LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk 15 He also was the collector of our rather big library of vocal scores for the Messiah which we inherited after his passing in 2024. The evolution of the Annual Tri-Lakes Communit y Messiah Sing It was around 2005 when a number of events took place that, in a way, were all connected — first and foremost the influx of a number of young and eager professional musicians of the likes of Elizabeth and George Cordes in Tupper Lake and Elaine Dewar, Keith Kogut, Andrew Benware, and Phil Greenland in Sara- nac Lake. The presence of a number of very talented area-students and all the new musicians in town lead to the founding of the Tri-Lakes Community Orches- tra. Having an orchestra, many musicians, and the very active board of the Saranac Lake Young Arts Associ- ation (SLYA A) under the helm of Lora Couture, the Messiah Community Sing was re-kindled. Between Tupper Lake and the Cordes' High Peak Opera Studio and Saranac Lake, the idea of the alternating Messiah community events was born, later to include the edu- cation arm of the Lake Placid Sinfonietta. A charity organization, initially mostly focused on youth art and music education, would host and orga- nize the event, which was held in subsequent years in Tupper Lake, Saranac Lake, and Lake Placid. All area musicians were invited for those events to donate their time, talent, and enthusiasm to this much sought after holiday event. And many a musician has told me that participating in the Messiah Community Sing for them marked the real beginning of Christmas. And not only for the musicians, it is a community event that fulfills our audience with peace and "exquisite de- light," whether they sing or just lean back and listen. Over the years, we have seen a great number of professionalism and talent in these community perfor- mances. Just to name a few — organists of the likes of Karen Robard's, Joey Izzo, Frank Jacobsen. Skilled professional choral conductors of incredible caliber like Helen Demong, Andrew Benware, Jennifer Moore, Harold Rosenbaum from NYC, and more recently Dr. John Curtis after his move to Saranac Lake in late 2023. Elizabeth Cordes has been our staple as soloist accompanist during the arias and Elaine Dewar our long standing concert master. We are very fortunate to have outstanding vocalists in the area, thanking here Kim Weems, Helen Demong, Marcy Hough, Chris Gould, Keith Kogut, George Cordes … but wait, there is an entire new generation of instrumentalists and vocalists that has grown up under our watchful eyes: Annachristi Cordes, Alanna Winchell-Kogut, Taylor Prosper…and new to the area musicians like Thomas Stork, Katie Smith, Muriel Kerr. The tradition is staying alive! We are probably now in our 20th year, with only a brief interruption in 2020 and 2021, but who is count- ing? We invite you to the 2025 Community Messiah Sing! It will be hosted by SLYA A to benefit art educa- tion in the Saranac Lake School District. Come see this year's Messiah Community Sing! Date: Sunday, December 21st Time: 3:00 pm Location: First United Church of Saranac Lake Featuring: Conductor Dr. John Curtis, The Community String Orchestra of the Adirondacks (CSOA), and our many friends on wind instruments. t The Community String Orchestra of the Adirondacks, as well as a number of wind instrumentalists, perform at the St. Eustace Episcopal Church in Lake Placid. Photo credit: Carol Nevulis

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