A
GREAT CHICAGO TRADITION
Celebrating its 34th annual performance in 2009, the Bank of America Do-It-Yourself
Messiah moves to an exciting new venue: the Harris Theater for
Music and Dance in Millenium Park. Performances will take place on Monday,
December 21 and Tuesday, December 22 at 7:00 p.m.
The music of Handel comes to life in Chicago every Christmas with his
magnificent Messiah performed by an audience of thousands, featuring
world-class soloists and a full orchestra of local amateur musicians.
Al Booth was living and working in England in 1973 when he and his wife
attended a Christmas sing-along performance of Messiah at a parish
church in Kent. “Walking out of that church I felt a kind of hopefulness
and camaraderie I had seldom witnessed. And I vowed that when I returned
to the States, I would try to bring the people of Chicago the same kind
of experience.” Through the generosity of LaSalle Bank, he realized
that dream, and since the Do-it-Yourself Messiah in 1976, we
have all benefited from his vision. Though Al passed away in 2007, his
dream lives on in these performances, now made possible through the generosity
of Bank of America.
When Messiah was premiered in Dublin in April 1742, the crowd
was expected to be so large that the ladies were asked to attend sans
hoops in their skirts and gentlemen sans swords. We expect the
same consideration from the large audiences at this year’s performance
of this great Chicago holiday tradition.
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