Coro Lux is proud to return to their first in-person performance since the start of the pandemic, with the incomparable La Fiesta de la Posada by Dave and Iola Brubeck. This archetypal Southwestern Christmas story is told through music only the late, great jazz master could have written. Also on the program will be the debut of our new Youth Chorus, El Faro (“The Lighthouse”) as well as music fitting for the season by the husband & wife duo of Hovey and Alexis Corbin on marimbas. This concert will be a fantastic kick-off to the holiday season!

These in-person concerts will be held at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 1100 Indian School Road NE, Albuquerque, NM 87102

In recognition of the ongoing pandemic, we are requiring all audience members to be masked. Also, we are only selling the venue to half-capacity, to aid in social distancing. Get your tickets before they’re all gone!

Ticket sales for the Sunday, 12/5, concert have closed but tickets are still available and may be purchased at the door. 

Coro Lux Chamber Chorus to perform Handel’s Messiah with the New Mexico Philharmonic in a pair of concerts. Bradley Ellingboe to conduct.

The New Mexico Philharmonic will present Handel’s masterpiece twice this holiday season, Friday, December 10th https://nmphil.org/event/handels-messiah-december-10-2021/ and Saturday, December 11th https://nmphil.org/event/handels-messiah-december-11-2021/. Both performances start at 7:30 pm and both are at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Albuquerque (114 Carlisle, SE). Coro Lux’s Artistic Director, Bradley Ellingboe, will conduct.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, a tradition came into being whereby Messiah was performed by massive forces. Indeed, even Mozart re-wrote Handel’s work to make the orchestra louder, so as to be able to accompany more singers. Perhaps the all-time record of this trend was the “Great Handel Festival” of 1857 (the 100th anniversary of Handel’s death) held in London’s Crystal Palace. That performance fielded a chorus of 2,000 singers and an orchestra of 500! However, Handel was a writer of the Baroque era, whose music was closely wedded to dance forms. The gigantic numbers of players and singers often used in 19th and 20th century performances could never dance.

In the 1950s and 1960s, music historians uncovered Handel’s true intentions, and it is from this scholarship that we’ll take our cue. To that end, we plan to be quick and lively, delighting in the dance rhythms and polyphony of the work. The Coro Lux Chamber Singers are a group of 16 of the finest singers in the city, and they’ll be accompanied by a small ensemble of top Philharmonic players. Soloists will come from within the group. Our concerts will be much closer to the first performances Handel conducted himself in terms of size of the group, the tempos and the overall “feel,” with the added benefit that modern strings stay in much better tune than those of Handel’s day, when violins with catgut strings stayed in tune for about 5 minutes.

Come hear us dance in December!