The Morton Community Chorus, of Morton, IL, has been performing Handel's Messiah annually for many, many years. Although, "Morton" is in the name, it is perhaps a misnomer, as people from all over Central Illinois regularly participate in the choir and orchestra.
The annual production of Messiah will be performed Sunday, November 24, 2019 at 2:30 pm at Grace Church in Morton, IL., with a piano/organ prelude by Dr. John Orfe beginning at 2:10 pm. Download a copy of our full-color concert poster here.
Although Grace Church graciously allows us to use their beautiful sanctuary, our annual productions of Messiah are community events, performed by the Morton Community Choir and Orchestra. A free-will offering will be taken during the Pastoral Symphony. Or, you can give online! The Morton Fine Arts Association has graciously agreed to handle online donations for us. 100% of all gifts will go toward providing our quality productions of Messiah. Click the button below which will take you to the Morton Fine Arts page to donate.
Listen to the wonderful radio spot produced and now playing on WBNH Radio, 88.5 FM! Thank you, Jim Huber, Daniel Cushman and WBNH! Listen here.
Wonder what our performances are like? See videos from last year's 2018 performance here: Memories of 2018
WCBU FM Peoria Public Radio and Arts Partners of Central Illinois radio program "Out And About" interviewed Phil Witzig regarding Messiah 2015. Although about a past performance, it nonetheless has some interesting dialog regarding the production in general. Listen here.
The annual production of Messiah will be performed Sunday, November 24, 2019 at 2:30 pm at Grace Church in Morton, IL., with a piano/organ prelude by Dr. John Orfe beginning at 2:10 pm. Download a copy of our full-color concert poster here.
Although Grace Church graciously allows us to use their beautiful sanctuary, our annual productions of Messiah are community events, performed by the Morton Community Choir and Orchestra. A free-will offering will be taken during the Pastoral Symphony. Or, you can give online! The Morton Fine Arts Association has graciously agreed to handle online donations for us. 100% of all gifts will go toward providing our quality productions of Messiah. Click the button below which will take you to the Morton Fine Arts page to donate.
Listen to the wonderful radio spot produced and now playing on WBNH Radio, 88.5 FM! Thank you, Jim Huber, Daniel Cushman and WBNH! Listen here.
Wonder what our performances are like? See videos from last year's 2018 performance here: Memories of 2018
WCBU FM Peoria Public Radio and Arts Partners of Central Illinois radio program "Out And About" interviewed Phil Witzig regarding Messiah 2015. Although about a past performance, it nonetheless has some interesting dialog regarding the production in general. Listen here.
Visit our Facebook event page! Just click picture below:
Meet Our 2019 Soloists
Penelope Shumate, Soprano - Penelope has received critical acclaim for her recent performances in Messiah at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York; “Penelope Shumate sang the soprano solos with appealing bell-like clarity and surpassing sweetness" (The New York Times), and “One of the best “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion” that I have ever heard live.” (New York Concert Review). She also recorded this work at historic Abbey Road Studios in London for her debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. A recipient of the Chicago Oratorio Award and the First Place Winner in The American Prize for Vocal Performance, her recent soloist debuts and return appearances include performances with the Heartland Festival Orchestra, Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, Quincy Symphony Orchestra Association, Waynesboro Symphony Orchestra, Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra, The Virginia Consort, Acadiana Symphony Orchestra, Rapides Symphony Orchestra, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Downers Grove Choral Society, Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Opera on the James, and the Muddy River Opera Company. She has performed with other opera companies and orchestras including Opera Company of Philadelphia, Opera Roanoke, Lake George Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Annapolis Opera, Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra, Berkshire Choral Festival, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and the Kennett Symphony Orchestra, among others. In addition to her active performance career, she serves as Assistant Professor of Voice at Western Illinois University where she won the Provost’s Award and was a two time winner of the College of Fine Arts and Communication Dean’s Award for Professional and Creative Activities. Visit www.penelopeshumate.com.
Alison Meuth, Alto - Alison has spent the last ten years teaching music at the college level. Before that, she made her living as a professional opera singer. In 2018 she debuted the role of "Naomi" in Ruth: The Musical by David Getz. Throughout her career she has made it a priority to sing in church. That is where she got her start as a singer and that is where her roots are. Alison and her husband, Jeremy, have three fabulous children. Together they homeschooled them until college. Alison was the writer of the integrated music curriculum for the international homeschool site, Child Light Institute. She spent the last several years as music director of The First Presbyterian Church of Galesburg. Alison is the Chorale Director, Madrigal Director and musical theater program director for the Peoria Cooperative Academy. She also has a large private voice studio as well as music directs for several theaters in the area. Alison is the Worship and Arts Director at United Presbyterian Church of Peoria and a voice teacher at Knox College.
Darren Stokes, Bass-Baritone - Darren has been engaged in several productions of Porgy and Bess in North America. Porgy and Bess roles have included “Crown” and “Undertaker” with the Chicago Lyric Opera and the Seattle Opera, the role of “Jake” with the Washington National Opera and “Undertaker” with the San Francisco Opera. He has also sung “Crown” in Mexico City at the at the Palacio de Bellas Artes opera house. He has appeared with the Dallas Opera, the Portland Opera and the Opera Theater of St. Louis. His operatic roles include Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro), Calkas (Troilus and Cressida), Ferrando (Il Trovatore), Escamillo (Carmen), General Groves (Dr. Atomic), Mèphistophélès (Faust), Theseus (A Midsummer Night’s Dream). Mr. Stokes is a graduate of Chicago Lyric Opera’s Ryan Opera Center and has also sung with the Cleveland Orchestra both in Cleveland and at Carnegie Hall. Future engagements include “Colonel” in The Falling and the Rising, a contemporary opera by Jack Redler and Jerre Dye, “Orsocane” in Ali Baba by Giovanni Bottesini and a return to Richmond Symphony to perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. Mr. Stokes has also recently made his debut with the Spoleto Arts Festival in Charleston, SC. In 2018 he was bass soloist in Messiah at the Harris Theater in Chicago.
Michael Dvorsky, Tenor - Michael is happy to be singing in his 5th performance of Handel’s Messiah with the Morton Community Chorus. He is currently tenor section leader and frequent soloist in the Peoria Area Civic Chorale, and cantor at St. Philomena Catholic Church in Peoria. In addition to choral singing, Michael enjoys performing in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, and has played tenor (and occasional baritone) roles in 12 Gilbert and Sullivan productions. His most recent roles were Nanki-Poo in The Mikado and Major General Stanley in Pirates of Penzance. When he is not singing, reading, or riding his bicycle, Michael is an Electrical Engineering consultant. He lives in Peoria with Karen, his wife of 35 years. They have 3 grown children: Sara, a music teacher in Rock Island, IL; Emily, an engineer in Milwaukee, WI; and Matthew, an Electrical Engineering graduate student in Ames, IA.
Dr. John Orfe, Pre-Concert Piano Prelude and Messiah Organist – John Orfe is a composer whose music has been performed worldwide. He has fulfilled commissions for numerous chamber, choral, orchestras and festivals, earning praise from The New York Times, LA Weekly, San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe, Die Welt, and Hamburger Abendblatt. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music, a Bachelor of Arts in Religion from the University of Rochester, as well as Master of Music, Master of Musical Arts, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the Yale School of Music. As piano soloist and collaborative artist, Dr. John Orfe has earned critical acclaim for his interpretations of five centuries of keyboard repertoire ranging from the canonic to the arcane. As the core pianist and a founding member of critically-acclaimed new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound, he has performed in Carnegie Hall, Miller Theatre, Roulette, the World Financial Center, and Symphony Space in New York; Disney Hall, Mondavi Hall, and Hertz Hall in California; and music series and festivals across the United States and Europe including Harvard University, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Amsterdam, Berlin, Bremen, Bolzano, Cork, Hamburg, London and Krakow. The New York Times praised his “virtuosic ardor” in performances of György Ligeti’s Piano Etudes and Concerto.