R.I. Philharmonic performing holiday concert Dec. 16

PROVIDENCE – The Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra and Providence Singers will join forces for the perennial favorite holiday concert, Handel’s “Messiah,” featuring the Hallelujah chorus, “For Unto Us a Child Is Born, I Know That My Redeemer Liveth” and other favorites on Saturday, Dec. 16, 7 p.m., at the VETS.

Christine Noel, artistic director of the Providence Singers, will conduct the R.I. Philharmonic Orchestra, Providence Singers and soloists Margot Rood, soprano; Emily Marvosh, alto; Matthew Anderson, tenor; and Nicholas Laroche, bass.

Tickets are $15 to $100, and can be purchased online at tickets.riphil.org or from the R.I. Philharmonic Orchestra Box Office in East Providence in person or by phone at 401-248-7000 (Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (closed Thanksgiving Day and the day following). On concert day, tickets are available at The VETS Box Office from 3 p.m. to showtime. Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. Questions can be emailed to boxoffice@riphil.org.

Two hundred and seventyfive years after its first performance, Handel’s “Messiah” remains the most frequently performed, most beloved work in the choral canon, featuring the Hallelujah chorus, “For Unto Us a Child Is Born, I Know That My Redeemer Liveth” and other favorites. Handel completed the entire composition in only 24 days, and the oratorio has been performed consistently – revised, updated, staged and restored to its “period” form – ever since.

The Providence Singers celebrate the choral art through concerts of the masters and contemporary works, creative collaborations, recordings of American choral treasures, new music commissions and education programs. Collaborators include the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra, the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Kronos Quartet at the First Works Festival, and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project.