M E D I A  A D V I S O R Y

November 18, 2016 – Richmond, Virginia Join the Richmond Symphony, Richmond Symphony Chorus and a cast of exceptional soloists for the holiday classic Handel’s Messiah on Friday, December 2 at 7:30pm. Handel’s masterpiece portrays Christ’s birth, passion, and resurrection through passages of stunning beauty and timeless melodies including the popular “Hallelujah Chorus.” Messiah is a time-honored testament to the highest aspirations of man. The concert will be led by Richmond Symphony Chorus Director, Erin R. Freeman and held at the Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Arts Center. The quartet of soloists includes Youngmi Kim (soprano), Jessica Renfro (mezzo-soprano), Marco Panuccio (tenor), and Michael Dean (bass-baritone).

Tickets start at $20 online at richmondsymphony.com or by calling 1.800.514.ETIX.

This concert is sponsored by The Wauford Group.

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Erin R. Freeman, director, bio
Youngmi Kim, soprano, bio
Jessica Renfro, mezzo-soprano, bio
Marco Panuccio, tenor, bio
Michael Dean, bass, bio

About the Richmond Symphony

Founded in 1957, the Richmond Symphony is the largest performing arts organization in Central Virginia. The organization includes an orchestra of more than 70 professional musicians, the 150-voice Richmond Symphony Chorus and more than 260 students in the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra programs. Each season, more than 200,000 members of the community enjoy concerts, radio broadcasts, and educational outreach programs. The Richmond Symphony is partially funded by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

About the Richmond Symphony Chorus
James Erb organized the all-volunteer Richmond Symphony Chorus in 1971 for a December performance of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, under guest conductor Robert Shaw. For 36 years, Erb continued to direct and build the Chorus to reflect the Symphony’s high standards. Erin Freeman assumed leadership of the Chorus at the start of its 2007–08 season. The repertoire for its selected volunteer membership has included most of the standard repertoire for chorus and orchestra: Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion and Mass in B Minor, Haydn’s Creation, Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 and Choral Fantasy, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Requiem settings by Mozart, Brahms, Verdi and Faure, Mahler’s Symphony No.2, Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony and all of Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe, in addition to a number of shorter choral-orchestral works. Special projects have included a performance and recording of Mahler Symphony No. 8 with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, under the direction of JoAnn Falletta, a performance with the Richmond Symphony in the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and a re-creation of the Chorus’s inaugural performance of Missa Solemnis, under the direction of Erin Freeman. In February, 2017, members of the Chorus will perform Poulenc’s Gloria at Carnegie Hall, with Erin Freeman conducting.  On April 28^th and in honor of its 45^th anniversary, the Chorus will present an all-choral concert in tribute to its founder, James Erb, at Second Baptist Church.