quartet, dedicated to bringing the music of Latin America to the public, provided the instrumentation for the performance. The group has performed at many Chicago-area venues, including the Chicago Jazz Fest, the Studebaker Theatre, the Morton Arboretum, the Chicago Latino Music Festival, and Chamber Music on the Fox.
But some artists were first-timers for Emmanuel Episcopal Church’s new tradition.
Harpsichordist Kathy Christian has served on the music faculty of North Central College in Naperville for 26 years. She is the organist and pianist for the First Congregational Church of Western Springs, as well as the accompanist for Hinsdale Chorale.
Organist Bobby Nguyen, a native of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, is the organist at the First United Church of Oak Park. He began his piano studies at Ho Chi Minh Conservatory of Music, continued his education at North Park University and ultimately studied organ at the Juilliard School.
“At first when Mary contacted me a few months ago, I was a bit worried,” Nguyen said. “The Messiah is a pretty big piece and when I showed up here everything was very casual feeling, a friendly atmosphere, so I said, ‘oh, I can do this.’”
Dan Mottl, junior warden at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, said bringing the performance back this year was an easy choice.
“We were pretty confident because of the response from last year,” he said before the performance. “We had a good turnout, the excitement was building and people were saying ‘I hope you do this every year. It was planned to be an annual event and it looks like it’s catching on.”
Mottl talked about bringing together different artists who normally didn’t work together.
“We assembled them from all over the neighborhood, some were from La Grange, some from Wheaton, some from Chicago,” he said. “So we assembled the best singers and best musicians that we knew. The Kaia String Quartet was wonderful. So we brought all these people together.
“Of course Mary Hopper was the key. She knew a lot of the people, but this is independent from anything she had worked on before.”
After the show, Mottl said “everything was great. It’s probably better than last year.”
Audience members came away impressed and inspired.
La Grange resident Nanci Davidson, a member of Emmanuel Episcopal Choir, was also part of the effort to bring the Messiah to the church last year.
“Oh my gosh this is the best community event this church could be doing,” Nanci said. “It brings everyone together at a very tumultuous time — depending on how you sit — and it sets you off in this wonderful, joyous mood in the holidays.”
Western Springs resident Janet Helin agreed.
“It’s just such a thrill,” she said. “Especially when you think of all those who would like to sing it, and especially the text that came up in our sermon this morning. Handel composed this in 24 days. It’s hard to even conceive of this whole thing.”
Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
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