The 36th singalong performance of Handel's "Messiah" on Sunday had people camping out on the Kennedy Center's marble plaza overnight, some traveling a thousand or more miles to stand in line for the free performance, its 2,500-plus tickets gone in less than a day.
Five local choruses totaling over 250 voices and the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra crowded onto the Concert Hall stage. Excerpts from all three parts of the "Messiah" resounded through the hall, with the complex "Hallelujah" Chorus repeated as an encore.
| The Kennedy Center singalong always draws a large and eager crowd, as here in 2002. (By Dudley M. Brooks -- The Washington Post) England's King Henry VIII was a powerful ruler not only politically but also musically, and his court was a bastion of Renaissance culture.His reign was marked by endless lusty revels, celebrations and tournaments. All these, even musical events, were given primarily for regal display, drawing in the best performers and compositions of the day. The Folger Consort's "Greensleeves" concert, at the Folger Shakespeare Library on Sunday afternoon, included Christmas carols, seasonal motets and dance-propelled instrumental works once heard at Henry's court and chapel. Some were composed by the king himself. Dan Stillman alternated between trombone and several types of recorders, along with a period oboe and bassoon. A co-founder of the group, Robert Eisenstein, moved with ease from the medieval fiddle to the gamba and recorder. Tom Zajac played the harp, recorders, transverse flute and bagpipe. Webb Wiggins darted back and forth between two organs -- one a tiny portative with a hand pump supplying air to the pipes. Besides Minter, the fine singers included tenors Philip Cave and Robert Petillo and baritone Bob McDonald. Wiggins's ornately embellished and pulsing dance pieces and the spicy carol "Somerset Wassail" rounded off a robust yuletide event. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post. 
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