Handel’s ‘Messiah’ to be presented today in Newton

The Unity Choir’s eighth annual presentation of Handel’s “Messiah” will be at 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 22 at Newton First United Methodist Church, 111 Ryerson Ave.

It is the first performance after a two-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The concert will include all of Part I (the Christmas portion) of the “Messiah” plus select choruses and solos from parts II and III.

A reception will follow the concert.

There is no charge for the concert, but a free-will offering will be received.

The concert offers a rare opportunity to hear “Messiah” accompanied entirely by pipe organ played by Henry Repp, who has been accompanying Handel’s “Messiah” for more than 50 years.

He is an expert at the lost art of an organist directing a chorus while accompanying it.

Repp was a student of Dorothe Lanning at First Memorial Presbyterian Church in Dover. He received further training with the late Robert MacDonald at Riverside Church in New York and Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark.

He was to have accompanied a rejuvenation of “Messiah” concerts at First Memorial Presbyterian in Dover, but the concert was canceled because of a major snowstorm. The singers asked him if he would do the concert in Newton.

He agreed, the Unity Choir was formed. The group performs “Messiah” every January. Singers are from Morris, Sussex and Warren counties as well as Pennsylvania.

Returning soloists include soprano Cassandra Lambros, alto Kathryn Elliott, tenor Tom Carle of Randolph and bass Rev. David Young, the newly-retired pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Newton.

The Newton Methodist Church is handicapped-accessible and there is ample parking.

Unity Choir will begin rehearsals in February for the annual Palm Sunday concert. New members are always welcome. There are no auditions or dues.

Interested singers may speak to Repp at the “Messiah” concert or contact him at 973-347-0945.