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Artscene Quest f for friendship f dh 39 · Friday, December 16, 2011 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com Creating a Messiah tradition By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF A year after selling out the venue with a performance of George Frideric Handel's Messiah, the Oakville Ensemble is presenting the piece in a pair of concerts again. This is also the third year in a row the professional choir and orchestra is performing the Baroque piece of music just before Christmas with the hope to make it a yearly tradition in Oakville. "It's a tradition in a lot of cities," said artistic director Stéphane Potvin. "It's become a tradition for a number of years. When we did it three years ago, nobody else was doing it in Oakville and the response was very positive. So we just decided to make it a yearly event." This year's performances will take place Saturday, Dec. 17 and Sunday, Dec. 18. The Saturday show is strictly a performance piece, whereas people are invited to bring their musical scores of Messiah to the Sunday concert and sing along. "We found that different people want different things. There are people who just want to go and experience the work, listen to it and enjoy it, and there are people who either sing in other choirs or they sang it years ago and they just want a chance to sing it again. There are people who just like singing," Potvin said. "It's really a different experience but it's a lot of fun." The conductor admits there are other places people can go to at this time of year to hear Messiah. However, he said a performance by a small group such as the ensemble (16 vocalists, nine instrumentalists) will sound different from the others. "We're a chamber group. In performance, that gives us a flexibility in terms of finesse of detail . . . We can be punchy, which is easier for us to do than for a large group," he said. The oratorio has three distinct parts, Potvin said. The first part is about Christmas and Advent, the second is about the period of suffering in Christ's time, the humiliation during the Stations of the Cross, and the third part is about the resurrection and the beginning of a new era. "It's very powerful," he said. "What I like about Messiah is that you can look at it in two ways. You can look at it with a religious and faith perspective. But, you can also look at it as a human story. That's what I take most out of it." Comparing it to people's daily lives, he said there are both happy times and difficult moments as well as the resolution, which is reflected in Messiah. "It's really, to me, about human life," Potvin said. As Messiah is a complete story, Potvin said the Saturday concert will be non-stop in an effort to tell the story without breaks. "People who have attended our concerts really feel that energy, that connection through the piece," he said. "It's not a collection of little, single movements. It's really one huge story, one intense story." The Saturday show takes place at St. John's United Church, 262 Randall St., beginning at 7:30 p.m. The Sunday concert is at the Mary Mother of God Catholic Church, 2745 North Ridge Trail, starting at 3 p.m. People are invited to bring non-perishable food items to support the Salvation Army of Oakville. Advance tickets cost $25 for general admission, $15 for seniors and students or $50 for a family. Tickets at the door cost $35 for general admission, $25 for seniors, $15 for students or $70 for a family. For more information, visit www.oakville-ensemble.ca. Dominik Kurek can be reached at dkurek@ oakvillebeaver.com or can be followed on Twitter at @DominikKurek. MICHAEL IVANIN / OAKVILLE BEAVER ON STAGE: Grade 10 T.A. Blakelock High School drama students are performing a class-written play called The Quest for Friendship in area grade schools before the holidays. Pictured above are: clockwise Bailey Card, in front of green bin, Jaclynn Otten, Carmen White, Alison Daly, Shannon Friday, Mackenzie Wade and Spencer Copping. Below are: Emily Wang, left, and Saya Holden.