The Hugo Young Theater at Ashland University opened its doors on Nov. 22 to present the holiday masterpiece Messiah, composed by George Frederic Handel.

The department of music at AU worked with the Ashland University Choir, Ashland Area Chorus and the Ashland Chamber Orchestra to put together the show.  

Over 100 musicians played following the direction of Rowland Blackley, professor of music and director of choral activities at Ashland. 

Messiah is a collection of texts taken from the sacred scriptures dealing with Christ`s birth, sufferings, death and resurrection. The symphony is composed into three major acts. 

The Messiah was performed on campus in 2010 and 2015 and after the success of the most recent show, the performance will be presented again in 2020. 

Students were given the opportunity to play one of the most important roles in this piece. 

Corey Turpin, a sophomore at AU, was the tenor soloist in this performance. He is a chemistry and mathematics major but music has always been his passion. 

Turpin was satisfied with the show and he highlights the help and hard work of everybody who made this show a great success. 

“I am actually really happy about the final product of the Messiah. We worked really hard for it and I think that under the direction of Dr. Rowland Blackley and Elizabeth Slade we were getting everything done very well,” said Turpin. 

Elizabeth Slade has been the director of the Ashland Chorus for several years. She admitted that putting together the show required a lot of effort, but she enjoyed every part of it

“It was a real joy to work in a piece of music like this. It is so rich, full of meaning and full of musical events and there is always something new in every study of this piece,” said Slade. 

The community has always welcomed this performance because of its spiritual meaning as well as the holiday theme.

Carl Leedy is a member of the Ashland University Chorus and the Ashland area chorus. He especially enjoys this piece because of the message that it conveys to the audience.   

“I love it, the meaning of the words is so great and as you think about that you hear the great music and it is just Christianity through to one piece of music,” said Leedy. “I think it is going to be a good reminder to all of us, with Christmas season coming. It is a piece of music that there is none like it in the world.”