It’s hard to tell from the CBF website, but I’m singing Jesus in the St. Matthew Passion (Sundays at 2:30), as well as solos on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday evening programs.

On Friday, June 13, I’ll be singing Eugene Friesen’s “Good Providence” with the festival orchestra. And on Sunday morning, June 15, I’ll be singing in Bach Cantata 137, “Lobe den Herren”.

More details and tickets are available through their website, linked above.

All in all, I think it was a better production than the Inquirer review suggests, though he was clearly complimentary to the musical side of things. The audience was clearly appreciative, and the few Italian speakers among them were absolutely raving about the show, including a bilingual young girl who gushed to me for several minutes about both the music and the puppets.

I also got word that WHYY radio will be in Bethlehem next weekend to tape my performance with the Bach Choir. No word yet on when that will air. Fortunately, when it does air, it should be easily accessible to even those outside the Philadelphia area, since WHYY’s radio broadcasts are also streamed online.

Staging a work that has no overt dramatic narrative presents some real challenges, but I think Tim Nelson has come up with an engaging and powerful production.

I was a bit put off when we staged my first number, “Thus saith the Lord,” and the action seemed to deliberately misinterpret the text. I became somewhat frightened when we staged Part II, which becomes rather violent and in which the action causes beloved sentimental numbers to take on a sinister and sarcastic tone. However, I find myself convinced by the dramatic arc he has painted and the daring exploration of faith from a variety of perspectives.

This production is bound to spark controversy, but I think it will be more likely to come from Handel loyalists than from Christians. In fact, I find the “story” he has created to be profoundly Christian, redemptive and timeless. But it certainly doesn’t confine itself to the cascade of revelation and jubilation that characterizes a typical concert performance. Anyone expecting anything resembling a normal holiday Messiah is in for a big shock. And this production is definitely not for kids.

However, I think it will be particularly powerful for anyone who has wrestled with religion or had a crisis of faith. And perhaps for anyone who hasn’t, it may lend insight into the struggles that some have with coming to terms with God, and offer a lesson in the true meaning of Grace.

My own reflections this week could probably fill several good essays, and perhaps I’ll address some of them here in the future. But for now, perhaps it will be enough to have given this site its first update in several months.