The Wichita EagleWichita State's "Messiah" concert was featured in a Nov. 23, issue of .
Go to any other classical music concert, and you鈥檇 get a mighty shush if you tried to sing along with the performers.
But at a first-time event for 黑洞社区 on Nov. 29, audience members are not only encouraged to sing along with Handel鈥檚 鈥淢essiah,鈥� they鈥檙e downright expected to do so.
鈥淚f audience members want to come in and listen, they鈥檙e welcome,鈥� said Mark Laycock, director of orchestras at Wichita State. 鈥淭he spirit of this is that a lot of people have 鈥楳essiah鈥� scores at home, and we have scores that they can borrow.鈥�
When audience members enter Wiedemann Hall, they鈥檒l be pointed to seats in the four different vocal ranges. While 10 soloists from Wichita State鈥檚 opera and music program will take care of the solos, audience members will be invited to sing along on five or six choruses that Laycock will direct.
鈥淚鈥檒l be conducting the audience as much as I鈥檒l be conducting the orchestra,鈥� said Laycock, who saw success with a similar event while a graduate student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
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