Keene’s Annual Messiah Sing

Mark your calendar for the 33rd annual Messiah Sing in Keene at 7 pm, Sunday, December 15, at the United Church of Christ in Keene, 23 Central Square, Keene. Come to sing in the balcony or to listen in the pews below.

UCC music director Beverly Caldon will lead the string quartet, organ, vocal soloists, and community chorus members in Part I, the Christmas Section, and the “Hallelujah” Chorus of Handel’s masterpiece.

Soloists for this year’s Messiah Sing include Matthew Leese, bass; Brittney Redler, soprano; Pamela Stevens, mezzo-soprano; and Kirk Bobkowski, tenor. The organ is a Berkshire-Gilbert instrument with three manuals and forty ranks of pipes. It was recently repaired to its glory after a ferocious lightning strike three years ago.

Suggested donation for this community Messiah Sing in Keene is $10. Scores are available to borrow and a reception follows in the Church Parlor.

There is an accessible entrance to United Church at the rear of the building, off Vernon Street, with an elevator to the Sanctuary on the second floor.

Beverly Caldon began the Keene Messiah Sings in 1988, with only one weather cancellation and two years off for Covid. Singers and audiences travel from Vermont, the greater Keene area, and northern Massachusetts. It’s common to hear, “It doesn’t feel like Christmas until I sing ‘And the Glory of the Lord.’ ” Come to sing or to listen, but come for the community Christmas joy!