FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 15, 2015
CONTACT:
Rebecca Bailey, Publicity Coordinator/Writer
Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College
rebecca.a.bailey@dartmouth.edu
603.646.3991
Town-gown chorus sings its signature work, Messiah, November 17
Photos (from top): Members of Handel Society of Dartmouth College; photo by Rob Strong; soloists (L-R)
Margot Rood, Ryland Angel, Gene Stenger and Paul Max Tipton.
HANOVER, NH—The Handel Society of Dartmouth College, America’s oldest town-gown choral society,
returns to its namesake’s best known work, Messiah, with a line-up of guest soloists from among the finest
young classical vocalists today. The concert takes place on Tues, Nov 17, 7 pm, in Spaulding Auditorium,
Hopkins Center for the Arts.
The soloists include Grammy-winning British countertenor Rylant Angel, who previously performed at the Hop
in April 2013 the title role of the new opera, Tesla in New York.
A radiant masterpiece, unrivaled in the
oratorio literature, Messiah has grown
steadily in popularity since it was first
performed in Dublin in 1742, becoming a
beloved Christmas tradition. With text
from both the Old and New Testaments,
and embodying Handel’s own experience
of divine inspiration while writing it,
Messiah is epic in proportion. Towering
and tender, overpowering and personal,
the work reinforced Handel’s already
prodigious stature and sealed his
immortality.
Formed 208 years ago to perform the
works of great Baroque masters such as Handel, the Handel Society now performs an exhilarating range of
choral and choral-orchestral music, from long-treasured masterworks to stunning contemporary pieces and
new commissions. Messiah, however, remains a signature work that the ensemble performs regularly, the
previous time in 2011. The ensemble will perform the complete work, Part 1-3, with 53 individual pieces for
chorus, soloists and orchestra.
Joining the 100-member chorus of Upper Valley community members and Dartmouth faculty, staff and
students are Margot Rood, soprano, hailed for her “luminosity and grace” by The New York Times; Ryland
Angel, countertenor, of whose voice Opera magazine wrote, “Cradle one’s self in this delicious sound to
imagine how the songs of the heavenly cherubs expressed similar enchantments”;
Gene Stenger, tenor, a Handel oratorio specialist who has been praised by the Cleveland Plain Dealer for his
voice’s “sweet vibrancy”; and Paul Max Tipton, bass (“darkly lustrous voice”—Miami Herald).
Rood performs a wide range of repertoire across American stages but is especially known for Baroque music.
A frequent soloist with Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society as well as like choruses around the country, she
has also sung with the all-star classical vocal ensemble Seraphic Fire and was named a 2015-16 Lorraine Hunt
Lieberson Fellow at Boston’s Emmanuel Music, where she is often featured in its nationally known Bach
cantata series.
Angel has built an international reputation on both the opera and concert stage, in repertoire ranging from
the Baroque to new operatic commissions at major opera houses, concert halls and festivals throughout
Europe and the US. Recent concert appearances include Carmina Burana at New York’s Lincoln Center and
London’s Southbank Centre and The Messiah with the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston, Singapore
Symphony Orchestra and Musica Sacra at Carnegie Hall.
A specialist in the music of Bach and Handel, the Colorado-based Stenger has been a featured soloists with
American Bach Soloists Academy; the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart under legendary Baroque
conductor Helmuth Rilling, and many ensembles in his home state. Tipton’s repertoire ranges from Baroque
to contemporary, with his interpretations of the Bach Passions being acclaimed in particular for their strength
and sensitivity. Recent appearances include St. Luke’s in New York City, the New York Philharmonic’s first-ever
Bach Festival and Handel’s Dettingen Te Deum at Carnegie Hall.
Founded in 1807 on the then isolated rural campus of Dartmouth, the Handel Society has long since grown
beyond its original Baroque repertoire and now performs a wide selection of choral-orchestral masterworks
for large ensemble. In recent years, major works included Bach's Matthäus Passion, Messe in h-moll, Johannes
Passion, and Weihnachts Oratorium; Verdi’s Requiem; Haydn’s Schöpfungsmesse and Theresienmesse;
Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem; Belioz’s L’Enfance du Christ and Roméo et Juliette; Mendelssohn’s Elijah;
Händel’s Messiah; Arvo Pärt’s Te Deum; John Adams’s Harmonium; Franz Schubert’s Mass in E-flat Major,
Vaughn Williams’s Dona Nobis Pacem and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms.
The group performs two concerts a year in the Hop’s Spaulding Auditorium and also has made numerous
international concert tours, including a 10-concert tour of Europe in 2009 to commemorate the 250th
anniversary of Handel’s death.
RELEVANT LINKS
https://hop.dartmouth.edu/Online/fall15handel
http://www.margotrood.com/
http://www.rylandangel.com/
http://www.genestenger.com/
http://paulmaxtipton.com/bio.html
Download high-resolution photos:
https://hop.dartmouth.edu/Online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScont
ent::loadArticle::article_id=A14ACB33-679C-469F-9E075A08469894E7&sessionlanguage=&SessionSecurity::linkName=
CALENDAR LISTING:
Handel’s Messiah by Handel Society of Dartmouth College
The 100-member Handel Society of Dartmouth College returns to its namesake’s best known work, Messiah, with a full
orchestra and guest soloists from among the finest young classical vocalists today: soprano Margot Rood, countertenor
Ryland Angel, tenor Gene Stenger and Bass Paul Max Tipton. Robert Duff, director.
Tuesday, November 17, 7 pm
Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Hanover NH
Ticket price
Information: hop.dartmouth.edu or 603.646.2422
* * *
Founded in 1962, the Hopkins Center for the Arts is a multi-disciplinary academic, visual and performing
arts center dedicated to uncovering insights, igniting passions, and nurturing talents to help Dartmouth and
the surrounding Upper Valley community engage imaginatively and contribute creatively to our world. Each
year the Hop presents more than 300 live events and films by visiting artists as well as Dartmouth students
and the Dartmouth community, and reaches more than 22,000 Upper Valley residents and students with
outreach and arts education programs. After a celebratory 50th-anniversary season in 2012-13, the Hop
enters its second half-century with renewed passion for mentoring young artists, supporting the
development of new work, and providing a laboratory for participation and experimentation in the arts.