‘Multicultural Messiah’ moves across language barriers
Bustling singers, frantic musicians and the “Hallelujah!” chorus from Handel’s “Messiah” are usually associated with Christmas. But not always.
The “Multicultural Messiah” will be performed April 7-8 at 7 p.m. with Friday’s performance held in the Peery Egyptian Theatre in Ogden and Saturday’s in the Kent Concert Hall.
In its fifth year, the “Multicultural Messiah” was born when John Ribera, associate professor in the communicative disorders and deaf education department, said he accepted his teaching position and saw an opportunity to reach out to the community.
An avid musician, Ribera said he has conducted choirs in the United States and Europe for 20 years and wanted to share his love for music to all the community, despite language barriers. He wanted to reach out to the hearing-impaired residents of Cache Valley because of his professional affiliation as an audiologist and faculty member.
“The movie ‘Mr. Holland’s Opus’ influenced my thinking in terms of providing a cultural event that would appeal to hearing and deaf alike,” he said.
Because of its success over the past four years, the event will be expanding and offering a program outside of Cache Valley at Ogden’s Peery Egyptian Theatre.
“There are many more Latinos and deaf along the Wasatch Front and I-15 corridor than in Cache Valley,” Ribera said. “This is an experiment this year. If it works out well, we will likely continue to present this choral masterpiece at Peery’s Egyptian Theater or other similar venues.”
A special invitation has also been extended to faculty, students and parents at the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind, located in Ogden, he said.
The production has been in rehearsal for more than two months. The cast of is completely volunteer based, with 25 theatrical interpreters for the deaf signing on stage and 100 volunteer singers from Cache Valley making up the chorus. The majority of the performance will be sung in English with a portion sung in Spanish. The orchestra is comprised of 50 volunteer musicians with four featured soloists, all from the Logan area. Shannon Fry (soprano), Gayla M. Johnson (alto), Cory Evans (tenor) and Harold Heap (bass) all work at Utah State University.
“They are exceptional musicians,” Ribera said.
Unlike the previous four years, admission will be charged to support production costs and a humanitarian mission effort. Tickets cost $5. Patrons can also make tax-deductable contributions at the door or purchase DVDs of the performance. This year’s goal is to raise $4,000 for the project, Ribera said.
The humanitarian project, in its second year, provides free healthcare to underprivileged and underserved men, women and children in other countries. Last year, volunteers tested 120 patients and provided training to the local clinic staff. This year, the same remote area in Mexico, about three hours south of the border along the Baja, will receive more than 40 hearing aids for needy patients. Beth Foley, department head for the department of communicative disorders and deaf education, will also be taking some graduate students to another remote area to help multiple-handicapped children in an orphanage.
“The students and faculty will be assessing speech and language skills and fabricating devices on site that will assist the children in communicating,” Ribera said.
The event is not recommended for children under 8 years old. The Peery Egyptian Theatre is located at 24 N Washington Blvd. in Ogden. For more information, call John Ribera at 797-7190.
-limarc@cc.usu.edu