Soloists bring artistic expression to Handel's Messiah in Vancouver Bach Choir concert
Tenor Spencer Britten, alto Nicholas Burns, soprano Caitlin Wood, and bass Jonathon Adams perform with members of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra
Spencer Britten. Photo by Diamond’s Edge
TENOR SPENCER BRITTEN wasn’t all that into books as a kid, which is a fact he revealed quite dramatically to his third-grade teacher one afternoon. The classroom was dead quiet during silent-reading period when all of a sudden, a young Britten burst out singing the jubilant “Hallelujah” chorus from Handel’s Messiah.
When the teacher called Britten’s parents to let them know what had happened, they weren’t the slightest bit fazed. Their response? “Oh, Spencer really loves that Philadelphia Cream Cheese commercial with the ‘Hallelujah’ chorus in it!” (The brand ran a prolific amount of memorable angel-related ads from the mid-’90s through to the 2000s.)
It would seem those cream-cheese angels were certainly a fateful earworm for Britten, who now gets to sing the Messiah professionally each holiday season. Most notably, the acclaimed Chinese Canadian opera artist took part in Against the Grain Theatre’s Juno-nominated Messiah/Complex during the pandemic, a digital production directed by Joel Ivany and Reneltta Arluk that brought together a diverse cast of 12 soloists and four choirs in a distinctly Canadian reimagining of the oratorio. At one point in the video, Britten is seen strolling confidently down Davie Village’s rainbow crosswalks in high heels while singing the joyous solo “Ev’ry Valley Shall be Exalted”.
Speaking to Stir before an upcoming performance of the Messiah at the Orpheum with the Vancouver Bach Choir on December 14, Britten shares that Handel’s timeless work is now a cornerstone of his career.
“When I was first doing the Messiah with Against the Grain, Joel Ivany asked me ‘Who is Spencer, and how do we represent that through the Messiah?’” the artist recalls. “And that question came as such a shock to me, because it had always been ‘How do I serve the music?’ and never ‘How does the music serve me?’ So it was a huge turning point in my artistry, because it allowed me to help flesh out and realize and explore who I was as an artist, and how I wanted to represent that on stage, specifically through the Messiah. It’s become an avenue for me to express myself artistically and really show my individuality as an artist, which has been so special.”
Britten will be performing the Messiah alongside soprano Caitlin Wood, bass Jonathon Adams, and alto Nicholas Burns with members of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra. The show is an annual holiday tradition for the Vancouver Bach Choir, and for good reason. In a separate phone interview, Burns shares that he finds the Messiah to evoke a huge range of emotions that appeals to an equally wide variety of listeners.
Nicholas Burns. Photo by Tam Lan Truong
“It really covers the gamut,” Burns says. “I mean we sing it at Christmas, but really it was conceived as an Easter piece in 1742 by Handel because he wasn’t allowed to compose opera during Lent. So really it’s an Easter piece, but it goes through the whole life of Christ in a sort of vague way. It starts happy, and then gets actually quite sad and quite dark, and almost aggressive at times, and then obviously returns to extreme happiness with the ‘Hallelujah’ chorus and whatnot. So I don’t think there is one single emotion—I think it’s many.”
Burns first performed the “Hallelujah” chorus with a local church choir in 2014 while he was pursuing his undergrad degree at McGill University. Now, a decade later, the Messiah is his most frequently sung piece—he’ll hit an impressive milestone when he delivers his 50th performance of the work at the end of this month.
“No two performances of the Messiah are the same,” Burns shares. “For the soloists, the text is kind of vague, and can take on so many different meanings and so many different layers, as well as it being a piece from the Baroque period. Ornamentation—adding notes to what is written on the page—is encouraged in a tasteful way, so as an audience member, you never really know what you’re going to get. You’re never going to hear the same thing twice.”
Since it’s performed so often, the famed oratorio also has somewhat of a track record for bringing musicians together. In fact, Burns first met Britten when the two were singing the Messiah back in 2015 at a church in Shaughnessy. Burns is also good friends with bass Adams, who he has performed with more than a dozen times now (and coincidentally, Adams also took part in Against the Grain Theatre’s Messiah/Complex with Britten).
Burns and Britten, who both grew up in Metro Vancouver, say that while their opera careers often take them across Canada and beyond, they are looking forward to sharing Handel’s Messiah at home this season with their family and friends.
“It’s such a well-known piece,” Britten says. “Even for new concert-goers, they know the ‘Hallelujah’ chorus, so they know there’s something that they’re looking forward to. So I always feel like there’s a really positive, excited buzz in the audience, and I think people really look forward to that. It’s become a tradition for many people—religious or not, classic-music lovers or not, it has become part of their holiday season. And I really love that.” 
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