NEW: Come hear Handel’s Messiah this Sunday by the Westchester Oratorio Society

November 19, 2010
by Dean Travalino

The Westchester Oratorio Society will present a fast-paced, period performance of Handel’s Messiah with the acclaimed early music ensemble, REBEL Baroque, on Sunday afternoon November 21, 2010 at the Presbyterian Church of Mount Kisco beginning at 4:00 p.m.

Conductor-Artistic Director Benjamin Niemczyk expressed his excitement at collaborating again with REBEL (pronounced “Re-bel”), which he called one of the most respected early music ensembles in the United States. He said he was looking forward to the brisk, Baroque pace of the performance, which will be accomplished in under three hours.  While challenging for the group’s singers, Mr. Niemczyk hopes the tempo will be “a thrill for the audience.”
The New York Times called the internationally renowned REBEL, based in Peekskill, New York, “sophisticated and beguiling.” In past years REBEL has performed the Messiah annually at Trinity Church in Manhattan under the direction of Owen Burdick in an event simulcast on WQXR.

First performed on Dublin in 1742, Handel’s Messiah remained popular through to the Romantic period of music, which saw performances of the work become more and more grandiose.  At the Crystal Palace in London, nineteenth century audiences saw as many as 4,000 singers on stage with orchestras numbering in the hundreds. As band music became popular, modern brass instruments found there way into the scores.  The Oratorio Society’s 65-voice chorus with the 21 members of the REBEL ensemble will be more in keeping with the scope of the earlier charity performances that became popular shortly after the composer’s death. 

Soloists for Sunday’s performance

Soloists for the performance will be Soprano Nell Snaidas, known for her Baroque interpretations, which have been called “vocally ravishing” by The New York Times; Alto Hai-Ting Chinn, who has performed with opera companies throughout the United States and Europe and as a soloist with groups including Orpheus, St. Luke’s and REBEL; Tenor Daniel Neer, a diverse artist accomplished in theater, chamber and concert music and opera who has performed in the U.S., Canada and the U.K.; and Bass Ray Diaz, a graduate of the SUNY-Purchase Conservatory of Music, who has performed with opera companies throughout the U.S. and won several prestigious awards.

Founded in 1997, the Westchester Oratorio Society continues to fulfill its mission of presenting extraordinary musical programming to local audiences in northern Westchester. In addition, the group has further distinguished itself through appearances with the Brooklyn Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Cathedral of St. John the Devine.  The chorus rehearses Tuesday evenings in Katonah and is comprised of competent volunteer singers from Westchester, Fairfield and Putnam counties, and elsewhere in the New York metropolitan area.

The Presbyterian Church of Mount Kisco is located at 605 Millwood Rd, Mt. Kisco, NY. Tickets for the performance are $25 and may be purchased at the group’s website www.Westchesteroratorio.org. For more information e-mail {encode=“wosinforrmation@gmail.com” title=“wosinforrmation@gmail.com”} or call (914) 763-9389.

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