Westminster’s annual Messiah performance is a long standing tradition that takes place on the Friday after winter exams. The performance is a culmination of Westiminster’s Upper School musical talents, showcasing the orchestra, chorus, and even a member of the band.
Sophomore Eve Gordon is the highlighted band member who will play in the orchestral and choral performance of Messiah. Gordon plays the timpani, which are pitched kettle drums, so they change pitch to align with the orchestra. Her preparation includes listening to her piece and taking notes on it.
“I like to listen to it, at least my movement of the piece that I’m playing in, three or four times and kinda focus on musicality and tempo changes and something different each time,” said Gordon. “I also play along with the recording.”
For chorus, the preparation process is a little different.
“We usually—sometime in October, maybe even late September—break out the Messiah scores and we start rehearsing in class, bit by bit,” said Dr. Chris Walters, the chorus director.
For the freshman chorus, they start learning Messiah material in late September/early October as it is their first time performing this piece, which allows them to focus on technical aspects like note rhythm during their in-class rehearsals.
“The rehearsals in class are basically, we go into our different voice parts—and it’s usually split into boys and girls—and we focus on parts we’re struggling on,” said freshman Lily Glidden. “Then, at the end of class we come together and do it together.”
For chorale, the sophomore to senior chorus class, the upperclassmen help refresh the sophomores on the Messiah material, as sophomores only have performed this piece once before.
Sophomores, juniors, and seniors also have the opportunity to audition for Messiah solos, adding onto their preparation process. For these auditions, Atlanta area music professionals are brought in to judge the performances and pick the soloists for the year’s Messiah. After the soloists are chosen, Walters works with each student individually on multiple occasions to perfect the solo, focusing on breath power and breath shape placement.
“In years past, we had students sing most of the solos, but because some of them are just really hard—because these are professional level solos—so maybe one or two of them, we’ve had guest singers sing or we’ve had alumni who’ve sung the solos in the past come back and sing the solos,” said Walters. “But, this year, for the second year in a row, it is all students.”
Chorus also has a time-honored tradition of completing three Monday night rehearsals, each lasting an hour and a half. During these rehearsals, students focus on refining all of the final details that will result in a perfect performance.
The orchestra, on the other hand, begins their Messiah preparation process by focusing on finding the right dynamic contrast in the music which ultimately brings out the drama in the piece. To do this, students are encouraged to listen to recordings of other Messiah performances, so they have an idea of what the Messiah score should sound like.
During orchestra class, students rehearse by dividing into two groups: the concertino group, which is a small ensemble that plays for the soloists, and the full orchestra. Depending on how the groups sound and the progression of their preparation, the two groups rehearse together once or twice a week. The week after Thanksgiving is when the first evening orchestra rehearsal for Messiah takes place. The next major Messiah rehearsal for orchestra is the last day of final exams. The orchestra gets together that evening and rehearses at 7:00 pm. During these rehearsals, Ms. Wu, the orchestra teacher, encourages students to focus on specifics to improve their playing.
“We work out the complex passages and we pay attention to the details and the coordination,” said Wu. “We also pay close attention to intonation. Really, we focus on all the technical components, as well as the musical components.”
In Gordon’s case, she only goes to the dress rehearsal where they just play through the performance and receive feedback.
“Ms. Wu will give notes and she focuses on keeping everyone together and keeping everyone musical, so we say something with our music,” said Gordon.
For the actual performance of Messiah, there are some bittersweet feelings leading up to that day.
“I’m just kind of nervous about it because I know it’s something that a lot of students don’t really look forward to, but I’m still excited just to know how it is,” said Glidden.
While some students may not look forward to this last day of school, a final hurdle before winter break, students still anticipate an amazing performance from their fellow classmates.
Since Messiah is an annual performance, every year performers grow their playing abilities allowing the orchestra to continuously improve. The chorus students are also going to have an exceptional performance with Walters guaranteeing that this year is the best Westminster chorus program he has ever seen.
Overall, Wu described this annual musical presentation the best: “it’s a wonderful thing for all of us to be able to come together, to make music together.”
Edited by Lauren Foglesong
