Lenoir Community College will stage its annual performance of Handel’s Messiah at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the college’s Waller Auditorium. Tickets are $7 and doors open at 6:30 p.m.
This year’s show features an array of local and regional talent.
Carolyn Crossland is the producer and conductor for the performance, in its 16th year at the college.
Crossland joined the LCC faculty in 1992 and currently is the LCC Arts and Sciences program chair of music. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Campbell University and Master of Music degree from East Carolina University. In addition to post graduate work in the United States, Crossland has studied at the Royal School of Church Music in London, England; the Italian Organ Academy in Pistoia, Italy; the Classical Music Seminar in Eisenstadt, Austria; and at Cambridge University in Cambridge, England. She has done additional postgraduate study in the United States at Westminster Choir College, Illinois State University, Duke University, and Pennsylvania State University.
Her previous work experience includes positions on the music faculty at East Carolina University and Mount Olive College. She has served as Choirmaster-Organist at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Raleigh and Westminster United Methodist Church in Kinston.
Crossland is listed in the International Who’s Who in Music, Who’s Who in Business and Professional Women, and Outstanding Women in America: Music. She has received numerous awards including the Distinguished Leadership Award in the Teaching Profession, LCC President’s Award for Service and Innovation, International Paragon Award, and the 2002 Teaching Excellence Award at LCC.
She is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, Hymn Society of America, National Pastoral Musicians, American Guild of Organists, Royal School of Church Music, and Conductor’s Guild.
Peggy Overton Vaughan will make her fifth appearance as soprano soloist in this year’s production.
She will perform “And Lo! The Angel of the Lord,” “And Suddenly, There Was with the Angel,” “ There Were Shepherds,” “Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of Zion,” and “Come Unto Him.”
Vaughan is a Voice Instructor at Mount Olive College (Mt. Olive campus) and the conductor of the Pitt Community College Chorale in Greenville. She serves as the music Director at Peace Presbyterian Church in Winterville and is also the choral director at Roseleaf Academy in Farmville.
She currently maintains a voice studio in Greenville, and formerly served as the General Music and Choral Director at Arendell Parrott Academy in Kinston. An active soloist, she has performed with the Virginia Choral Society, the Greenville Choral Society, the Hickory Choral Society and Symphony, the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra, the East Carolina University Opera Theatre, the East Carolina Religious Arts Festival, and in Lenoir Community College’s annual revue, Broadway and Beyond.
She has served as the soloist for performances of Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Requiem, Mass in C, Regina Coeli, Faure’s Requiem, Poulenc’s Gloria, and Handel’s Messiah. Her most recent operatic appearances have included the role of Lady Billows in Britten’s Albert Herring and Aminta in Mozart’s Il Re Pastore. She is an active member of the Greenville Choral Society’s Adult Chorus, and a past member of its Chamber Chorale. She received both her Bachelor of Music and her Master of Music degrees in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from Meredith College.
Jami Rhodes will make her fourth appearance in the production, performing “O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings To Zion,” “Then Shall the Eyes of the Blind Be Opened,” and “He Shall Feed His Flock.”
A native of North Carolina, mezzo-soprano Jami Rhodes is currently Assistant Professor of Voice at East Carolina University in Greenville. She holds the Doctor of Musical Arts in vocal performance and pedagogy from Louisiana State University, the Master of Music in vocal performance from the University of South Carolina, and the Bachelor of Music in music education from ECU.
Frequently seen on the operatic stage, she holds a number of favorite roles to her credit. Dr. Rhodes is also an active recitalist and performs regularly in oratorio and other concert works. Recent and upcoming appearances include performances of Dominick Argento’s critically acclaimed song cycles From the Diary of Virginia Woolf and Miss Manners on Music, Rossini’s Giovanna D’Arco, Haydn’s Arianna a Naxos, Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden gesellen, Britten’s A Charm of Lullabies, and mezzo-soprano soloist in Britten’s Canticle II, Corigliano’s Fern Hill, Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Magnificat, Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass, Mozart’s Requiem, Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Bruckner’s Mass in D Minor, and Michael Tippett’s A Child of Our Time.
Joel Gay will make his tenth appearance, performing “Thus Saith the Lord of Hosts,” “But Who May Abide the Day of His Coming,” “For Behold, Darkness Shall Cover the Earth,” and “The People That Walked in Darkness Have Seen A Great Light.”
He is a singer and choral conductor living in the Wilson area. He and his wife, Jennifer, work together as the music ministers at the First United Methodist Church in Wilson, where he conducts a community youth choir called the Spirit Singers, and also oversees the handbell and contemporary worship ministries.
He received his undergraduate degree from Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA, where he studied with Wayne Kompelein. He completed his graduate studies at East Carolina University with a masters degree in choral conducting and voice performance.
While at East Carolina he studied with John Kramar and Daniel Bara. He has performed as a soloist throughout Eastern North Carolina, most recently with the Crystal Coast Choral Society, the East Carolina University Religious Arts Festival, and the LCC Christmas Chorus. Besides singing, he enjoys playing with his two boys, Billy and Michael, and traveling.
Handel was born in Germany in 1685, studied in Italy, and worked the majority of his career in England. Although his early compositions were mostly operas, his masterpieces are his oratorios, large works for chorus and orchestra often based on a Bible story, but lacking costumes, sets, and acting. His most famous oratorio, MESSIAH, considered by musicologists to be the most performed and most recognized work in all music literature is a fixture of the Christmas season that still awes listeners 250 years after the composer’s death. Citing MESSIAH, composer Ludwig van Beethoven, said Handel was the “greatest composer that ever lived.”
Due to Handel's superstar status in England, Messiah burst onto the stage when it was performed in Dublin in 1742, with audiences of over 700 in a room that seated only 600. Ladies were asked by management to wear dresses “without hoops” and men were asked to “leave ceremonial swords at home” in order to make “room for more company.”
Handel composed Messiah in 1741 in only three to four weeks, literally writing from morning to night. Charles Jennens, a well-known author wrote the text for Messiah, using selected passages from the old and new testaments. Unlike most oratorios, Messiah offered very little plot. Part I prophesied the birth of Jesus Christ; Part II exalted his sacrifice for humankind; and the final section heralded his resurrection. Only Part I will be performed at LCC.
In most of Handel's oratorios, the soloists dominate the performance and the choir sings only brief choruses. But in Messiah, the chorus takes a much larger role, commenting on the action and moving the story forward with great emotional impact and uplifting messages.
There is little doubt about Handel's own fondness for Messiah. His annual benefit concerts for his favorite charity, a home for abandoned and orphaned children in London, always included Messiah. In 1759, when he was blind and in failing health, he insisted on attending an April 6 performance of Messiah at the Theatre Royal in Covent Garden. Eight days later, Handel died at home. Unlike most musicians of his time, Handel amassed a fortune through his music and shrewd investments. His estate was assessed at 20,000 pounds, which made him a millionaire by modern standards. He left the bulk of his fortune to charities and much of the remainder to friends, and servants.
Abroad, Handel's reputation, and that of his best-known composition, continued to grow. By the early 19th century, performances of Messiah had become an even stronger Christmas tradition in the United States than in Britain. The musical giant Mozart confessed himself to be humble in the face of Handel's genius. Mozart said, “When he chooses, he strikes like a thunderbolt.”
For more information on the performance and purchasing tickets, contact Crossland at (252) 527-6223, ext. 919 or ccrossland@lenoircc.edu.