Conductor Phillip McLendon has selected four soloists for this year’s Messiah Sing Along, 7:30 p.m., Dec. 12 at the First Presbyterian Church, 21 E. Constance Ave., Santa Barbara.
Jim Mooy has assembled an orchestra of talented musicians, and the audience will sing as the choir for the performance of Handel’s “Messiah” (the Christmas portion plus the “Hallelujah” and “Worthy is the Lamb/Amen”).
The Messiah Sing Along is a benefit for Unity Shoppe.
Singing the soprano solos will be Nichole Dechaine, who holds both master and doctor of musical arts degrees in vocal performance from UCSB. Dechaine teaches private voice and music courses and conducts choirs at Westmont and Santa Barbara City College.
She has performed a variety of leading roles in opera and musical theater productions and regularly appears as soloist with choirs, orchestras and ensembles in the U.S. and abroad. Locally, she has performed with Opera Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Master Chorale, Choral Society, and Quire of Voyces.
The husband-wife team of Christina Pezzarossi and Colin Ramsey will sing the alto and bass solos. A familiar Opera Santa Barbara performer, Pezzarossi has performed with the Pacific Opera Project in Los Angeles and Opera Neo in San Diego, Opera San Jose, Colorado’s Central City and Boulder Operas, and the Santa Barbara Symphony.
Ramsey’s performances include Opera San Jose, La Jolla Symphony and Chorus, the Seattle, Gulfshore, and Sarasota Operas, Pacific Musicworks, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Green Mountain Opera Festival, as well as Opera Santa Barbara.
Currently pursuing a doctor of musical arts in vocal performance at UCSB, Lorenzo Johnson, Jr. will sing the tenor solos at the Messiah Sing Along. He has performed in young artist programs in Dubai, Italy, and Alaska, as well as in Japan as a part of an exchange program. His opera productions include Florida State Opera, Sam Houston State University Opera Theater, Raven Summer Opera, as well as UCSB Opera. Other soloist engagements have been with the Santa Barbara Master Chorale and Choral Society.
This will be the 38th year that McLendon has conducted the Messiah Sing Along. An outstanding tenor himself, McLendon has conducted numerous choirs and orchestras. He was the founding director of the Santa Barbara Master Chorale, which he led for two decades.
He was director of the Santa Barbara High School A Cappella Choir and Madrigal Singers from 1995-2013. McLendon is a recipient of the Individual Artists Award in Choral Music Direction from The Arts Fund.