Handel's Complete Messiah
The Apollo Chorus of Chicago
Maria Jette, Soprano
Patrice Djerejian, Contralto
William Hite, Tenor
Jeffrey Strauss, Baritone
Stephen Alltop, Music Director and Conductor

When the Apollo Chorus of Chicago sings, great choral works come alive. Founded in 1872 after the Great Chicago Fire, this powerful 150-voice chorus is one of the city’s most exciting and talked-about musical organizations. Each season Apollo thrills audiences with beautiful music old and new, winning praise for its performances – especially for Handel’s Messiah.

Here’s what the Chicago Tribune had to say about an Apollo Messiah concert:

“[Dr. Alltop] has his troops fully committed to his historically informed methods. Tempos are almost uniformly quicker than the norm 30 years ago. Uninterrupted legato and dirge-like tempos have been superseded by a view that this musical era deserves its own set of performance criteria.”

The Apollo Chorus began its annual performances of Messiah in 1879, soon after the group was founded. In 2000, under the direction of Music Director and Conductor Stephen Alltop, Apollo began performing the complete version of this magnificent work. As Dr. Alltop says, “While our history is long and rich, it is the commitment to constantly elevating artistic standards in the great music we perform which energizes our work together. We strive to bring out new discoveries and feelings in each performance.”