All are invited to the 15th Annual Tom McAlexander Community SingAlong Messiah at 4 p.m. this Saturday at the Church of the Holy Cross, 440 W. Lanikaula St. in Hilo. It is a free event.
Whether you’re an experienced singer or just enjoy belting out a tune, everyone is welcomed to participate.
Music scores will be available to borrow, so the audience can sing along with the choruses. Solo arias and recitatives will be sung by various members of the Hilo community. It’s also OK to just come and listen.
Instead of hiring four professional soloists who sing all the solo parts, in the spirit of community engagement, the organizers have now broken up the program into 11 different volunteer solo opportunities. The group invited the community to nominate themselves, or friends, and from that have come up with a diverse list of singers.
Our soloists include both seasoned performers and novices, scientists, engineers and teachers.
This year’s soloists are Christy Lassiter, Len Miyazono, Phil Russell, Dick Hershberger, James Hoover, Laural Bragg, Ken Hirano, Tom Mirenda, Natalia Deligne, Gina Sidlow and Alicia Merlady Bonnet.
Additional information about our soloists can be found at the website www.hilosingalong.com .
The music will be conducted by Doug Albertson, with Walter Greenwood on organ and Rick Mazurowski on piano.
The Hilo SingAlong Messiah was founded by McAlexander, who shepherded it through 13 seasons as organizer and conductor, until COVID-19 forced a pause. He devoted 25 years to the Hilo choral community as a singer, conductor and chorus leader.
The event was renamed in his honor when it restarted in 2023 under the co-sponsorship of the Hilo Community Chorus, the Big Island Singers and the Church of the Holy Cross. McAlexander was able to attend and sing at the 2023 event, but sadly passed away in 2024. This will be the first Hilo Sing-Along Messiah without McAlexander, and this year’s event will begin with a short celebration of his life and a group singalong of the Christmas classic, “Gesu Bambino.”
A Christmas cookie reception following the event will be provided by Church of the Holy Cross.
Handel’s “Messiah” is considered the longest continually performed piece of western classical music, having been performed consistently since its debut in 1742 in Dublin, Ireland.
It is typically the first classical choral piece a young singer might perform in high school, and has become a touchstone for choral singers throughout the world, who often will sing it repeatedly throughout life.
Messiah SingAlong events are found around the world in the Christmas season, creating a worldwide sense of connection for choral singers. For this event, the performers will sing Messiah Part 1 (Christmas Portions), plus the world-famous Hallelujah Chorus as the grand finale.