UGA Presents is bringing the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Chorus back to Athens Dec. 15 to perform a holiday favorite: Handel’s “Messiah.” The 3 p.m. Hodgson Hall concert will include the Christmas portion and “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s masterwork, along with Mozart’s “Exsultate, jubilate” and Symphony No. 35.
Guest conductor Nathalie Stutzmann will lead the program which will feature soprano Jeanine De Bique, who impressed Athens audiences with her 2017 “Messiah” performance, mezzo-soprano Meg Bragle, tenor Thomas Cooley and baritone William Berger.
A native of France, Maestro Stutzmann is in her second year as chief conductor of the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra in Norway and third as principal guest conductor of the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland. Her inaugural concert with the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, a Brahms and Wagner program, was chosen as Norway’s Concert of the Year 2018 by Norwegian press. She is also this season’s artist-in-residence of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.
In January 2019 Stutzmann was admitted into the Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur, France’s highest honor, at the rank of Chevalier. She is also Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite and Officer of the Arts et Lettres in France.
Tickets for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s “Messiah” start at $45 and can be purchased at the Performing Arts Center box office, online at pac.uga.edu or by calling 706-542-4400. A limited number of discounted tickets are available to current UGA students for $10 with a valid UGA ID (limit one ticket per student).
The concert is supported by Gregory and Jennifer Holcomb, The Dixen Foundation and Virginia M. Macagnoni.
Hodgson Concert Hall is located in the UGA Performing Arts Center at 230 River Road in Athens.