Written 13 March 2026
WOW – what a fabulous concert! The Mozart Requiem concert was a great success. The audience was enthralled by the performance – just have a look at the Reviews page and you’ll see! Everything came together in the most magnificent way – the conductor, the orchestra, the soloists, the choir, the audience!! A truly wonderful experience for all – a great tribute to Mozart, one of the greatest composers of all time – and a well-deserved standing ovation from a full Linder Auditorium!
So, what’s up next from your favourite choir? Well, our traditional Good Friday concert will be equally memorable:
The Symphony Choir of Johannesburg
is presenting
G F Handel’s
Messiah
Soloists:
Ilze van Staden: Soprano, Asisipho Petu: Mezzo,
Thomas Erlank: Tenor, Bongani Kubheka: Bass
Good Friday 3rd April 2026 @ 6pm
Linder Auditorium, Parktown
The Phoenix Orchestra
Conducted by Edwin Mitas
George Frideric Handel (23 Feb. 1685 – 14 Apr. 1759) was a German composer who spent most of his career in London where he became well known and loved for his music. Handel received important training in Halle-upon-Saale and worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712; he became a naturalized British subject in 1727. He was strongly influenced by the great composers of Italian Baroque music and by the German polyphonic choral tradition. A contemporary of Bach and Scarlatti, Handel is regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Baroque era, with works such as Messiah, Water Music, and Music for the Royal Fireworks still very popular. Having lived in England for nearly fifty years, he died in 1759, a rich and respected man. His funeral was given full state honours, and he was buried in Westminster Abbey in London.
Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible, and from the Coverdale Psalter, the version of the Psalms included in the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742 and received its London premiere nearly a year later. After an initially modest public reception, the oratorio gained in popularity, eventually becoming one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music.
Although its structure resembles that of opera, it is not in dramatic form. Instead, Jennens’s text is an extended reflection on Jesus as the Messiah called Christ. The text begins in Part I with prophecies by Isaiah and others, and moves to the annunciation to the shepherds, the only ‘scene’ taken from the Gospels. In Part II, Handel concentrates on the Passion and ends with the “Hallelujah” chorus. In Part III he covers the resurrection of the dead and Christ’s glorification in heaven. Handel wrote Messiah for modest vocal and instrumental forces, however in the years after his death, the work was adapted for performance on a much larger scale, with giant orchestras and choirs.
This is a concert you don’t want to miss.
Book now to avoid disappointment – use this link
https://www.quicket.co.za/events/353862-handels-messiah/
Kind regards,
The Symphony Choir of Johannesburg