On December 22, Tafelmusik’s Sing-Along Messiah returns to Massey Hall for the first time since 2017. This enduring holiday favourite is directed by none other than the resplendently garbed G.F. Handel himself. Dubbed “the Rocky Horror Picture Show of baroque music” by Choir Director Ivars Taurins, Sing-Along Messiah welcomes more than 2500 audience members into the spotlight as they add their voices to Tafelmusik’s choir, orchestra, and guest soloists.
For one Toronto family, the return of Sing-Along Messiah to Canada’s most iconic music venue is a full-circle moment. Since 1989, at one time or another, each member of the Dunn/Beckwith family has sung with Tafelmusik Chamber Choir.
Of course, no dive into the world of Sing-Along Messiah would be complete without hearing from Taurins, who reflects on the special connection between Massey Hall and Tafelmusik’s unique audience-participation event.
By Luisa Trisi
A home filled with the sound of music
Imagine growing up in a home where babies were lulled to sleep with arias from a Mozart opera, sung by their mother. Where the children’s homework sessions were accompanied by the sound of their father’s violin practice. A home in which both siblings sang and played instruments and where live music could be heard throughout the day and into the evening. Welcome to the Dunn/Beckwith family home.
Following in their parents’ musical footsteps, Alison and Juliet Beckwith will perform Sing-Along Messiah together at Massey Hall as members of Tafelmusik Chamber Choir (TCC) for the first time this year. Their mother Teri Dunn—Music Director at Canadian Children’s Opera Company and Dean of Choral Studies at St. Michael’s Choir School— has frequently joined the TCC as soloist and guest member of the soprano section. Her husband, Larry Beckwith, Artistic Producer of Confluence Concerts, was a member of the TCC’s tenor section for 15 years.
It’s no wonder that the Beckwith sisters recall a childhood where music-making, especially singing, was as natural as breathing. “When I was a baby, my mother was singing the role of Queen of the Night in Mozart’s The Magic Flute,” says Juliet. “Apparently I wouldn’t fall asleep to lullabies; she needed to sing the ‘Der Hölle Rache’ aria and only then would I conk out.”
The family’s deep love of music once led them to New York City to see Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Metropolitan Opera. In preparation for their musical pilgrimage, the Dunn/Beckwiths sang through the entire opera together, with Teri at the piano, Juliet singing the role of Leporello, Larry covering the other men’s roles, and Alison singing the balance of the parts. “We had loads of fun singing together!” says Juliet.
Granddaughters of the renowned Canadian composer John Beckwith, both sisters were also members of Toronto Children’s Chorus.
Alison is a professional actor and singer who has sung in choirs around the world and has appeared in workshops and productions at Tarragon Theatre, Coal Mine Theatre, Driftwood Theatre, and Confluence Concerts.
Juliet recently returned to Toronto after a decade in Victoria and works in reproductive health. After making her Toronto Symphony Orchestra singing debut at age 11, she has continued her engagement with music through performances with Octet Victoria, Toronto Masque Theatre, Christ Church Cathedral Choir, and Victoria Symphony.
Teri credits their chops, in part, to generational continuity, or a passing of the musical baton. “Historically, trades would be passed down through families—generations of bakers, stonemasons, etc.,” she says. “I think growing up in a household that revolves around a certain art or trade does give you a special understanding of it. Larry and I never really insisted either of our daughters learn music, but they were both very interested in it and we supported them in their interests. We sang to and with them as young people, and they both learned instruments and sang in choirs. And our house was often full of music making—both for serious practice and for fun.”
Next gen Messiah
As December approaches, Alison and Juliet are immersed in serious practice as they prepare for performances of Messiah at Koerner Hall, followed by the Sing-Along at Massey Hall on the Sunday before Christmas. No strangers to Handel’s oratorio, the siblings and their mother participated in Tafelmusik’s 2010 Sing-Along Messiah film and can be spotted in the audience belting out choruses alongside Music Director Emerita Jeanne Lamon.
“It feels really special to be in the same choir that my parents were both in. I had my Mom’s score last year and it was very meaningful to see her markings,” says Alison. “My absolute favourite chorus is ‘Surely, he hath borne our griefs’ from Part II. It embodies the violence and emotion of Christ’s suffering in such a raw way. I really get into the drama of the crunchy chords and choppy accompaniment from the orchestra,” she says. “What I love most about Messiah is how emotional and personal it can get in the telling of a story we all know so well.”
Juliet was just a few weeks old when she made her first trip to Massey Hall in 1999. With diaper bag, concert gown, and babysitter in tow, her mother sang with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir that night while Juliet slept backstage. More than 25 years later, Juliet is thrilled to be returning to the venue, this time as a performer. “Is it a cliché that I’m looking forward to singing with my sister? We just have so much fun. I also always enjoy the experience of singing with everyone in the space,” she says.
Though Juliet feels it would be premature to name a favourite chorus this first year singing Messiah as a professional, “I absolutely adore the aria Comfort Ye My People. What I love most is the simplicity of the text and line and the dialogue between the singer and orchestra,” she says. “There is a certain sense of conversation and play in Handel that I find captivating and beautiful. I remember watching Soundstreams’ Electric Messiah at home during the 2020 lockdown. Teiya Kasahara’s rendition of the aria moved me to tears.”
For Teri, choosing a favourite Messiah chorus or aria is next to impossible, but she clearly relishes the annual Sing-Alongtradition. “It’s joyous, fiery, playful, and deep. And singing with hundreds upon hundreds of other people is exhilarating and also good for the soul!”
Massey Hall Homecoming
And what about the grand old venue itself?
Known as the “old Lady of Shuter street,” Massey Hall holds a special place in the hearts of Torontonians, with its distinctive red and black colour scheme, Moorish Revival-style scalloped arches, and stained-glass windows depicting famous composers. The venue’s inaugural performance on June 14, 1894, was a lavish affair featuring a 75-piece orchestra and a choir of 500 voices performing—what else— Handel’s Messiah.
Starting in July 2018, Massey Hall underwent a massive revitalization that silenced the music for three years until the hall’s reopening in 2021. Meanwhile, due to pandemic complications, Tafelmusik put its signature Sing-Along concert on hold until last season, when Mr. Handel and friends took up temporary residence at Koerner Hall. Now, after seven long years of disruptions due to renovations and lockdowns, Sing-Along Messiah fans can’t wait for the event’s homecoming at Massey Hall, the city’s most venerable music venue.
“As a choir member, the best part of the Sing-Along at Massey Hall is hearing the audience,” says Larry Beckwith. “That is a really unique and beautiful sound and it’s so moving to watch them all pouring their hearts into it.”
Prior to the renovation, the backstage area at Massey Hall was an intricate maze of multi-level corridors and staircases worthy of an Escher drawing. Leading to a warren of small dressing rooms, a green room, and ultimately, the stage, the quirky passageways could easily disorient first-time performers.
For conductor Ivars Taurins, 2024 marks an especially meaningful return to the hall he associates with his earliest concert experiences. “As a child, my mother would take me to Massey Hall to hear Arthur Rubinstein, Andrés Segovia, Vladimir Horowitz … It’s a very special place,” he says.
“The most iconic part for me as a performer was to come in that stage door off Victoria Street and walk through the glossy red halls backstage. There were staircases going this way and that and there wasn’t a lot of space—we were literally shoulder to shoulder. But that was part of its charm, it was like stepping into yesteryear. It had a wacky, cozy feeling.”
Mr. Handel is in the house
Taurins’ annual transformation into the role of George Frideric Handel is a meticulous, hours-long process requiring a dresser’s assistance. The fabrics and notions for Mr. Handel’s magnificent costume, most of which was sewn by Taurins himself, were painstakingly researched and internationally sourced. Each year, a loud gasp can be heard from the audience as Mr. Handel first creaks onto the stage oozing ennui and old-world splendour. This is followed by laughter as he plunks down into his chair with an air of exasperated déjà vu, a cloud of powder rising from his enormous white wig.
Working with Mr. Handel on the big day is, according to Larry, “pure joy, though it’s a huge performance on his part, so I always felt it was important to give him his space backstage and not distract him too much,” he says. “Once onstage, you can tell he’s having a great time, and that as well as being a great composer, he’s a gigantic ham.”
Taurins recalls the audience’s delight as local performers including R.H. Thomson (as the Earl of Sandwich), Mary Lou Fallis (as Mrs. Bach), and Peter Tiefenbach (as Gustavus Waltz, Mr. Handel’s cook) made cameo appearances throughout the Sing-Along’s almost four-decade history. “It’s always a little surprising to work with someone else on stage, especially when they have a great sense of humour. I never knew what was coming and I would often end up in stitches trying to keep myself together. It’s lovely,” he says.
Other comically anachronistic guests, such as a paratrooper from Star Wars, the 78th Fraser Highlanders, a jaunty French postman on a bicycle, or a swarm of paparazzi, have been known to join Mr. Handel as the houselights dim or after intermission as he gnaws on a turkey leg.
What compels Torontonians to line up each year outside of Massey Hall on a cold December afternoon just before Christmas?
“Well, it’s kind of like secular church isn’t it?” says Larry. “Ivars builds community beautifully and is so terrific at leading a performance that is both hugely entertaining and deeply moving.”
“Though Ivars is very funny in his introduction and Handel schtick, the music has such timeless humanity and everyone gets to participate! The whole thing feels very down-to-earth and warm and inclusive,” he says.
“The tradition of Sing-Along Messiah allows us to pause from the horrors of the outside world and concentrate on the beauty of life, just in time for commemorating the season of light.”
Hallelujah indeed!
Sing-Along Messiah
Join Mr. Handel and 2000 audience members as they return to Massey Hall and ‘raise the roof’ alongside a glittering cast of soloists, the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, and Tafelmusik Orchestra.
