Everyone knows that George Frideric Handel wrote the music for Messiah, but not many people know who wrote the libretto. Charles Jennens was the author – a wealthy patron of Handel’s, whose financial support had played a part in the staging of almost every Handel opera and oratorio since 1725. Now, in 1741, Jennens sent him what appeared to be (and what, indeed, was) a “ready-made” libretto for a new oratorio – “a meditation of our Lord as Messiah in Christian thought and belief.” So perfect was the libretto that Handel composed his score without making any significant change in the words. First heard in Dublin in 1742, it was repeated a year later in London (the occasion when King George II is believed to have stood during the Hallelujah Chorus – a custom still preserved at MISH performances). On December 6 (at Drew University Concert Hall) and December 7 (at Presbyterian Church in Morristown) Stephen Sands conducts the Somerset Hills Chorus and the Drew University Choir, with professional soloists. Messiah for Music in the Somerset Hills

Downtown Voices; St. Paul’s Chapel Choir; Trinity Youth Chorus; Stephen Sands and Melissa Attebury, conductors A cherished holiday tradition for congregations around the world, the service of Lessons and Carols tells the Christmas story through readings and musical illuminations.

For the sixth year in a row, legendary tenor Andrea Bocelli will take the stage at Madison Square Garden. The two back-to-back performances will take place on Wednesday, December 18 and Thursday, December 19, 2019. As one of the most recognizable and romantic voices in the world, Andrea Bocelli has been thrilling audiences for over 20 years, and has sold 90 million records worldwide. In 2016, he was nominated for three Latin Grammy Awards including Album of the Year and received a 2017 Grammy Award nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for “Cinema.” Bocelli will perform his unmatched repertoire of soaring arias, famed love songs, and music from his newest release, and Billboard chart-topping record, ‘Si’.” This year, Bocelli’s tour and the Andrea Bocelli Foundation are proud to partner with PLUS1, an innovative platform that aims to drive social change and catalyze cultural momentum toward equity, dignity, and access for all. For every ticket sold, $1 will go to support the “Voices of Haiti” Project, giving children from the most vulnerable areas of Port Au Prince the chance to escape violence and poverty and express their true potential.

For the sixth year in a row, legendary tenor Andrea Bocelli will take the stage at Madison Square Garden. The two back-to-back performances will take place on Wednesday, December 18 and Thursday, December 19, 2019. As one of the most recognizable and romantic voices in the world, Andrea Bocelli has been thrilling audiences for over 20 years, and has sold 90 million records worldwide. In 2016, he was nominated for three Latin Grammy Awards including Album of the Year and received a 2017 Grammy Award nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for “Cinema.” Bocelli will perform his unmatched repertoire of soaring arias, famed love songs, and music from his newest release, and Billboard chart-topping record, ‘Si’.” This year, Bocelli’s tour and the Andrea Bocelli Foundation are proud to partner with PLUS1, an innovative platform that aims to drive social change and catalyze cultural momentum toward equity, dignity, and access for all. For every ticket sold, $1 will go to support the “Voices of Haiti” Project, giving children from the most vulnerable areas of Port Au Prince the chance to escape violence and poverty and express their true potential.

December 20 and 21 at 7:30pm. December 22 at 3pm. Messiah and Trinity have a long history—Trinity presented one of the first performances in North America in 1770, and The Choir of Trinity Wall Street and Trinity Baroque Orchestra are still widely regarded as some of the greatest interpreters of the work. The New York Times described Trinity’s presentation as “perhaps the essential New York ‘Messiah.’ With the church’s choir and the Trinity Baroque Orchestra, Mr. Wachner provides gritty, gutsy, edge-of-the-seat performances.” Ticketed For the full Messiah schedule visit trinitywallstreet.org/messiah

Last time Dashon Burton performed with MISH was in 2012 when he was a soloist in our very first performance of Messiah.  As a permanent memorial of that epic performance, he left behind the YouTube recording of “The trumpet shall sound” – still MISH’s most-viewed video.  He returns to the Somerset Hills on Saturday, January 4 as a front-rank international singer.  His distinctive bass-baritone voice, described by the Wall Street Journal as an “enormous, thrilling voice seemingly capable …… raising the dead”, is in demand in opera houses and concert halls everywhere.  His recordings include Songs of Struggle and Redemption: We Shall Overcome, described by the New York Times as “profoundly moving ….. a beautiful and loveable disc”.  He returns to MISH immediately following his Christmas performances of Messiah with the New York Philharmonic.

Downtown Voices; NOVUS NY; Stephen Sands, conductor Brahms – Geistliches Lied Beethoven – Mass in C In celebration of Beethoven’s 250th birthday, Downtown Voices and NOVUS NY perform his tranquil yet dramatic Mass in C in addition to Brahms’ earliest accompanied choral works, Geistliches Lied.

Executive Director and Founding Tenor of Antioch   Antioch teams up with student composers and the Princeton University Chamber Singers to present a concert at Richardson Auditorium.

Kinnara is widely recognized as one of the nation’s most talented vocal ensembles.  Directed by J.D Burnett of the University of Georgia (formerly conductor of the New Jersey Youth Chorus and the Masterworks Chorus of New Jersey), Kinnara brings together many of the finest young professional singers in the South and the East.  On Saturday, March 21, making their first visit to the Somerset Hills, they will present a program of music that either inspired Bach or was inspired by Bach – music by Monteverdi, Schutz, J.S. Bach himself, Brahms and Distler …. amongst others.

Stephen Sands and Donald Dumpson team up with their choirs from NYC and Philadelphia for a concert in each city celebrating the diversity of song. Details TBA