George Frideric Handel
Born: February 23, 1685, in Halle, Germany
Died: April 14, 1759, in London, England
Composed: August 22 to September 14, 1741
World Premiere: April 13, 1745, in Dublin, Ireland
Duration: 2 hours and 10 minutes
Instrumentation: two oboes, bassoon, two trumpets, timpani, harpsichord, organ; bass-baritone, tenor, alto, and soprano soloists, mixed chorus, and strings

PART 1

Sinfonia (Overture) 

Accompagnato (Tenor) 

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness; prepare ye the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. (Isaiah 40:1–3) 

Air (Tenor) 

Ev’ry valley shall be exalted, and ev’ry mountain and hill made low; the crooked straight and the rough places plain. (Isaiah 40:4) 

Chorus 

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. (Isaiah 40:5) 

Accompagnato (Bass-baritone) 

Thus saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts: Yet once a little while and I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations; and the desire of all nations shall come. (Haggai 2:6–7) 

The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the Covenant, whom you delight in; behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 3:1)

Air (Mezzo-soprano) 

But who may abide the day of His coming, and who shall stand when He appeareth? For He is like a refiner’s fire. (Malachi 3:2) 

Chorus 

And He shall purify the sons of Levi, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. (Malachi 3:3) 

Recitative (Mezzo-soprano) 

Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Emmanuel, God with us. (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23) 

Air and Chorus (Mezzo-soprano) 

O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountain.
O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, behold your God! (Isaiah 40:9) 

Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. (Isaiah 60:1) 

Accompagnato (Bass-baritone) 

For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. 
(Isaiah 60:2–3) 

Air (Bass-baritone) 

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; and they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. (Isaiah 9:2) 

Chorus 

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6) 

Pifa (Pastoral Symphony) 

Recitative (Soprano) 

There were shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. (Luke 2:8) 

Arioso (Soprano) 

And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. (Luke 2:9) 

Recitative (Soprano) 

And the angel said unto them: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10–11) 

Accompagnato (Soprano) 

And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying: (Luke 2:13) 

Chorus 

Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, good will towards men. (Luke 2:14) 

Air (Soprano) 

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy King cometh unto thee; He is the righteous Savior, and He shall speak peace unto the heathen. (Zecharaiah 9:9–10) 

Recitative (Mezzo-soprano) 

Then shall the eyes of the blind be open’d, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing. (Isaiah 35:5–6) 

Duet (Mezzo-soprano and Soprano) 

He shall feed His flock like a shepherd; and He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. (Isaiah 40:11) 

Come unto Him, all ye that labor, come unto Him that are heavy laden, and He will give you rest. Take his yoke upon you, and learn of Him, for He is meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. (Matthew 11:28–29) 

Chorus 

His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. (Matthew 11:30)

INTERMISSION

 

PART II

Chorus 

Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29) 

Air (Mezzo-soprano) 

He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. (Isaiah 53:3) 

He gave His back to the smiters, and
His cheeks to them that plucked off His hair: He hid not His face from shame and spitting. (Isaiah 50:6) 

Chorus

Surely He hath borne our griefs. 

And with his stripes. 

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way. And the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:4–6)

Recitative (Tenor) 

All they that see Him. (Psalms 22:8) 

Chorus 

He trusted in God. (Psalms 22:9) 

Air (Bass-baritone) 

Why do the nations so furiously rage together, and why do the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against His anointed. (Psalm 2:1–2) 

Recitative (Tenor)

He that dwelleth in Heaven. (Psalms 2:4,9)

Air (Tenor) 

Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. (Psalm 2:9) 

Chorus 

Hallelujah: for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. (Revelation 19:6) 

The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 11:15) 

King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. (Revelation 19:16) 

Hallelujah!

PART III

I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.(Job 19:25–26) 

For now is Christ risen from the dead, the first fruits of them that sleep. (I Corinthians 15:20) 

Chorus 

Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. (I Corinthians 15:21–22) 

Accompagnato (Bass-baritone) 

Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. (I Corinthians 15:51–52) 

Air (Bass-baritone) 

The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (I Corinthians 15:52) 

Chorus 

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and hath redeemed us to God by His blood, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. Blessing and honor, glory and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 5:12–14)

American conductor Anthony Parnther is in his sixth season as music director of California’s San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra and was recently praised as the “quintessential L.A. musician of our day” by the L.A. Times. As conductor of the Gateways Music Festival Orchestra, whose members hail from leading orchestras nationwide, Parnther led its sold-out Carnegie Hall debut, showcasing the world premiere of I Can by five-time Grammy® Award-winner Jon Batiste.

A master of multiple genres, Parnther has conducted many of the world’s preeminent artists, from Joshua Bell, Lynn Harrell, Jessye Norman, and Frederica von Stade to Imagine Dragons, John Legend, Avenged Sevenfold, Wu-Tang Clan, Metro Boomin, and Rihanna. Parnther’s recent conducting engagements include the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, Los Angeles Opera, Music Academy of the West, Sydney Symphony, and the Chineke! Orchestra (UK), with whom he debuted at the BBC Proms.

Dedicated to amplifying traditionally underrepresented voices, Parnther has reconstructed and performed orchestral works by Margaret Bonds, Duke Ellington, Zenobia Powell Perry, Florence Price, William Grant Still, and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. He also led LA Opera’s world premiere of Tamar-kali Brown’s oratorio We Hold These Truths and Long Beach Opera’s revival of Anthony Davis’ Pulitzer Prize-winning The Central Park Five. For his extensive championing of works by Black, Latino, and women composers, Parnther was profiled in 2015 as a “Local Hero” by Los Angeles’ PBS SoCal/ KCET. He was also featured in a New York Times profile for his New York Philharmonic debut.

One of today’s top film conductors, Parnther helms recording sessions for multiple international feature films and television series. Recent projects include Avatar: The Way of Water, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Encanto, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Nope, Creed III, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild, Tenet, American Dad!, Oppenheimer, Turning Red, Star Wars: The Mandalorian, Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett, and League of Legends.

“Caitlin Gotimer, in the title role, delivered an object lesson on the art of classical singing ... negotiating the most intricate ornamentations and sustained, high-flung passages with equal agility … this soprano has yet to disappoint … displaying a voice of truly heroic proportions — seemingly with the greatest of ease, but the amount of talent and study involved in creating such an impression boggles the mind” (OnStage Pittsburgh).

In the 2025/26 season, Ms. Gotimer reprises the title role in Tosca at the renowned Glyndebourne Festival under Robin Ticciati; she makes a thrilling debut at the Royal Danish Opera, singing Nedda in Pagliacci under the baton of Giulio Cilona; makes her role debut as Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly with North Carolina Opera; and joins the roster at the Metropolitan Opera to cover Mimì in La bohème. In addition to her concerts with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, she also appears at the Megaron Mousikis in Athens for a special performance of Rufus Wainwright’s Dream Requiem.

Recent operatic credits include La Madre (La Fiamma), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), and the title role in Silvana for Deutsche Oper Berlin; Nedda (Pagliacci) for Pittsburgh Opera; Countess (Le nozze di Figaro) at the Aspen Music Festival as a Renée Fleming Artist; Juliette (Roméo et Juliette) and Mimì (La bohème) for Arizona Opera; and Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte) for Dallas Opera. She has also covered Musetta (La bohème) at the Bravo! Vail Music Festival, the title role in Suor Angelica, and Giorgetta in Il tabarro in a high-profile production led by Carlo Rizzi for Opéra national de Paris.

Equally at home on the concert stage, Ms. Gotimer has performed Handel’s Messiah with the Santa Fe and Idaho Falls Symphonies, Mozart’s Requiem at Québec’s Festival Songe d’été en musique, and Bach’s Missa Brevis with Binghamton University.

A 2023 Operalia finalist and winner of multiple national and regional competitions, Gotimer is a graduate of the Marion Roose Pullin Arizona Opera Studio and Pittsburgh Opera’s residency program. She holds degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and Binghamton University.

Praised as “a rich-voiced mezzo” (Operawire) and “a real tour-de-force” (Splash Magazines Worldwide), Mexican-American mezzo-soprano Maria Dominique Lopez has sung operatic roles and symphonic works throughout the US and Europe, in addition to recording vocals for independent films and major motion pictures (including the Golden Globe and Academy Award®-winning Disney-Pixar film, Coco.

Recent stage appearances include Houston Grand Opera’s Opera to-Go!, Arizona Opera (Third Lady, The Magic Flute; Bonita, Arizona Lady), The Phoenix Symphony (Vaughan Williams’ Magnificat), Opera Memphis (Third Lady, The Magic Flute), Pacific Opera Project (Madam Flora, The Medium; Mercédès, Carmen; Musetta, La bohème), the world premiere at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts of Jenni Brandon’s 3 Paderewskis, the premiere of Mark Weiser’s The Place Where You Started, New Opera West (Cybil, Celka Ojakangas’ Mirror Game; Jenny, Ben Stevenson’s Recovered; Sara, Jeremy Rapaport-Stein’s The Moose), Southeast Symphony (Mahler’s Symphony No. 2), Angels Vocal Art (Principessa, Suor Angelica), and LA Opera Connects (Waitress/Angela, the world premiere of GG Gallegos’ Another Perfect Day; Rosina, Eli and LeRoy Villanueva’s Figaro’s American Adventure).

Ms. Lopez lives in the Los Angeles area and owns her own reiki healing practice, Ascending Arts. She is a Senior Fellow in the Eric Fütterer Vocal Studio of Academy of Advanced Vocal Technique, and studies shamanic and energy practices with Shaman and Reiki Master, Jamie Jones.

Orson Van Gay II has captivated audiences in classical and contemporary opera and concert hall performances with his charisma and “fine heroic tenor” (San Francisco Classical Voice). He has garnered acclaim for roles in his home of Southern California and across the United States, with Broadway World declaring, “his sound was fluent and his high notes golden.”

Recent opera appearances include the role of Raymond Santana in the world premiere of Anthony Davis’ Central Park Five (winner of a 2021 Pulitzer Prize) with Long Beach Opera. He made his debut in two roles with Pacific Opera Project as The Athlete in the West Coast premiere of I Can’t Breathe and as Rodolfo in La bohème. Other roles include Nemorino (The Elixir of Love) with the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice (NY), Vitaliano (Guistino) with Long Beach Opera, Danilo (The Merry Widow), and supporting roles with the LA Philharmonic (Fidelio) and LA Opera (Il trovatore).

Mr. Van Gay has sung extensively with the LA Opera’s “Connects” series which explores the connections between music, wellness, and recovery. He also debuted the role of Bernard Curson in the world premiere of Vid Guerrerio’s Figaro 90210 with the company and sang Ramerrez in Lee Holdridge’s The Prospector. Other operatic roles include Alfredo (La traviata), Ben (The Night of the Living Dead), and the title roles of Candide and Orpheus.

Equally at home in the concert hall, he joined the California Philharmonic Orchestra in celebration of Leonard Bernstein’s 100th anniversary, performing in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Chorale, at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Mr. Van Gay has also appeared at Carnegie Hall in a recital with Wang Wei.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Vocal Performance from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. In December 2023, he released his debut classical album, Colors of a Lyric, a curation of arias that capture the warmth and stratosphere of this rising star’s vocal spectrum.

Hailing from Woodbridge, Virginia, Shyheim Selvan Hinnant is a multi-disciplinary artist who puts the “tone” in bass-baritone. As a singer, songwriter, actor, and electric bass player, he has dedicated his life to creating art and inspiring others. He received a Master of Music degree from the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. Before pursuing his master’s, Shyheim earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from Virginia Commonwealth University. He also earned a certificate of completion from the Conservatorio di Milano’s Erasmus program.

Currently, he is pursuing a Master of Musical Arts degree from Yale University under the tutelage of mezzo-soprano Adriana Zabala. His favorite roles include Simone (Gianni Schicchi), Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro), and Colline (La bohème). He recently completed a residency with Des Moines Metro Opera as an apprentice artist, where he premiered the role of Clarence in Damien Geter’s American Apollo and covered the role of First Nazarene in Richard Strauss’ Salome.

As a commercial model and actor, Shyheim has worked for various clients including UNO!™, Facebook (Meta), Away Travel, AllBirds, and Intel. In 2022, Shyheim starred in Christian Osagiede’s short film Hunted, which was a finalist in Dolby’s Finish the Script filmmaker competition.

In his free time, he writes alternative R&B music under the alias of Shy Lennox. His smooth sound and creative work have been increasingly recognized and featured in AfroPunk, Lyrical Lemonade, The Commonwealth Times, Ink Magazine, RVA Magazine, and in various online publications. Shyheim’s debut single “afterblunts,” has gained over five million streams and over 50,000 monthly listeners.

Shyheim currently resides in New Haven, Connecticut where he sings as the bass-baritone section leader and soloist for The Congregational Church of New Canaan. He also teaches both virtual and in-person voice lessons and tutors music theory and mathematics.

Under the direction of Australian-born conductor Heather J. Buchanan since September 2003, the Montclair State University choral program has been recognized for successful collaborations with world-renowned artists and celebrated professional musicians in national and international venues, including Meredith Monk, Richard Alston Dance Company (UK), VOCES8 (UK), and Eric Whitacre. Montclair choirs appear regularly with the New Jersey Symphony and have won critical acclaim for their “heartfelt conviction,” “and vibrant sound,” being a “marvel of diction, tuning and rhythm,” “eloquence” and for singing with the “crispness and dexterity of a professional choir.” Pianist Steven W. Ryan is the Montclair choral accompanist.

University Singers, Montclair’s flagship choir, is an elective mixed-voice ensemble comprising undergraduate and graduate students with a passion for choral singing. Previous New Jersey Symphony performances include Felix Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Requiem, the US premiere of Kate Whitley’s Speak Out, and George Frideric Handel’s Messiah annually since 2014. They recorded Songs of Ascension with Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble on the prestigious European label ECM Records under legendary producer Manfred Eicher, which received a Grammy Award® nomination in the Producer of the Year Category. Their solo recording I Sing Because is available on Spotify and iTunes.

Established in 1908, Montclair State is a Research Doctoral Institution ranked in the top tier of national universities, with 13 degree-granting colleges/schools serving more than 24,000 undergraduate and graduate students. At Montclair’s John J. Cali School of Music, students study with a world-class faculty drawn from the finest musicians and scholars in the New York metropolitan area and beyond. Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities Dr. Heather J. Buchanan holds degrees from the University of New England (Australia), Westminster Choir College of Rider University (USA), and the Queensland Conservatorium at Griffith University (Australia), and is a Licensed Body Mapping Educator. A vibrant teacher, dynamic performer, and passionate health advocate for musicians, she is in demand as a guest conductor, somatic educator, and choral clinician in the US and abroad.