'Memphis Messiah' a group effort

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Idlewild Elementary School student William Jackson, 10, leans over a rail for a better view of the stage during one of last year's special performances of Handel's "Messiah" by the Memphis Symphony Orchestra at the Cannon Center.

Karen Gephart, the principal at Immaculate Conception Elementary School, expresses her philosophy about arts and education with energy and a missionary spirit. And this week, she again gets to see her mission accomplished when more than 5,000 Memphis, Shelby County and Catholic Jubilee elementary schoolchildren see special performances of George Frideric Handel's masterpiece, "Messiah," by the Memphis Symphony Orchestra.

"This is an opportunity many schoolchildren might never experience otherwise," she says. "Getting the kids to the concert hall, letting them hear the soloists, hear the choir singing this beautiful piece of music — it offers a special opportunity."

The two-day sixth annual "Memphis Messiah," sponsored by the Orphanos Foundation in conjunction with the Symphony, included morning performances for children Thursday and today, and ends with a benefit performance at 8 tonight at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts. Proceeds from sponsorships and the public concert help pay for the educational performances.

In addition to the orchestra, "Messiah" features the 70-voice Rhodes College MasterSingers Chorale, Bartlett United Methodist Church's Chancel Choir, and an Honors Choir of singers from St. Benedict's at Auburndale and Bartlett, Ridgeway and Overton high schools.

Gephart, who taught music at Snowden School for 19 years before retiring and then taking her current job with IC in 2010, has been instrumental in the success of the program since it began in 2006.

"The 'Messiah' event was sort of my brainchild, but something as big as this can't be pulled off by one person," says Wayne Sneed, president and founder of Orphanos. "Karen was hugely instrumental in getting the school system behind it and getting them to attend the event."

Gephart, public schools coordinator for the event through 2009, would begin talking with teachers about the "Messiah" project each August, helping them make arrangements for the buses and in getting field-trip permission slips from the parents. She even helped with the seating chart.

"It was such a big deal that first year," says Gephart. "Some kids were familiar with classical music, but some had also never been to the Cannon Center. It was an amazing experience for them. And they all loved getting the program. You could see their eyes light up when we handed them out."

When Gephart moved to Immaculate Conception Elementary, she focused her energies on helping organize the Catholic schools' involvement each year. She said Sneed asked her to continue "helping out a little" with the public schools' participation. She still helps "prompt" the public school teachers, particularly in the distribution and promotion of the preconcert curriculum that's given out to the schools.

Gephart spearheaded creation of the educational material about "Messiah" that is distributed each fall to all of the schools in preparation for the December concerts.

"Actually, 'activities' is a better word for it," she says. "We planned things such as crossword puzzles, explanations of musical terms and of certain sections of the music. It helps them understand what's going on in advance of the concerts."

The "Memphis Messiah" is being done in the spirit in which the composer originally intended. Handel (1685-1759) wrote the oratorio in 1741, but it didn't debut until April 1742 in Dublin, Ireland. That performance was also a benefit, but for a debtor's prison and an orphanage.

"Handel never took any money for performances of 'Messiah,'" says William Skoog, a Rhodes College professor of music who will conduct the orchestra and choirs. "'Messiah' made money for the orphanage, but Handel never received anything for 'Messiah.' He gave everything toward the orphanage throughout his life, although he himself was penniless at the time."

Any production of 'Messiah,' probably the most-performed piece of classical music, remains a daunting task. For more than 270 years, orchestras and choruses of all sizes around the world have performed the masterpiece, which was originally written for Easter but has long since become a Christmas tradition.

"Messiah" is the only event Sneed's Orphanos Foundation does specifically in and for Memphis. He says Orphanos is primarily an international organization, involved in orphanages and helping children throughout the world.

"We've got a lot on the line with this because we pay for everything. The Symphony gets paid. The Cannon Center gets paid. The stagehands get paid," Sneed says. "The Cannon Center seats 1,850, and I expect it to be about two-thirds full Friday night, like it was last year.

"But Memphis is notorious for last-minute ticket buyers, so maybe we'll have more. You just never know."

'Memphis Messiah'

8 tonight at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, 255 N. Main. Tickets: $15 to $25. For more information, go to memphissymphony.org, or call (901) 537-2525.

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