New Bern, NC – I rarely use the term holiday in place of Christmas, but for ALL listeners of our Craven Messiah Chorus’s 36th presentation of Handel’s Messiah, it was truly a miracle for all faiths.
When I attended our local ecumenical service of support for our Jewish friends after the senseless massacre at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, I was blessed to sit next to a Jewish couple who attend our local synagogue just around the corner from that night’s Service of Remembrance.
In the course of conversation, they learned that I sang in the annual presentation of Handel’s Messiah; and it turns out, they are regular attenders! What a thrill it is to know our efforts speak to so many faiths!
After suffering the ravages of Hurricane Florence this fall – our town, community, and most of Eastern North Carolina will be in the throes of recovery for months and even years to come. Many are not recovering in place – they have chosen to simply cut bait and move on.
City leaders have pushed heaven and earth to pick up, muck out, tear down, rebuild, put on fresh paint, and put the “open for business” signs right next to the “New Bern Strong” messages spray-painted on temporary shop windows. Our city workers have decorated our town like never before for the holidays.
There was a brief conversation about even doing the Messiah this year. Many of our chorus members and our musical directors were devastated by the storm. Maybe we just needed to take a year off to lick our wounds?
That conversation lasted about a nanosecond. Our chorus wanted to do its part in the recovery. We were NOT going to skip this year’s production. If anything, our community needed the Messiah message more than ever.
Fast forward through weekly Monday night rehearsals starting in November and going through the crescendo of practice during our unofficial “Messiah Marathon Week,” which sees over ten hours of concentrated singing.
Jim Ogle, our conductor for all 36 years, returns to our town from Idaho each year because this presentation is that special. He reminds us that the NC Symphony members who accompany us are not looking for another, “Holiday Pops gig.” They, too, return each year because their hearts, souls, and musical selves are moved by the quality of our production and the message it imparts.
These NC Symphony professionals drive to New Bern on Monday in time for our ticketed open rehearsal atarting at 3 pm the day of our evening performance. Messiah goers enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of this special event as Jim Ogle will take time to talk to them between pieces, explaining instrumentation and various musical nuances. His occasional, “do-be-do-be-dos,” give added color to the rehearsal and offer light-hearted moments for the audience and chorus members.
Here’s where the drama starts.
At approximately 12:30 pm on that Monday afternoon, our conductor learned that the NC Symphony members could not even get out of their driveways from the weekend snow and ice storm that had slammed the western and middle part of the state. Most symphony members live in the middle part of the state.
Oh, my. No violins taking us soaring to the heavens. No oboe. No bassoon. No beat. No pitch.
What did we have?
An accomplished symphony conductor.
A chorus more responsive to keeping its beat than ever, thanks to chest-tapping rehearsals converted to hidden knee, heel, or book patting pulses during performance.
A set of amazing soloists ready to drive the Messiah message into the hearts of all listeners.
A harpsicord and an accomplished player, Beverly Biggs, who was wisely brought into town before the storm hit her home in Durham.
A piano and a very accomplished player, BJ Oglesby, who is also one of our rehearsal directors.
A tympani player, Jack Bircher, with a tympani to play – but whose soul-stirring passages would sound out-of-place without trumpeters adding to the swirling crescendo of sounds.
A packed house of eager listeners who needed the Messiah message – maybe more than ever.
No pressure.
Right …
Our conductor explained the situation to the afternoon audience who seemed willing, curious, and understanding. Clearly, we were flying by the seat of our pants.
Oh, of course. No symphony = no overture.
First up, the tenor soloist, Bill Ward, whose amazing solo was only occasionally supported by the harpsicord music and Jim’s “do-be-do-be-dos” that filled-in for crucial violin passages.
These were trying times, and Bill knocked it out of the park. We practically cried as Jim gave Bill a heart-felt hug of appreciation.
The audience loved it. Somehow, while the stirring and floating sounds of the symphony were absent, the words and message were emphasized.
No harm. No foul.
We strive for something near perfection, you see. We never want our musical faux-pas to distract from the miraculous message Handel divinely created in just twenty-four days of inspired genius.
The chorus was directed to stand. Could we stay on pitch? Would there be a train-wreck of botched entrances? Could we concentrate hard enough to remember all we had perfected? Were we going to stay in time as we secretly tapped out subdivided beats?
We were determined to not let Jim, our audience, or ourselves down.
Success! While the pitch may have subtly dipped a time or two because we were basically singing totally accapella, there were no train wrecks or botched entrances.
Our baritone soloist, Mark Walters, added to the open rehearsal’s blessings by turning to face the chorus from time to time. It was a gift we needed.
The other soloists, Jami Rhodes, Nicole Franklin, and Pat Rowlett each added to the mounting miracle of true professionals rising to unexpected circumstances.
But that was just the beginning of miracles.
As we gathered in the church basement for rest and nourishment before the actual performance slated to start at 7:30 pm, we were faced with the reality of having to perform Handel’s Messiah accapella one more time. Next time would be to folks who paid $25 each for the experience.
Our conductor stared off into space, deep in thought. Was that his life flashing in front of his eyes? I’ll never forget his look.
Our other leader’s faces were set with a look of resolution and giving in to less-than-stellar circumstances.
Mark Walters, however, was busy texting. What was our baritone soloist conjuring up?
To the best of my recollection, it looked something like this:
5:30 pm. Texting.
6:00 pm. Texting.
6:30 pm. Texting.
6:45 pm. Waiting for texts back.
Smiles.
Whispers to our conductor.
Our pianist zooms up to the sanctuary to practice.
What has transpired?
A holiday miracle!
Strings pulled. Friends called. Friends of friends shooting texts into the dark of night.
Kimberly Zimmerman grabs some clothes and her cello. She drives to New Bern from Onslow County.
I think the two trumpeters came from Greenville.
Cold turkey; these professionals drove to our performance, sat down a few minutes before the 7:30 pm curtain, and played the music handed them by our conductor.
Got trumpets? That meant the tympani player could join in. Six instruments instead of twenty.
Never have so many been so grateful for so few instruments.
There was just enough support to keep the air filled with sound and to add just enough glorious sparkle to make the 2018 Craven Messiah Chorus’s presentation of George F. Handel’s Messiah an experience that will be treasured for a long time to come.
For our regular readers, was this a holiday miracle or maybe a God wink? See last week’s post!
May each of you experience your own holiday miracle!
Blessing to all during this season of miracles for all faiths.
Until the New Year-
Deidre