News from SUNY Plattsburgh

For more information contact: Michelle Marasch Ouellette, 518-564-2090, michelle.ouellette@plattsburgh.edu

Champlain Valley Voices and SUNY Plattsburgh Choral Union Present Handel's Messiah

PLATTSBURGH, NY (11/19/2008)(readMedia)-- On Saturday, Dec. 6 at 8 p.m., the Champlain Valley Voices and the SUNY Plattsburgh Choral Union, led by Artistic Director Karen Becker, will present a winter concert featuring "The Messiah," G.F. Handel's most successful and best-known oratorio.

The concert will take place in the E. Glenn Giltz Auditorium, Hawkins Hall, on the SUNY Plattsburgh campus, located at the corner of Cornelia and Broad streets. Tickets may be purchased at the door, from chorus members, at the Corner-Stone Bookshop or at Myers Pharmacy in Plattsburgh. Prices are $17 for general admission, $12 for students and senior citizens and $5 for children under the age of 12.

Now in its 25th season, the Champlain Valley Voices (formerly the Champlain Valley Oratorio Society) and SUNY Plattsburgh Choral Union have been preparing for this concert since August.

"The chorus members' commitment to this work and this concert is tremendous. I am so inspired," says Becker. "The Messiah hasn't been performed locally in recent memory. And in these uncertain times, it will be nice to present a classic that is familiar to many people."

Four, first-rate soloists will be joining the 90-member chorus. The soloists are local residents Margaret Meyer (soprano) and Jo Ellen Miano (alto). They will be joined by James Benjamin Rodgers (tenor) and Matthew Anchel (bass) from New York City. Accompanying the chorus will be a 22-piece orchestra. The musicians were chosen and assembled specifically for this concert, with many of the performers traveling from New York City to join forces with local players.

Also included in the program are carols of the season. The audience will be invited to join the chorus in singing the traditional carols. For more information please call

518-564-2283.