A style of music that has not been heard in Winfield for more than 15 years will be presented Sunday, March 8, at 3 p.m. in the Winfield High School auxiliary gymnasium.
That’s when a chorus of about 175 local and area adults and students, accompanied by the 60-piece South Kansas Symphony Orchestra, will perform Felix Mendelssohn’s oratorio “Elijah.”
The performance is open to the public at no charge; a free-will offering will be taken to underwrite expenses.
An oratorio is defined as a dramatic work, usually sacred, for soloists, chorus, and full orchestra. Unlike its sister art form, the opera, the oratorio is performed without stage action, scenery, or costumes.
Mendelssohn wrote the oratorio in 1846. The text is based on the story of the prophet from the Old Testament books of First and Second Kings, with additional texts from both the Old and New Testaments. While the most well-known works from the oratorio are lyrical and devotional, some of the music is dramatic, even violent, reflecting the life of this vivid “Man of God.”
The tradition of presenting Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” in Winfield began in 1926, with the last full performance, until this year, held in 1992. An ad hoc group was formed in 1994 to organize periodic “sing throughs” and to plan the March 8 performance, which will mark the 25-year anniversary of the oratorio society’s tour of Israel in March 1984.
Singing the role of Elijah will be Dale Morehouse, associate professor of voice and opera at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. There are 12 additional soloists. The chorus consists of the “Elijah” alumni and students from Southwestern College in Winfield, Cowley College in Arkansas City, Winfield High School, Arkansas City High School, and Musica, an auditioned choir of young people. The orchestra includes Winfield and area students and adults, as well as “Elijah” alumni.
Former chorus and orchestra members from Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma, Arkansas, North Carolina, New Mexico, and Texas will be converging in Winfield on the evening of Friday, March 6, for mass rehearsals before the performance Sunday at 3 p.m.
Daniel Stevens, assistant professor of strings music at Southwestern College and conductor of the South Kansas Symphony Orchestra, will direct the orchestra and combined choirs in the March 8 performance. David Gardner, associate professor of music and director of choirs at the college, has been the chorus rehearsal conductor with James Leland, affiliate instructor of music at Southwestern, as rehearsal accompanist.