‘Messiah’ returns to town hall

As the festive season begins, City Choir Dunedin presents one of the most well-known and best-loved works in the choral repertoire, Handel’s Messiah.

The performance, to be held on Saturday, from 7.30pm, at Dunedin Town Hall, will be conducted from the harpsichord by choir director David Burchell, with accompaniment from Dunedin Symphony Orchestra. It will feature soloists Elizabeth Mandeno, Maaike Christie-Beekman, Lachlan Craig and Wade Kernot.

Composed in just 24 days in 1741, Handel’s Messiah is an uplifting meditation on the Christian message, with dramatic interludes.

Soprano soloist Elizabeth Mandeno is a former Dame Malvina Major Emerging Artist and Freemasons Opera Artist with New Zealand Opera, and has an MA with distinction in advanced vocal studies from the Wales International Academy of Voice in Cardiff. She has performed as a soloist with choirs and orchestras throughout New Zealand.

Alto soloist Maaike Christie-Beekman studied at the Amsterdam Conservatorium, gaining a master’s diploma in performance. She has sung opera, oratorio and chamber music throughout the Netherlands and Europe, and has lived in New Zealand since 2010.

Tenor soloist Lachlan Craig is in regular demand as an oratorio soloist, and is an alumnus of Voices NZ Chamber Choir and has been an assistant conductor with New Zealand Opera. He has also been recorded as a soloist for Radio New Zealand.

Bass soloist Wade Kernot was principal artist at Theater St Gallen, Switzerland, from 2010-2015, and has performed with New Zealand Opera, Wellington Opera, and opera companies in Australia and Europe.

A former Dame Malvina Major emerging artist, Kernot is now a lecturer in voice at the New Zealand School of Music, at Victoria University.