Bethany College will present its 126^th performance of Handel’s “Messiah” as part of the 2007 Messiah Festival March 29-April 8.

            Performances of “Messiah” are Palm and Easter Sundays, April 1 and 8, at 3 p.m. in Presser Hall.

            Also part of the festival is the performance of Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” on Good Friday, April 6, at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets to “Messiah” are $20, $14 and $9; tickets for “St. Matthew Passion” are $12, $9 and $5. They may be purchased by calling 1-800-585-3737 or online at www.starticketsplus.com. They may be purchased in person at Presser Hall box office, open 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Monday through Friday or at the Stiefel Theatre box office in Salina, open noon – 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

“Messiah” was composed by George Frideric Handel in 1741 and is based on selections from the New and Old Testaments. It became a favorite work performed at Christmas and Easter late in Handel’s life.

The “Messiah” was first performed at Bethany College in 1881 and continues to be performed each year by the Bethany Oratorio Society, a combination of Bethany College, Lindsborg and regional singers and instrumentalists.

“St. Matthew Passion” was written by J. S. Bach in the 1720s and is the retelling of Christ’s crucifixion in music. It was thought to have been performed for the first time in 1727 and thereafter for several years, but dropped out of sight until it was revived in 1829 by Felix Mendelssohn.

It has been performed annually at Bethany College since 1925.

Daniel Mahran, associate professor of music, conducts “Messiah,” and “St. Matthew Passion.” Soloists for both works are Todd Teske, tenor; Peter Tuff, baritone; Deborah Guscott, mezzo soprano; and Alison Greene, soprano. Lane Johnson, baritone, also will perform in “St. Matthew Passion.”

            Other performances in the festival are a Bethany Symphonic Band concert, a recital by the Messiah soloists, a music department honors student recital and the play “Haunted by God: The Life of Dorothy Day.”

The Bethany Symphonic Band will perform on Monday, April 2, at 7:30 p.m. in Presser Hall under the direction of Doug Talbott, associate professor of music.  

Works on the program include “Symphonia Glorioso” by David Holsinger; “Sing My Tongue, Alleluia” by John Zdechlik; “Were You There?” by John Lynch; “Gettysburg: The Third Day” by Jay Dawson; “The Witch and the Saint” by Steve Reineke; and “A Grand Grand Overture” by Malcolm Arnold.

 Guest conductor, Professor Emeritus David Higbee, will conduct “My Jesus! Oh, What Anquish” by J. S. Bach.

 Band member Jordan Smith of Lindsborg will perform an organ solo titled “Prelude, Fugue and Chaconne” by Buxtehude.

The Messiah soloists’ recital will be on Tuesday, April 3, at 7:30 p.m. in Presser and will feature baritone Peter Tuff singing selections from “Schwanengesang” by Franz Schubert; tenor Todd Teske singing selections from “Dichterliebe” by Robert Schumann; mezzo soprano Deborah Guscott, singing “Vier ernste Gesänge” by Johannes Brahms; and soprano Alison Greene singing songs by Gaetano Donizetti.

Dan Masterson, associate professor of music, and Melody Steed, assistant professor of music, will accompany the soloists.

The Music Department Honors Student Recital, a traditional part of the Messiah Festival, will be on Thursday, April 5, at 3:15 p.m. in Presser Hall. It will showcase the best music students at Bethany College, as selected by the music department faculty.

“Haunted by God: The Life of Dorothy Day” is a one-woman play about Dorothy Day, the co-founder in 1933 of the Catholic Worker movement, by Lisa Wagner of the Still Point Theatre Collective in Chicago. Wagner will be at Bethany for a four-day residency. The production depicts how Day’s faith led her to care for the poor, at great personal expense.

The production is in Burnett Center. Admission is $3 and tickets may be purchased at the door.

Two exhibits are a part of the Messiah Festival. The Sandzén Memorial Gallery will host the 109^th Annual Midwest Art Exhibition April 3 – May 28.

            The Messiah Student Art Exhibit will be March 29 - April 10 in the Mingenback Art Center Gallery. It is a juried show of works by Bethany students. Adjudicators are Brett Reif, assistant professor foundations at the Kansas City Art Institute, and Jessie Fisher, instructor of painting and drawing at the Kansas City Art Institute.

Cash awards and prizes will be given.

            The artists reception will be Sunday, April 1, from 1-3 p.m., with the awards ceremony at 1:30 p.m.

            All Messiah Festival events are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.