Songs of the season: Local Messiah Choir preparing for January concerts

Vicki Boren directs a rehearsal of the Messiah Choir at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau. (Fred Lynch)

This year marks the seventh season for the Messiah Choir, a choral group comprised of local singers of all ages from various churches, religious organizations and the community.

Since 2008, the choir has performed pieces from George Frideric Handel's "Messiah," which was originally composed in 1741. Since its inception, the composition has become a favorite for many during the holiday season.

One of the local choir's organizers, Hope Botwinski, says the choir typically performs in January to provide an uplifting note to one of the -- oftentimes thought of -- drearier months of the new year.

"We have concerts in January, actually, rather than December, when there's so many other things, and January is sort of a dark, depressing month," Botwinski says. "So we do sing the 'Hallelujah Chorus,' which is from the Easter portion of the 'Messiah,' otherwise our choruses are from the Christmas portion, so we're kind of between Christmas and Easter."

Trudy Lee, a soprano member of the choir and member of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Cape Girardeau, says that aspect makes the choir special.

Vicki Boren directs a rehearsal of the Messiah Choir at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau. (Fred Lynch)

"Christmas is such a busy time of year, and I think it was a great idea they had initially to kind of carry on the Christmas season even into January, when people are still wanting to praise God, but it's not quite as hectic at times," she says.

The inspiration for the Messiah Choir first came to Botwinski when she saw an article in a magazine called "The Lutheran Witness" about a shortage of church musicians.

"In our church we were blessed bountifully with five organists, which is pretty much unheard of, and we had a choir big enough that we could do most of the average church choir pieces, but in five years' time, we were down to three organists, and now we have to look at everybody's schedule when we are going to sing for a service to make sure we can have enough people there, so it's hit our church even, the shortage," she says.

Botwinski says a lack of youth involvement partly is to blame for the decline in church musicians. With busy schedules, expensive lessons and instruments and the distractions of daily life, she says it has become more difficult for youth to get involved. But, she says, the benefits often outweigh the cost.

"There are so many benefits to youth getting involved with music," she says. "With practicing they learn discipline, with singing and playing in ensembles they learn teamwork, their math scores improve, on SATs they're supposed to get better math scores than non-musicians, there's counting and fractions and stuff like that with the notes, and then also it's a creative outlet. And for children, they [may] have trouble expressing themselves verbally, so they can express themselves in music, and it's just fun to play music."

One of the choir's main goals has become promoting musicianship among youth in the area, and the idea for a scholarship was introduced for high school students to attend the Lutheran Summer Music Academy and Festival in Decorah, Iowa.

"Most churches don't have a couple thousand dollars laying around to provide a scholarship, so I thought, 'How could we raise money?'" Botwinski says. "And I knew the choir would probably be supportive of something like this, and if we passed a hat we could get a couple hundred dollars maybe, but that wouldn't be enough, and I couldn't see us doing a car wash, so I thought, 'We can sing.'"

Botwinski says the four-week music academy provides an opportunity for youth to attend and experience programs about choir, directing, organ, band, orchestra and composition. Students are able to learn about more than just music, with programs about stage presence and having confidence in front of an audience, as well as others.

Having the Messiah Choir perform annually isn't only about the singing, Botwinski says -- it's about the people it brings together and their personal triumphs. She mentions one choir member in particular who previously thought she would be unable to sing again, who not only was able to come back and sing with the choir, but also performed a solo.

The benefits reach into the community, as well.

"It's about the three girls, young talented musicians, that we have sent with scholarships to the Lutheran Summer Music Academy. It's about the little kids who come up at the concert, at the end they get to direct the 'Messiah Hallelujah Chorus' with little wooden batons we let them keep. And it's about the faithful choir members who, you know *... we have to tell them to stay home if it's icy out, because they would come out to rehearsals or the concert," she says. "I think, most importantly for me, it's about praising our Messiah. It's kind of always interesting, like I said, when you do things it's not about the obvious."

Lee says she enjoys being part of the choir because it is an opportunity to meet new people and build connections in the community. Lee will perform a solo during the performances with the song "Rejoice Greatly."

"It's fun to get together and meet people from other churches so you're not just in your own church choir," Lee says. "It's a very friendly group."

Botwinski agrees, and says she enjoys helping bring people of all religions and faiths together to share in the spirit of the season.

"I think there's a sense of cooperation because within the Lutheran churches themselves, the people that come from the different Lutheran churches, and there's a cooperation I think between other denominations -- I hope people don't feel this is a Lutheran thing or whatever, I hope they feel that this is a singing thing more," she says.

The only requirement to be in the Messiah Choir is that potential members not quit any normal church choirs in which they might already participate, Botwinski says.

The Messiah Choir is directed by Vicki Boren and will perform two concerts in January, one on Jan. 10 at Trinity Lutheran Church, 100 N. Frederick St. in Cape Girardeau, and one on Jan. 17 at Concordia Lutheran Church, 10172 Highway C in Frohna, Missouri. Both concerts will begin at 3 p.m., with preconcert carols beginning at 2:45 p.m.

To become a member of the choir or donate to the scholarship fund, call (573) 335-8224.