Billingshurst Choral Society perform Messiah
Billingshurst Choral Society will perform Handel’s Messiah on Saturday, April 9 at 7.30pm in St Gabriel’s Church, RH14 9HQ – their second concert under their new musical director Marcio da Silva.
Tickets are available via www. billingshurstchoralsociety. org.uk
Marcio said: “The first concert I did with them was in November 2021. I started in September and I am really enjoying working with them.
“It’s always traumatic for a choral society to change conductors.
“People get used to the ways that they have been doing things and then someone new comes in and things are different.
“One difference is that I rehearse them in the round and that’s something that they had never done before but I am always trying to navigate the changes with them and help them through the changes.
“I am always trying to explain the reasons behind the decisions that I make with them and they are really responding well.
“The choir has got great potential and I hope that this is the start of a long and really happy journey for us all together.”
The Messiah of course is one of the great landmarks of the choral repertoire: “It has got that great combination of being a piece that people love to sing and also a piece that people love to listen to.
“This will be my fifth Messiah conducting since I’ve been in the UK, in the last ten years.
“I did sing it as a child in Brazil and the first time I did it was a staged version but this is now the fifth time in the UK and this is the first time I’ve decided to change it slightly to a slightly different cut than I would usually do. The piece is a bit long and this will make it much more approachable for the choir. But it’s always a new thing when you revisit a piece like this.
“I did Messiah in December with a choral society in Dorset and this feels different.
“They were quite a lot bigger but I do also enjoy working with the smaller ensemble. This is going to feel quite intimate.
“We have had to change the venue and I do think the new venue will work a lot better. It will suit what we’re doing.
“Tradition is very important with this piece. This is the most famous choral work there is probably but every time you perform it you discover new things.
“I did it in Hastings in 2020 after the first lockdown and it’s always interesting when you hear the singers saying ‘I have sung this so many times but it’s such important piece and it is always so special.’
“The music is unique if you look at other works by Handel, but it is good because it is not impossible to sing. I did Brahms Requiem last weekend which was amazing but it is so hard. With Messiah the choir can really enjoy it as well as manage it.
“But I do think for the choir it’s a question of stamina. It is about being able to keep the pace going.
“From my personal point of view the challenge with choral societies is to focus them on the detail and on the work that you have done with them and not simply let them just to sing Messiah.
“Everyone will have sung it before and you want them not to be thinking about those performances.
“You want them to be focusing on this performance and approaching it on this particular occasion and keeping it new. I am very much looking forward to it.”