Join Jordan Hammons on three Wednesday evenings during Advent for a deep dive into one of the most famous and widely shared pieces in music history.

Wednesdays, December 1, 8, and 15 at 7:00 pm
Online on the Zoom video platform
Free registration!
Send an email to erica@episcopalcathedral.org 

It is the Lenten season in London, 1743, the night of March 23, and the theater-going public is in a chastened mood. No plays, no operas—in fact, no secular entertainments of any kind—seem appropriate now, and indeed, it is hard to find them during this forty-day season of penance and reflection before the gladness of Easter…Tonight Handel wears and an anxious expression, and again one cannot help but wonder why. The knowledgeable in the audience know the identity of the expensively dressed gentleman sitting in a very good seat…scowling all the while. This is Charles Jennens, wealthy squire of Gopsal estate… and writer of the libr[etto] for tonight’s entertainment. – Tim Slover

Perhaps no work in the Classical music canon is more popular during the Advent season than Handel’s Messiah. Woven into the music is a rich fabric of Scripture that captures the specific goals of the work’s author (or librettist), Charles Jennens. Messiah stitches together verses from across the Bible into a reflection and commentary on the prophecy and Passion of Jesus. In our offering, Messiah: The Lord Gave the Word we will look at several passages from Jennens’ libretto: where they are sourced Biblically, how they reflect the theology of the eighteenth-century Church of England, and how these passages are understood in our modern context. Don’t worry, we’ll listen to some beautiful music as well! – Jordan Hammons

Wednesdays, December 1, 8, and 15 at 7:00 pm
Online on the Zoom video platform
Free registration!
Send an email to erica@episcopalcathedral.org

Event flyer here.

About Jordan Hammons

Jordan Hammons is a native of Alabama. An accomplished tenor, he was seen most recently as Eddie Pensier in The Dallas Opera’s production of John Davie’s The Bremen Town Musicians. Mr. Hammons has performed Macheath in Britten’s The Beggar’s Opera, the Podestà in Mozart’s La finta giardiniera, and Aeneas in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. He received praise from Theatre Jones for capturing the character’s “pathetic, beaten-dog quality” in his portrayal of Little Bat in Floyd’s Susannah. As a concert soloist, Mr. Hammons has been featured in The Seven Last Words of Christ (DuBois), Messiah (Handel), Serenade (Britten), and Magnificat (Bach). He has also presented chamber concerts including Benjamin Britten’s Canticle III: Still Falls the Rain, John Corigliano’s Three Irish Folksongs, and Vita Brevis by Paul Moravec. Mr. Hammons holds a Bachelor of Arts from Millsaps College and a Performer’s Diploma and Master of Music Degree from Southern Methodist University, where he was awarded the Roy and Sue Johnson Award for excellence in opera.

Visit Jordan Hammons online here.