By May Hunter, For Iron County Today
It has been a Southern Utah tradition that the Orchestra Of Southern Utah perform Handel’s Messiah during the holiday season. Messiah for the 2025 season was on December 14 & 15, at the Heritage theater in Cedar City, Utah, and was very well attended.
Celebrating the spirit of the season, “Glory Revealed”, the 85th annual performance of Handel’s Messiah is always a treasured Cedar City tradition. The music brings in the reason for the season, telling the story of the birth of Christ. The miraculous performance was held at the Festival Hall and Heritage Theater.
The Orchestra of Southern Utah is an award-winning community orchestra. Jackie Riddle Jackson directed the orchestra and chorale with assistance from Alex Bye. The Cedar City tradition gave several vocalists the opportunity to be a soloist with the orchestra. Sheri Butler helped coordinate the Chorale with pianist Jessica Mathews. The Orchestra and Chorus spend many, many hours perfecting their performance of Handel’s Messiah and thank all those who attended and thank all the sponsors that made it possible.
This beloved holiday event brings together choir, orchestra, and community in a very powerful musical expression of hope, joy, and reverence. It is a celebration where friends, neighbors, and loved ones of all ages gather to experience this timeless holiday message through music.
Handel was a user of melody, he created beautiful music enjoyed by all who attend year after year. He composed Messiah without getting much sleep or eating much food. George Frideric Handel composed Messiah in 24 days, from August 22 to September 14, 1741. It’s important to keep going back to listen to the Messiah performed, because we look at it from different angles as we change. For this reason it’s become a deep part of our tradition, it is a beautiful piece of music we all look forward to attending each and every year. This year’s performance of Handel’s Messiah was phenomenal!
“Music is capable of reaching the deepest recesses of the human spirit where no other art or language can go. Music can achieve this even without words; it communicates in its own unique way.”-Handel’s Messiah.