Handel: Messiah

Owen Burdick, guest conductor

March 16, 2025, 4:00 at Christ the King in Stone Ridge, New York

Messiah is a masterpiece worth hearing—and a story worth retelling—every year.

It has been performed by choirs of twelve, and by choirs of hundreds—even thousands—if you count the ever-popular Messiah sing-alongs performed by the public each Christmas. Yet, perhaps no other work has had as many unfounded myths and musical traditions associated with it.

For example, Messiah was never originally a “Christmas” piece at all and was not even considered “church music.” The 36 performances conducted or supervised by Handel all took place in March, April, or May (during Lent or Easter)—and never in a church! And yet, Messiah has become a beloved (and some might argue, a de rigueur fixture) of the Christmas Season!

Very few perform Messiah on period instruments with such small forces as we propose—as Handel intended it to be performed and heard. The usual holiday performances are behemoth affairs involving huge choruses and orchestras or, typically, they’re sing-a-longs. While fun for the audience, these performances have little or nothing to do with the masterpiece which Handel composed. They convey nothing of the intricacy and subtlety behind Handel’s chef d’oeuvre—nor can they possibly impart and communicate its considerable spiritual power.

Messiah is a work with which Hudson Baroque’s beloved guest conductor, Owen Burdick, has had a long association and familiarity, having conducted the oratorio from memory over forty times during his seventeen-year tenure as Organist and Director of Music at Trinity Church, Wall Street.

In December of 2005, Bernard Holland of The New York Times wrote, “My deepest respect goes to Dr. Burdick, both for the carefully prepared agreements on phrasing and dynamics and for the utter sincerity with which they were realized…all the Messiah outings to come in the next two weeks will have to work hard to match this one.”

Steve Smith of The New York Times has described Trinity Church’s annual performance of Messiah under Owen Burdick’s direction as “the best in New York,” and “the one to watch!” Time Out New York said it’s “by far the finest performance in this city.”

Dr. Burdick’s study of Charles Jennens’ libretto leads him to the conclusion that Messiah was intended to be performed very much like an opera, with arias and choruses divided and grouped into “scenes” and “acts.” Performed in this way, Messiah takes only two hours and 15 minutes—with a single 15-minute intermission, for a total time of only two hours and 30 minutes!

Performances involving hundreds of singers and instrumentalists can’t possibly attain the excitement, speed, and precision of Hudson Baroque’s smaller professional forces. This evening promises to be an event where world-class performances become the stuff of legend in a future Stone Ridge, NY.

Admission is free, but tickets are required and available on a first-come basis, so please reserve your seat today.