LINDSBORG -- As it was with many events, the COVID-19 pandemic put a damper on the 2020 Messiah Festival. But that was last year, and Bethany College has made adjustments in order to have a 2021 Messiah Festival.
All events will have COVID mitigation protocols implemented to ensure the safety of participants, the college noted. At this time there are not plans to include live audiences. Instead, each event that is normally ticketed, as well as many others, will be livestreamed. If it becomes possible to include a live audience, a limited number of tickets will be available for purchase on the day of the event. Stay tuned to www.messiahfestival.org for updates.
Dr. Mark Lucas, artistic director, said, “At this time we are planning to perform Handel’s Messiah with full forces but masked and socially distanced. If the COVID situation does not improve we will pivot to a performance with a reduced number of performers. Also, this year’s rehearsal schedule will be drastically reduced from years past. Returning singers will only be required to attend one sectional rehearsal before the dress rehearsal on Sunday, March 21, and new singers will only have one extra rehearsal at which I will help give them instructions on how they can be learning the music on their own. We have yet to make a final decision as to whether or not we will perform Bach’s Passion according to St. Matthew.”
According to Manda Deegan, Messiah Festival coordinator, all singers will be provided with a special Resonance Singing Mask made of a very high thread-count cotton outer shell, with a wicking technical knit polyester on the inside, knit with bamboo charcoal that is naturally anti-microbial and anti-bacterial. Each mask also has a disposable filter and a long double wire and silicone seal in the nose panel to keep aerosol and droplets contained.
See below for a full schedule of rehearsals for Handel’s Messiah as well as descriptions of each of the events of the festival. Please visit www.messiahfestival.org for even more details, and for information on the 2021 soloists.
Full schedule of rehearsals for Handel’s Messiah
Sunday, February 14 – New singers only (those who have sung 1-3 years are invited to this rehearsal as well).
Sunday, February 21 - Sopranos only
Sunday, February 28 – Altos only
Sunday, March 7 – Tenors only
Sunday, March 14 – Basses only
Sunday, March 21 – Dress Rehearsal
*all rehearsals are in Presser Hall from 3-5 p.m.
Messiah events
March 5–April 4: Lindsborg Collects… Lindsborg Art in Downtown Lindsborg
The Lindsborg Collects Exhibition showcases the privately owned art collections of local residents with a focus on artists who have a Lindsborg or Bethany College connection. The show will be open at 105 North Main Street in downtown Lindsborg from 1 p.m.-5 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
March 1–May 23: 123rd Annual Midwest Art Exhibition at Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery
The 123rd annual Midwest Art Exhibition will feature works by Bethany College graduates Richard and Tom Klocke of Lawrence; mixed media woodcuts by Salina native Jim Sherraden of White Creeks, Tennessee; art by members of the Sandzén Gallery’s Show Committee (Cary Brinegar, Wayne Conyers, Maleta Forsberg, Michael Jilg, Elizabeth Liljegren, Ron Michael, Karla Prickett, and Rose Marie Wallen); and selections from the Dave Woolard Collection of Hays.
The gallery will be open Tuesday through Saturday from 10am until 5pm and on Sundays from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, we will be unable to have an opening reception for the exhibition.
March 19–April 4: Juried Student Art Exhibition at Mingenback Art Center
The Department of Art and Digital Media at Bethany College will host a corridor exhibition at Mingenback Art Center of artwork created by local women art instructors alongside the traditional juried exhibition of artwork created by Bethany College students, judged by visual artist Ruth Moritz. An awards ceremony for the winning exhibiting art student work to be held after the A Celebration of Women in Leadership event ends on the Presser Auditorium stage on Palm Sunday, March 28, 2021, with a small reception to follow.
Sunday, March 21 at 3 p.m.: Messiah Dress Rehearsal featuring Student Soloists at Presser Hall Auditorium
Student soloists from the Bethany College Department of Music will sing the arias as part of the annual dress rehearsal of Handel’s Messiah. This event will be livestreamed, and if the COVID situation allows a limited number of tickets will be available at the door on the day of the event. Watch www.MessiahFestival.org for details.
Palm Sunday, March 28 at 3 p.m.: A Celebration of Women in Leadership at Presser Hall Auditorium
This special event will feature prominent women in leadership who have a connection to Bethany College and/or Lindsborg, Kansas including Lindsborg Mayor Becky Anderson, Bethany College President Dr. Elizabeth Mauch, Bishop of the Central States Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Susan Candea, and Kansas Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Zabel-Wilson. Also featured will be a special women’s chorus conducted by Mrs. Britney English, Vocal Music Teacher at Smoky Valley High School. Following the event there will be a groundbreaking ceremony for the Alma Swensson Garden in Swensson Park just west of Presser Hall. This event will be livestreamed, and if the COVID situation allows a limited number of tickets will be available at the door on the day of the event. Watch www.MessiahFestival.org for details.
April 1 at 2:30 p.m.: Student Honors Recital at Presser Hall Auditorium
The annual Messiah Festival of the Arts Student Honors Recital showcases the best music majors and minors of the Bethany College Music Department. This event will be livestreamed, and if the COVID situation allows a limited number of tickets will be available at the door on the day of the event. Watch www.MessiahFestival.org for details.
Good Friday, April 2: To be determined
A decision has not yet been made whether to perform Bach’s Passion according to St. Matthew live or to rebroadcast an earlier performance. Watch www.MessiahFestival.org for a decision.
Easter Sunday, April 4 at 3 p.m.: Handel’s Messiah at Presser Hall Auditorium
The Bethany Oratorio Society is planning a full performance of Handel’s Messiah on Easter Sunday with the full Oratorio Society Chorus and Orchestra. To facilitate social distancing the chorus and orchestra, who will all be wearing special singing masks, will be spread throughout the Presser Hall Auditorium. This event will be livestreamed, and if the COVID situation allows a limited number of tickets for balcony seating will be available at the door on the day of the event. Watch www.MessiahFestival.org for details.
Jazz Walk and Theatre Productions: Dates and details to be determined