Owensboro’s long-running performance of “Messiah” returns on Sunday, and Director Dr. Connie Ford says the enduring holiday tradition still manages to feel new each year. For her, the upcoming production is all about keeping a familiar masterpiece “fresh and alive” as it enters its 83rd season.
The free performance will take place at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday at Third Baptist Church, 527 Allen Street.
The oratorio has been woven into Owensboro’s holiday identity since 1941, when the Choral Society presented its first local performance on the morning of December 7 — the day news broke of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Over the decades, “Messiah” has been staged in churches, school auditoriums, and even the Owensboro Sportscenter, where the 25th anniversary performance drew an estimated 2,500 people in 1965.
Ford, who has directed the annual performance since 2011, said she feels that lineage every time she steps onto the podium.
Ford, who has directed since 2011, said her goal each year is to breathe renewed energy into the oratorio while honoring its deep local roots.
“Even though it’s been done and done and done, it always sounds fresh,” she said. “It’s a great work — one of the finest choral works there is — and it’s worth doing again and again.”
This year’s production features roughly 70-80 singers and a chamber ensemble of about 13 instrumentalists, including strings, winds, organ, and harpsichord. Ford said the soloists are hand-selected, but the chorus remains open to anyone willing to take on the demanding music.
“There is no audition to be in the chorus,” she said. “They’ll find out pretty quickly if they’re suited for it. It takes a lot of stamina.”
Rehearsals begin each year in late October and run through five Thursday-night sessions, followed by a Saturday morning dress rehearsal the day before the performance. Ford will see the full chorus, soloists, and instrumentalists together for the first time only hours before showtime.
“We bring our best to each performance,” she said. “It’s a very vibrant chorus, eager soloists, and instrumentalists.”
Beyond its musical impact, the performance also continues its long-standing role as a fundraiser for the Goodfellows Club of Owensboro, with collections taken at intermission to support children in need. Keeping that mission alive, Ford said, is part of what makes the tradition meaningful.
“It’s such an honor to be a part of this,” she said. “To be able to present this for the Goodfellows and for the public after all these years — it’s fulfilling, and it’s quite an honor.”
