Press Release

NAVAL ACADEMY ANNOUNCES 66th ANNUAL HANDEL’S MESSIAH CONCERT

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club will perform the 66th annual Handel’s Messiah choral concert with the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra and four soloists from the Metropolitan Opera Company, Saturday, Dec. 1 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 2 at 3 p.m. in the Academy’s Main Chapel. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased by phone at 410-293-TIXS (8497) or online.

Metropolitan Opera Company soprano, Karen Clift, was twice a resident of the Art Song Academy at the Banff Centre for the Arts, and has toured throughout the country singing solo and chamber recitals. Her recordings, both nominated for Grammy Awards, are Handel’s Messiah and Monteverdi’s Vespers 1610, performed with The Boston Baroque on the Telarc Label.

English alto Robin Blaze is a well-established soloist and works with most of the distinguished conductors in the early music field of Purcell, Bach, and Handel. He regularly appears with the Academy of Ancient Music, Bach Collegium Japan, The King’s Consort, and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, among others.

Tenor Gregory Kunde is regarded as one of the most elegant and accomplished bel canto singers on the opera stage today, and has earned widespread acclaim for his performances of the most demanding tenor roles of the French and Italian bel canto operas.

Bass Dean Peterson is a regular guest of the leading opera houses of the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Opera Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall and the Washington Concert Opera, among many others. He has appeared frequently in Italy at La Scala Milan, and many other international opera houses.

The Naval Academy Men’s Glee Club is the most active of the Naval Academy’s musical organizations and has achieved national prominence as one of America’s premier men’s choral ensembles. The Naval Academy Women’s Glee Club has a diverse repertoire and has performed across America and internationally. The combined glee clubs will perform together to present the Messiah, George Frederick Handel’s oratorio of the life and death of Christ, which includes the well-known “Hallelujah Chorus.“

Visitors attending this event may walk through Gate 3 (Maryland Avenue) of the academy and will be required to show valid, government-issued picture identification. Gate 3 will be open to pedestrians until 11 p.m. Vehicles without Department of Defense decals are not permitted on Naval Academy grounds. Authorized vehicles may enter through Gate 1 (King George Street) or Gate 8 (Maryland Route 450). Cars with handicapped license plates or dashboard cards must be issued a pass from Pass and ID at Gate 1 during normal business hours. After hours, a pass may be issued by the shift lieutenant at Gate 8. All bags are subject to search.

For more information about the USNA Music Department and the Men’s and Women’s Glee clubs please visit www.usna.edu/Music/index.html.

For more information about the Naval Academy, visit www.usna.edu or our Facebook page.

USNA