The Hudson Valley Philharmonic will give a special holiday performance of Handel’s “Messiah” on Saturday, Dec. 16, at 2 p.m. at the Bardavon, 35 Market St., Poughkeepsie.
Guest vocalists from Cappella Festiva will join the philharmonic and guest conductor Christine Howlett to perform George Frideric Handel’s most popular choral work, for a total of 100 instrumentalists and singers on the Bardavon stage. And audience members will be invited to sing along. A pre-concert talk with Howlett and orchestra members will take place one hour before the concert for all ticket-holder.
Howlett is the artistic director of Cappella Festiva, an auditioned choral ensemble with a 35-year history of performing in the Hudson Valley. In 2006, she co-founded the Summer Choral Festival at Vassar College and the Cappella Festiva Treble Choir, an auditioned choral ensemble for treble voices ages 10-16.
The featured soloists for “Messiah” will include Teresa Buchholz, Katherine Whyte, Joseph Beutel and Joshua Blue.
A versatile mezzo-soprano, Buchholz enjoys success in the realms of opera, art song and oratorio. She was recently heard in the role of Anne in Virgil Thomson’s “The Mother of Us All” in a highly acclaimed production in Hudson. This fall, she was also heard in Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9” with The Orchestra Now at Bard College and performed the role of Berta in a New York City concert version of the rarely heard opera “Il Grillo del Focolare” by Riccardo Zandonai.
Other recent performances include the role of Zofia in Monuiskzo’s opera “Halka” at the Bard Music Festival, the mezzo soloist in Verdi’s “Requiem” at the Lake Como Music Festival (Italy) and with the Spokane Symphony, Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio” with the Rhode Island Civic Chorale and Orchestra and Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9” at Lincoln Center with the National Chorale. In 2013, she was the winner of the female division in the Nico Castel International Master Singer Competition.
A soprano, Whyte has performed on opera and concert stages across her native Canada, the United States and Europe. Opera Today has hailed her for her “keen artistic sensibility,” while the San Francisco Classical Voice has praised “her glamorous, vibrato-rich voice.” Last season included her debut with the Dallas Opera as Pousette in “Manon,” a return to the Metropolitan Opera Company for its production of “Rigoletto,” the Countess in “Le nozze di Figaro” with Opera Saratoga, and concerts with the Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra of China’s National Opera at the Meet in Beijing Arts Festival. The 2016-2017 season included her return to the Metropolitan Opera for productions of “Jenufa” and “Rigoletto” and a debut with the Edmonton Symphony for Handel’s “Messiah.” This season sees her return to the Metropolitan Opera for “Parsifal,” as well as appearing in concert with the Mountain View International Festival of Song in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
An acclaimed bass-baritone, Beutel is an Indiana native. He has often been praised for his richness of vocal color and versatility on stage. Recent engagements have included Hotel Manager/Duke/Judge in Ades’s “Powder Her Face” with Skylight Music Theatre; roles in Martinu’s “Comedy on the Bridge” and “Alexandre bis” with Gotham Chamber Opera; Sulpice in “La fille du regiment” with Fargo-Moorhead Opera; Sam in “Un ballo in maschera” with Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras; Nourabad in “Les pecheurs de perles” with Baltimore Concert Opera and Opera Delaware; and the High Priest of Baal in “Nabucco” with Opera Naples.
A British-American tenor and Toulmin Foundation scholar, Blue is a first-year Masters Student at The Juilliard School in New York City, pursuing a degree in vocal performance under the tutelage of Robert White. His previous instructors include Salvatore Champagne at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin, Ohio, where he received his bachelor’s degree in music, with a concentration in vocal performance, in 2016; and Jennifer Barnickel-Fitch at Waubonsie Valley High School, a Grammy Signature school located in Aurora, Illinois.
As a tenor soloist, Blue has been featured in Schubert’s “Mass No. 6 in E-flat Major” and Ramirez’s “Missa Criolla.” He has also performed such operatic roles as Gabriel von Eisenstein in Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus,” the title role of Britten’s “Albert Herring,” Sam Kaplan in Weil’s “Street Scene,” the Student in Torke’s “Strawberry Fields,” Don Ottavio in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” Spoletta in Puccini’s “Tosca,” and Ruggero in Puccini’s “La Rondine,” performing with the Oberlin Opera Theater.
Prices are $20, 26, $36 and $51, depending on location.
Tickets can be purchased at the Bardavon box office or by calling (845) 473-2072. They can also be purchased at the Ulster Performing Arts Center, 601 Broadway, Kingston, or by calling (845) 339-6088. In addition, they are available through Ticketmaster by calling (800) 745-3000 or visiting ticketmaster.com.