By Isabel Ashley

For a second year in a row, San Juan Master Chorale will perform Handel’s “Messiah” at Friday Harbor Presbyterian Church on Wednesday, Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. Under the direction of Amber Lauridsen, the group of 57 singers will bless the ears of the Friday Harbor community with this iconic masterpiece.

Outside of her experience as director for last year’s “Messiah” performance, Lauridsen has an extensive background in conducting and sacred music. She received her Master’s in conducting at South Florida University and her Doctorate of Musical Arts in Sacred Music from the University of South California. Before she even began studying conducting, she was given the opportunity to direct a group of singers composed of college students and community members in “Messiah,” and says she has performed the work many times.

Similar to her first experience conducting “Messiah,” the San Juan Master chorale is an eclectic mix of returning singers and fresh faces, including members of the community and various organizations like Friday Harbor Presbyterian Church and San Juan Island Community Theater, where Lauridsen is Music and Vocal Director. Although several of the singers have varying backgrounds in music, many of whom participate in musical theater, Lauridsen is impressed with their ability to take on this piece.

“It’s amazing. Despite being such different styles, they managed to adjust,” said Lauridsen.

The group has been practicing since the beginning of November, utilizing the Presbyterian church – one of the largest rehearsal spaces on the island besides the community theater – for which Lauridsen is very grateful. This year, the San Juan Master Chorale received 501 c3 status as a non-profit organization, and Lauridsen hopes to use their funds to give back to the community and to expand the organization.

Although many singers in this year’s group participated in last year’s “Messiah” concert, Lauridsen continues to expand and improve on their performance.

“[For] people who have sung last year, I am trying to convince them to sing more perfectly; perfect notes and rhythms, and all of those nuances, all of those articulations and phrasings,” said Lauridsen. “I hope they learn and know the music well so they can sing it anywhere.”

As for the audience, Lauridsen believes even for those who have seen “Messiah” performed before, the way individuals interpret the music is constantly changing.

“It’s always new. It’s different people with different emotions, [so] they sing in a different way. Good music doesn’t get old,” said Lauridsen.

“Messiah” is structured in three parts: Christmas, Easter, and redemption, and the full work is about two and a half hours long. The San Juan Master Chorale will perform only the Christmas portion but will conclude with the iconic “Hallelujah” chorus from the second part, running about an hour in total length.

According to Lauridsen, when Handel wrote “Messiah,” he was experiencing physical and monetary hardships, as his main art form, opera, was dying in popularity due to its inaccessibility to the rising middle class in England. He managed to write the entire score in less than a month, a nearly impossible feat.

Last year’s concert drew an impressive crowd; standing room only with 460 attendees, not including the singers or the orchestra, who lauded the performers with a standing ovation at the end. Although the work is religious in nature, Lauridsen believes the music is perfect for all singers and listeners to enjoy.

“The subject is Christ, but the music itself is just so beautiful. [For] the community members, whether they are believers or not, it doesn’t matter. They come to sing,” said Lauridsen. “The music is so exuberant, it just lifts you up. That is why it is so popular and why it has been performed around the world each year.”