Camarata Music Company Chorale and Orchestra will perform Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” on May 5 at Chungdong First Methodist Church

They will be joined by soloists soprano Han Myung-sung, alto Allison Pozdol, tenor Ryu Seung-gak, bass Sung Seung-wook, with soprano Rachel Tibai and boy soprano Choi Jae-won.

“Elijah” tells the story of the prophet from 1 Kings and 2 Kings in the Old Testament, in which God sends Elijah to turn the hearts of the people back toward Him. 

CMC said that the drama of the story and the quality of the music had made “Elijah.” one of the most popular oratorios.

“It’s a piece I’m very excited about doing,” said conductor Ryan Goessl. “The choir is absolutely loving it. It’s the most demanding thing we’ve ever done, but they’re absolutely enjoying it.”

Goessl said it was one of his favorite pieces of music.

“It’s a 19th century work so it’s got a lot of dramatization to it,” he said. “Also Mendelssohn was inspired by Bach and Handel, which are both Baroque composers, and he composed his music with influence of Bach and Handel with some Baroque-style influences, which I personally love.

“It’s a great way to do a dramatic piece with some Baroque flair to it.”

Goessl said the use of English would make this different from other performances of Elijah in Korea.

“Almost all over the world it’s done in English but in Korea they always do it in German because Mendelssohn was German,” said Goessl. “However Mendelssohn composed it in both the English and German languages.”

Goessl said that the additional factor of the narrative made the work more complex to perform.

“It’s also challenging to have a big choral sound with amateur singers but also having healthy vocal technique.”

Goessl said that this challenging aspect was one of the reasons the choir was enjoying rehearsals so much.

“I think it’s because I’m challenging the choir. I also think it’s because they’re finding that when they sing very well, it’s more rewarding to them.

“Of course it helps that this is one of the most famous big choral works that was ever written.”

Camarata Music Company is a non-profit organization that provides opportunities to musicians of multiple nationalities residing in Korea.

A portion of concert proceeds go toward establishing a music program in orphanages and low-income areas, and establishing a performing arts program for multicultural children.

The performance of “Elijah” ― which CMC has reduced slightly, to about 2 hours ― will be the company’s 10th production in its regular concert series.

The show starts at 7:30pm with doors open about an hour beforehand. Tickets are 15,000 won in advance 25,000 won at the door, and can be reserved by wiring the money to “Camarata Music Company” at Shinhan Bank, account number 140-008-898378, and sending an e-mail with your name, the amount transferred and number of tickets wanted to tickets@camaratamusic.com.

By Paul Kerry (paulkerry@heraldcorp.com)