Choral Artists of Sarasota: This is not your mama’s ‘Messiah’

Last year, right around this time, Gloria Musicae performed “Too Hot Too Handel” at the Sarasota Opera House. It’s an updated arrangement of Handel’s “Messiah” that incorporates jazz and gospel rhythms. The house was packed and the audience loved it.

“I’d say that 99.9 percent of the people loved the experience,” said Joseph Holt, the group’s artistic director. “They didn’t know what they were getting themselves into, but they loved the experience.”

He did hear some complaints, though.

“The radical purists complained,” Holt said. “They told me ‘This is not Handel.’ ”

Well, no kidding, radical purists. Gloria Musicae’s publicity material touted the concert as “Not your mama’s ‘Messiah.’ ”

Gloria Musicae, Sarasota’s only professional chorus, changed its name six months ago to Choral Artists of Sarasota. The 40-voice group is bringing back “Too Hot to Handel.” This year it’s going to be at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota.

Moving to the much larger hall necessitated some changes in the production. Forty voices just wasn’t going to be enough to fill the room, so Holt and the Choral Artists of Sarasota enlisted some help from other choruses: the State College of Florida Concert Choir, the Festival Singers of Florida (a group made up mostly of music educators) and the Manatee School for the Arts Chamber Choir. The Van Wezel stage will hold 100 singers, plus orchestral musicians, drummers, electric guitar and bass players, and a Hammond B3 organ player. Back again are soloists from Sarasota’s Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe.

The music, in an arrangement that dates back to the 1990s, consists of the entire “Christmas portion” of Handel’s “Messiah,” only with drastically different rhythms and in a somewhat different order. Some segments from the “Easter portion” of the “Messiah” are also incorporated.

But it’s all Handel, and all the melodies you know are intact and recognizable. They’ve just been re-energized with more contemporary, and often urban, rhythms.

“It will still appeal to those who know the ‘Messiah’ and appreciate that the piece was written 300 years ago,” Holt said.

(And that’s closing in on 400 years; Handel wrote it in 1741.)

The standing-room-only crowd at last year’s staging at the Sarasota Opera House seemed to be about half people who loved classical music and half people who loved jazz and gospel. Both groups seemed to love it — and maybe the classical people came to appreciate jazz, and the urban music crowd understood the appeal of classical music.

Although it’s fairly new to the Sarasota area, “Too Hot Too Handel” is an annual Christmas tradition in a lot of American cities, especially ones with a large African-American community.

“I can see it becoming a tradition here,” Holt said. “Maybe not an every-year tradition, but an every-other year tradition.”

Even though this year’s staging of “Too Hot Too Handel” is a week away, and it’s in a much larger venue than last year, tickets are going fast. People who want to see it should get tickets soon.

“It’s destined to sell out, “ Holt said.

Details: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 10, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. $15-$75. 941-387-4900, choralartistssarasota.org.

This story was originally published December 1, 2017 at 11:04 AM with the headline "Choral Artists of Sarasota: This is not your mama’s ‘Messiah’."