Audio: Jeff Spurgeon introduces Handel’s classic oratorio "For unto us a child is born" performed by the resident Trinity Choir and Trinity Baroque Orchestra from Trinity Church in Lower Manhattan.
"I remember it like it was yesterday." So starts this week's Throwback Thursday radio skit by host Jeff Spurgeon about the very first performance of Handel's "Messiah" in New York, which was not at Trinity Church, but at a tavern. He explains how the concert, which took place in 1770, really was more of a fundraiser than an anticipated 250-year-old tradition-making-event.
The performance was put together by a man named William Tuckey, who at one time had been a choir director at Trinity Church, which is now at Broadway and Wall Street. Tuckey had money problems, so he organized the concert as a benefit for himself. So it wasn’t only the first time Handel’s "Messiah" was heard in North America. It was also the original Kickstarter campaign.
Performances of Handel's "Messiah" have become an ubiquitous annual Christmas tradition ever since in New York City. You can see where they are being performed this year in the map below. Click the arrow next to the map's title for a drop-down list of all the performances.
Did we miss a performance? Email wqxrdigital@gmail.com to be added to the map.