MUSIC

The Houston Symphony presents Handel's Messiah in Candlelight.  Friday-Sunday, December 18-20. Experience Handel's Messiah as audiences would have in the 1700s. Feed your soul through this transcendent experience of text and music.

The Houston Symphony orchestra and chorus will close out their December concerts with the ever popular music, Handel’s Messiah, on December 18, 19, and 20. This concert has been an annual Houston Symphony tradition for over six decades, and, this season, there will be an extra element to the experience. Invoking the ambience of a concert during the 1700s, audiences will hear this majestic piece of music with a new lighting scheme: candlelight. British conductor Christopher Warren-Green will lead the concert along with vocalists Kendra Colton, Charlotte Daw Paulsen, Michael Slattery, and Douglas Williams.

Featuring:
Christopher Warren-Green, conductor
Kendra Colton, soprano
Charlotte Daw Paulsen, mezzo-soprano
Michael Slattery, tenor
Douglas Williams, bass-baritone
Houston Symphony Chorus
Charles Hausmann, director

About Christopher Warren-Green
Christopher Warren-Green has earned a favorable reputation among musicians through his broad knowledge of music, charisma and natural leadership. A true favorite in his native country of England, Warren-Green has conducted with London’s leading orchestras and holds a special relationship with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and BBC Concert Orchestra. Warren-Green is even a preferred choice of Great Britain’s Royal Family. In 1980, he conducted the first modern musical performance in Buckingham Palace and has since conducted at various other celebrations including HRH the Prince of Wales’ marriage and 60th birthday celebration, and Her Majesty the Queen’s 80th birthday. He currently holds the position of Music Director of the London Chamber Orchestra and has been Principal Conductor of the Camerata Resident Orchestra of the Megaron Athens since 2004. He will take the post of Music Director with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra in the 2010 – 2011 season. In summer 2008, he was featured on BBC2’s high profile series entitled Maestro in which he coached a celebrity student in conducting technique. He holds recordings with BMG, Philips, Virgin, Chandos and Deutsche Grammophon, and most recently recorded a disc with the London Chamber Orchestra and Han-Na Chang on the EMI label.

About Kendra Colton
American soprano Kendra Colton’s specialty lies in the Baroque and classical repertoire. She has sung nearly all of the Passions, Masses and Cantatas of Bach; Handel oratorios; Mozart concert arias and masses; Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Mass in C, and Symphony No. 9; and Haydn’s masses and oratorios. She performs regularly with orchestras that specialize in this repertoire including the Handel & Haydn Society, Washington Bach Consort, Bach Choir of Bethlehem, and many others. A proponent of new music, Miss Colton co-commissioned Uncertainty is Beautiful, an acclaimed work for soprano and orchestra by Andy Vores. Miss Colton can be heard on two solo CDs—Le Charme, a collection of French art songs, and He Brought Me Roses, 25 lieder by Joseph Marx. She has also recorded the St. John Passion and Cantata BWV 133 for Koch International Records with Emmanuel Music where she performs regularly in recitals, oratorios and their weekly cantata series.

About Charlotte Daw Paulsen
Ever since her Carnegie Hall debut in Mozart’s Requiem, Charlotte Daw Paulsen has become a recognized talent among vocalists. Singing for both opera and in concerts, her unique voice has earned her notable performances all around the country. Paulsen is also often called upon to perform contemporary works of unusual depth: with I Cantori she performed the New York premiere of Et la vie l’emporte by Frank Martin; Women of Valor based on Proverbs 31 by Andrea Clearfield with Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra; and at Carnegie Hall The Armed Man a Mass for Peace by Carl Jenkins. She was awarded 1st place in the Liederkranz Foundation Awards, Wagnerian Voice division and represented the United States at the International Opera Studio in Zurich. She holds degrees from The Peabody Conservatory of Music and Temple University

About Michael Slattery
A graduate of The Julliard School, Michael Slattery is enjoying an ever evolving international career. His career highlights include the New York Philharmonic, Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival, the French National Orchestra in Paris, the Orchestra of St. Luke's at Carnegie Hall, and numerous period music ensembles. His prize-winning recordings include Mozart's Bastien und Bastienne, Scarlatti's Cecilian Vespers, Handel's Atalanta, Saul, Samson and Solomon, and Bernstein's Candide. He received critical acclaim from Gramophone magazine and Five Star ratings from BBC Music magazine and ClassicFM for his solo discs The Irish Heart, and Secret and Divine Signs.

About Douglas Williams
Though currently serving as Artist-in-Residence with the Yale Baroque Opera Project, Douglas Williams’ career has been successful on both the opera and concert stage. He has performed with the Biava String Quartet, the Carmel Bach Festival Orchestra, the Clarion Society of New York, Emmanuel Music, the Yale Schola Cantorum, and the Boston Early Music Festival. His education is through the New England Conservatory, Yale School of Music, and Yale Institute of Sacred Music, where he was awarded the Hugh Porter prize for his creative ambition in music. He also trained as an actor with Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts. He can be heard on the recording of Lully’s Psyché, with the Boston Early Music Festival, nominated for a GRAMMY® Award for best opera recording in 2008.

About the Houston Symphony Chorus
Comprised of volunteer musicians committed to singing at the highest artistic level, the Houston Symphony chorus is the official choral unit of the Houston Symphony and has performed on tour in Mexico and Europe. To join the Chorus, call 713-444-9221 or e-mail chorus@sbcglobal.net.   

PIctured:  Members of the Houston Symphony Chorus.