Messiah College Choral Arts Society to present audience favorite Handel’s “Messiah”
March 30th, 2009
GRANTHAM, Pa. (March 30, 2009) — Celebrating its 63rd year, the Messiah College Choral Arts Society will perform Georg Frideric Handel’s “Messiah” on April 19 at 4 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church, located at 2000 Chestnut St. in Camp Hill. The 70-member choir, internationally-distinguished soloists and orchestra will be conducted by Linda Tedford, director of choral activities at Messiah College and founder and conductor of the Susquehanna Chorale. Tickets are $14 for general admission, $12 for senior citizens and $5 for students, and can be purchased by calling the college ticket office at (717) 691-6036 or at www.messiah.edu/tickets. For more information, contact Eunice Hager at (717) 691-6027.
Local performers as soloists
Mezzo-soprano soloist Barbara Rearick, formerly of Dillsburg, resides in New York City performing nationally and internationally. She also teaches voice at Princeton University. Damian Savarino, bass soloist, instructs voice at Messiah and performs nationally. He recently had his international debut. Sasha Piastro, soprano, is currently working on her doctorate of musical arts in voice performance at Shenandoah Conservatory. She is a member of the voice faculties at Lycoming College and Susquehanna University. Tenor Jeffrey Fahnestock, a native of central Pennsylvania, maintains a busy performing schedule in addition to teaching voice, vocal literature and diction at Gettysburg College and Susquehanna University. Michael Jamanis is the concert master of the orchestra. He is the violinist in the Newstead Trio and serves as the head of the string department at the Pennsylvania Academy of Music, and is the artistic director of Vivace, a summer music festival now in its eighth year. Jamanis is also a visiting professor at China Northwest University for Nationalities and a senior adjunct assistant professor at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa.
About the director
Linda Tedford is Messiah College’s director of choral activities and conductor of the Messiah College Concert Choir, Men’s Ensemble and Chamber Singers. Tedford is the founder and conductor of the Susquehanna Chorale. She is responsible for the creation of the Chorale’s Educational Outreach Program which reaches hundreds of local student singers through the Susquehanna Youth Chorale, Susquehanna Children’s Chorale and the Young Women’s Chorale all based in Hershey, Pa. She holds a master’s degree in conducting from Temple University, where she studied with renowned conductor Robert Page. She also studied with contemporary musicians Gregg Smith, Dale Warland and the late Robert Shaw.
About the Messiah College Choral Arts Society
The choir, made up of 70 members from Messiah College and the greater Harrisburg community, was founded by Messiah music professor Earl “Prof” Miller in 1946. It was originally called the Alumni Oratorio Society. Later, the name was changed to the Grantham Oratorio Society to emphasize the community in which they participated. Earl Miller directed the choir for 22 years, followed by Messiah professors Ronald Sider, who led the group for 28 years, and Ronald Miller, the 1997 interim director. In 1998, the choir was renamed the Messiah College Choral Arts Society to reflect the group’s rich heritage with the college.
About Messiah College
Messiah College, a private Christian college of the liberal and applied arts and sciences, enrolls 2,800 undergraduate students in 55 majors. Established in 1909, the primary campus is located in Grantham, Pa., near the state capital of Harrisburg. A satellite campus affiliated with Temple University is located in Philadelphia.