Coming up this Saturday, November 30th at 7pm, Westminster United Church will be holding their first ever Sing-Along Messiah. This is a wonderful opportunity for anyone who loves to sing, to take part in a completely free event while at the same time reveling in Handel’s masterful music that has become such a staple of the holidays.
The event is free, but donations are very much encouraged and welcome. The proceeds of the donations will go towards the Westminster United Church Sanctuary Ceiling Restoration Fund. This is a wonderful way to play a small role in ensuring that one of Winnipeg’s greatest and most recognizable structural landmarks, and music venues will continue to grace the landscape of Winnipeg. A venue that the city of Winnipeg and the Province of Manitoba declared a heritage building in 1992.
The Manitoba Choral Association and Winnipeg Arts Council’s Winnipeg 150 City of Song initiative support this event.
When the Winnipeg Arts Council proposed the Winnipeg 150 City of Song initiative, it got the music director at Westminster United, Dr. Stuart Sladden thinking about a way the church could take part. As Sladden explains, “One of the things that I know, is that Messiah is for many people is a holiday tradition. And I know, looking back at Winnipeg’s history, it has been performed every year since 1948 with the WSO at Christmas time. I thought ‘what a nice way to bring the community back into Westminster.’ I’ve run sing-along Messiahs in the past, to great fanfare from the people who come because it is just a great opportunity to come and sing through this iconic piece of music.”
The Messiah sing-along will be supported by a chamber orchestra with some soloists that Westminster United Church hires for their regular worship services.
For anyone who wants to take part, you do not have to be a professional singer, the idea is to get together and have fun. As Sladden says, “The whole idea of this is that it is not a performance. Come as you are, sing what you can and just join in the glorious sounds of what’s happening around you. If we have big train wrecks, we’ll just have a good laugh, I’ll call out a bar [number] and we will just keep going from there.”
The event will feature the Christmas portion of the Messiah, part one, but other choruses from parts two and three will be included in the festivities. As Sladden says, “The Hallelujah Chorus is definitely part of it. In the first part you have choruses like And The Glory, For Unto us a Child is Born, and the ever popular His Yoke is Easy. We are also going to be doing Since by Man Came Death which is at the beginning of part three, and we are also going to be doing Worthy is the Lamb, and the Amen.”
People are encouraged to bring their own musical scores, but if they need a score, Westminster United can lend out one of the many scores of the Mesiah they have on hand.
This will be a very enjoyable event that will hopefully raise funds for the Westminster United Church Sanctuary Ceiling Restoration Fund. The roof of the main sanctuary was declared not structurally sound, and the cost of bolstering and renovating the roof is very expensive. Every little bit helps, and one of the things that Sladden wants to ensure is that the building is still seen as one of the best performance venues in the city.
The sing-along Messiah will take place on the second floor of the Church. Participants are asked to enter the church through the Westminster side of the building, from there, they can take the stairs up to the second floor and take part in the event.
The hall on the second-floor seats around 150 people, so space is limited. Participants are asked to register beforehand to ensure they get a spot.
For More details on how to register while at the same time have a great deal of fun click here.
