Easter Messiah
February 21, 2009 by Rob Westwood-Payne
Filed under Events, News
Handel's Messiah
During the Christmas break, Songster Leader Rob Westwood-Payne was listening to Handel’s oratorio, Messiah. It prompted him to consider asking the Songsters and other singers from the local community around Cradley Heath to consider performing the Easter part of the oratorio during Holy Week 2009.
They eagerly accepted the challenge and on Thursday 15 January around fifty singers began the huge task of learning thirteen of the oratorio’s choruses, including well-known ones such as Behold the Lamb of God, All We Like Sheep Have Gone Astray, Hallelujah, Worthy is the Lamb and Amen and some of the less-performed ones including Let All the Angels of God, Their Sound is Gone Out, Since by Man Came Death and But Thanks be to God.
Now the choir have been meeting for around five weeks and are really getting into them! Thanks must go to Susan Dymond of The Salvation Army at Dudley who is providing accompaniment, and our own Margaret Lawrence for standing in when Su is unavailable.
We are currently finalising the details of the soloists who will be providing the Recitatives and Airs for our performances.
It is hoped the performances will take place on Tuesday 7 April 2009 and Saturday 18 April 2009 at 7.30pm. More details, including the venues for these performances, will follow shortly.
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Rob Westwood-Payne grew up in The Salvation Army at Norwich Citadel. He left Norwich to study at the University of Warwick and became fully involved in the music centre there culminating in his conducting Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue to a full house in Symphony Hall in Birmingham. He also transferred to The Salvation Army at Coventry City, where he became Songster Leader at the age of 21. He was made Songster Leader at Cradley Heath in April 1998 shortly before marrying Gail in the following October. He is a former leader of the West Midlands Divisional Youth Chorus and is currently Programme Director at the West Midlands Divisional Summer School for The Salvation Army. He is an Associate Solicitor in the Licensing Team of a national practice based in the south west.