Beloved holiday performance of Handel's 'Messiah' returns Dec. 7 and 8

A beloved Hyde Park tradition returns Friday, Dec. 7 and Saturday, Dec. 8, as Rockefeller Chapel prepares for its holiday performance of the Messiah.

George Friedric Handel’s classic 1741 oratorio, which reflects on the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus, has been performed annually at the chapel since 1930.

For this year’s performance, undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, staff, and singers from the University and Hyde Park will unite to fill Rockefeller Memorial Chapel with more than 150 voices. 

The event will feature the University of Chicago Chorus, Motet Choir, and Rockefeller Chapel Orchestra, under the direction of James Kallembach, alongside soloists Kimberly Jones, soprano, Michelle Wrighte, alto, Matthew Dean, tenor, and Andrew Schultze, bass.

Messiah will be performed at 8 p.m. on both evenings. Tickets are available online at rockefeller.uchicago.edu ($5/students, $20-45/general). For further information call (773) 702-2100.