Sing Messiah! by Braddell Heights Symphony Orchestra

We attended this concert on 22 Dec 2013, motivated by the title, of course.  There are few musical works in the history of mankind that is as iconic as the Hallelujah Chorus from George Frideric Handel's Messiah.  The Baroque era Handel wrote this majestic oratorio Messiah in 1741 which awed millions.  Messiah was originally written as an Easter offering but somehow it became a Christmas favourite over time. 

I must say it was a very courageous attempt of a community orchestra to perform this.  I believe its music director, Adrian Tan, was all out to prove that Braddell Heights Symphony Orchestra (BHSO) is no ordinary community orchestra.

Adrian has a flair in connecting with people (audience), so I was not surprise that the BHSO even invited the audience to join in the singing.  For those who were really keen to take part in singing, they were invited to join in the rehearsal on 14 Dec 13 on site!

& before the actual performance, we obediently did what were recommended to us.


The BHSO roped in Messiah Singers, Celebration Chorus & 4 other soloists to perform this Sing Messiah!. The Messiah Singers was a volunteer choir formed through an open call from the Singaporean public as part of this project under the direction of Dr. Greg Peterson.  The Celebration Chorus is a group of local professional musicians led by its Music Director, Tom Anderson.  The 4 soloists were: Ee-Ping, Rebecca Chellappah, Reuben Lai & William Lim.

There were many, like us, who brought along tablets with downloaded music scores trying to follow along.  Songs that were familiar we tried to sing along, songs that were unfamiliar we listened attentively.  The hype was of course when all stood up to sing the chorus 'Hallelujah'.

The 1.5 hour concert ended with some carols sing-along which I thought was uplifting.  The Christmas spirit filled the entire concert hall.  Bravo to Adrian & BHSO!  It was truly an enjoyable night!