'Hallelujah, Hallelujah'

CELINA - George Frideric Handel's "Messiah" is a fixture of the Christmas season, especially in Celina where members of the community and high school choir have performed selections from the oratorio for more than 30 years.

However, all good things must come to an end. "Messiah" will be performed for the last time by a choir of roughly 100 high schoolers and community members at 6 p.m. Sunday at Grand Lake United Methodist Church St. Paul Campus.

Celina High School Choir Director Joel Trisel said he and accompanists David VanTilburg and Carol Zimmerman made the joint decision to retire the piece, at least for now. While "Messiah" has been a long-standing practice, Trisel and VanTilburg said it's time to make room for new traditions.

"Messiah" got its start in Celina thanks to Bernadine Hook, Zimmerman and VanTilburg said. VanTilburg, who served as Celina High School's choir director for many years, said Hook and a community choir first performed selections from "Messiah" in 1984 at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church.

"There was about 75 in the choir. That was all community people. I think there was three different conductors, several accompanists, I think Carol was the only organist, I believe. And it lasted about three-plus years," he said. "I went to (Hook) and I said, 'Would you be willing to let us take it over with the high school?' And she said 'Yes, please.' She was a great lady. And so that's where we started in 1989."

Since then, the chorus has consisted of high school choir members, Celina alumni, retired teachers and other community members.

With soaring arias, stunning duets and elaborate choruses, "Messiah" is a high-level piece often performed by professional choirs and orchestras, said soloist Will Goodwin.

Goodwin, a 2008 Celina High School graduate, went on to receive a bachelor's degree in musical theater from Shenandoah Conservatory in Virginia. He said performing "Messiah" in high school prepared him well.

"I think it's kind of unique for a high school to do," he said. "It's professional level work … when I went to college, I was already a leg up because we did this kind of stuff here, and that's a testament to the Celina choir program."

Given its complexity, Trisel said he expects his students to work hard every year to put on a stellar performance.

"Handel's 'Messiah' is ubiquitous," he said. "It's one of the most performed pieces in the world. From small performances locally, like ours, to all the big establishments. All the big orchestras and professional choruses all do it every year."

The intricacy of "Messiah" is double-edged sword, though. VanTilburg and Zimmerman said accompanying "Messiah" is no easy feat. As an oratorio, "Messiah" is a large-scale musical composition created for soloists, a chorus and an orchestra.

"It's a score that was written for (an) orchestra. And the keyboard version, most pianists will tell you, does not fit under your fingers," VanTilburg said. "Every year I relearn stuff."

And while the work itself is timeless, Trisel and VanTilburg said it's time to give the 282-year-old piece a break.

"I know this one well," VanTilburg said of Trisel, "and he's going to go on to something else that's going to be excellent. There's so many things to do. It can become a tradition, but there's also … this huge world of music. I don't know what (Trisel) is going to choose, but there's a lot of things out there."

"It feels like it's run its course," Trisel added. "It's done amazing things for the program. But like David said, I have other things I'm already thinking about and other projects that are going to be coming out. So I think it's just time."

And while "Messiah" might be put to rest for the foreseeable future, Trisel said he wants Sunday's performance to be more of a celebration than a funeral.

With that in mind, he invited Celina High School alumni who have pursued music as a career or educational path to audition for solos. He also sought former students who have performed 'Messiah' in the past to come back for the grand finale.

"I knew that I could get a good number of soloists to participate, all alumni. And I figured, let's throw this out as a celebration. Let's celebrate the end, not just stop it … I wanted to end on a high note."

The concert will feature guest conductors Ian Kennedy and Cricket Dobmeyer, Trisel said.

Soloists include Trisel, Kennedy, Goodwin, Christopher Braun, Hannah Drescher, Marea VanTilburg, Rachel McDowell, Aerianna Gann, Hannah Davis and Alexander Ebright.