Area singers and orchestral musicians will present Felix Mendelssohn's Sacred Oratorio Elijah on Sunday afternoon at the First Congregational Church.
Soloists joining the church's Festival Chorus and Festival Orchestra during the final presentation of this season's Dick Johnson Concert Series will be Jeffrey Norris, Barbara Hoig, Nancy Moyes, Nichol Larimer, John Bragle and Allison Larimer. The musicians will perform Mendelssohn's 1846 composition, which tells the story of the Biblical prophet Elijah, under the direction of Mel Larimer.
Larimer, director of music emeritus at the church, terms Elijah "inspirational" and chose it for its positive tone after a few years of requiems.
"We've done several requiems in a row, mainly because of hurricanes and disasters and those kinds of things," he said of previous fundraising benefits for disaster relief. "Mendelssohn is always uplifting, it's just wonderful music."
Members of Traverse City West High School's Choral-Aires ensemble will sing "For He Shall Give His Angels Charge Over Thee." These 16 singers will also join the entire chorus throughout the program, enabling them to work with veteran singers from around the region on a challenging classic.
"A lot of the people who are in it are very talented, they have good voices and a lot of them have sung this score before — we get a lot of experience from them," said Jakob Stinson, a senior at West High School. "It's fun. It's hard learning because a lot of the stuff is really fast, hard music but we're learning it."
The Festival Chorus has been rehearsing the piece since February during both Sunday afternoons and during shorter Wednesday evening rehearsals.
Guest singers such as Steve and Christine Hubert worked these times in around singing commitments at their home church, Bethlehem Lutheran in the Huberts' case. This is the first time the couple has sung with the Festival Choir and Hubert estimates that six members of his church's choir are involved in Elijah.
"It's a tough piece, it really is, but a wonderful piece," said Hubert, noting that his wife last sang with Larimer in 1962-63: her senior year at Traverse City Senior High and Larimer's first year as the school's music director. "I've not ever done it, I've done many other oratorios."
Sunday afternoon at the church, Larimer led the teens and 30 or so adult singers through a lengthy rehearsal. Dividing into small groups for the first hour, they then gathered in the sanctuary to work together through the nearly 200-page score.
Larimer, who directed Elijah at the church six years ago, coached and guided the singers in his characteristic gentlemanly way.
"You're delightfully behind the beat," he said at one point.
Soloist Nancy Moyes and her husband, David, have been singing with Larimer and the First Congregational Church and Festival choirs since they moved to the area four years ago. The retired junior high school choral teacher terms the area "musical Heaven" because of the rich opportunities available for singers.
"Neither of us have done Elijah before and we're just loving the music, it's really very lush and rich music, very melodic," she said.
Moyes also praised Larimer for his direction and interpretation as conductor of Elijah as well as the other works she has performed with him.
"He's a wonderful director, he's the best," she added. "He's just a fabulous musician and he is so sensitive to the music — bringing out the text and the beauty of the music and the phrasing and everything!"
The Sacred Oratorio Elijah by Felix Mendelssohn will be presented on Sunday, May 7, at 4 p.m at the First Congregational Church, 6105 Center Road. A free will offering will be accepted. For more information, call the church at 947-6698.