Handel Israel in Egypt

Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 October 2021

Update in progress …

Following the success of our second Sing in the Mountains event in 2019, we are now preparing for a performance of Handel’s Israel in Egypt in Blackheath in October 2021. For this performance our core choir has rehearsed the work and will be augmented with guest singers from the Blue Mountains, Sydney and beyond for one weekend of intensive rehearsals before performing on Sunday afternoon with an orchestra comprising the mountains’ most talented musicians.

Photo gallery of the 2019 concert and rehearsals – photography: Cazeil Creative 2019

We welcome guest singers to sign up online to join us for this event. We aim to answer all your questions in our FAQ section or click on the links below for more information on each topic.

We know that many people sang this work as a ChorusOz a few years back, and whether you are already familiar with the work or planning to learn it from home, we have online rehearsal resources available to help you prepare for the weekend. Once you have signed up online you are welcome to join any of our Tuesday night rehearsals, and we have a full day workshop in Blackheath on Saturday 18 September which is open to all enrolled singers.

We will be singing the full Part 1 and selected chorusses from Part 2 to create an appropriate length of concert. We are using the Schirmer score which is the same plate as Petrucci and also available on IMSLP. We have our own reprints of the chorusses we are singing which you could purchase as an alternative, particularly if you live nearby.

Handel’s Israel in Egypt is one of his most popular and enduring oratorios.  It tells the story of Exodus with grand chorusses and powerful fugues and is famous for its illustrative writing of the plagues of frogs and flies, the storm of hailstones and the river of blood. It is written for two choirs and, even in our local hall, we aim to achieve some spacial separation to bring out the full drama of the work. We will be asking you to express a preference for Choir 1 or 2 and we will do our best to meet that request and ensure that you are with your friends for the weekend – thats all going to subject to balancing up the two choirs.

The other uncertainty of the year will be any continuing Covid restrictions.  Our strong preference is that all singers are vaccinated unless you have contrary medical advice, but even so there remains a small risk of event cancellation in which case there would be a full refund.

If you have any questions please email: enquiries@singinthemountains.com or fill out the contact form below and we will respond to your questions.