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Can you Handel it?

Of course you can! If you love to sing, you’re pre-approved! The choir is open to all music lovers who are willing to give it a shot! Read on . . .

 

The first performance of the Messiah in 1995 was created by the joined efforts of the LDS Cottonwood Heights Stake and the Hilltop United Methodist Church in Salt Lake City, Utah. Participating in Handel’s Messiah each Christmas provides a way for people of many different faiths to share in their love of Christ and their love of music, performers and audience members alike.

 

Each year we perform selected choruses and solos from the Messiah. The choir has grown each year, now averaging 70 singers. The orchestra is comprised of 25-30 highly qualified musicians from the Salt Lake Area. We use a Robert Hicks harpsichord as well.

 

Choir rehearsals are held Saturday mornings, 8:00 – 9:15 am, beginning in November. 75% rehearsal attendance is required for participation in the performance. Special circumstances may be discussed with the Conductor.

 

The only auditions held are for soloists. To find out more about these auditions, please visit our Soloist Auditions page, or email us at emorleypalmer@gmail.com. 

Click here to read about our soloists from previous years.

Our Conductor

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Elizabeth Palmer, Conductor

Elizabeth Palmer has conducted the Cottonwood Heights Area Choir and Orchestra for the past 14 years in their annual production of Handel's Messiah. She served as Conductor of LDS church choirs in Cottonwood Heights for 12 years; in Hershey, Pennsylvania, for 4 years; and in Philadelphia for 2 years.

 

An active violinist, Ms. Palmer has been the concertmaster of the Salt Lake Symphony for 15 years, and is a charter member of the Orchestra at Temple Square. She is a graduate of the University of Utah and has been featured as a soloist with the University of Utah Symphony, Delaware County Pennsylvania Symphony and Salt Lake Symphony. She has also substituted in the violin section of the Utah Symphony.

 

An active chamber musician, she was a founding member of the C & B Chamber Players, which performed extensively throughout the East Coast. While residing in Pennsylvania, she was a member of the faculty of Lebanon Valley College and performed many solo recitals in the Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and Washington D. C. areas. She and her husband David are the parents of five children and three grandchildren.