The Bluffton University music department will present the 114th rendition of Handel's Messiah at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6, in Founders Hall. This event is free and open to the public. A free-will offering will be taken.

Dr. Mark J. Suderman, Bluffton professor of music and director of choral activities, will conduct the performance. Suderman has been at Bluffton University since 2000. In addition to conducting the Bluffton Choral Society, he directs Camerata Singers, Bluffton's premier choral ensemble, and Bel Canto, an all-female chorus. He teaches conducting, music education and applied voice.

Suderman also conducts a select community choir, Concentus, and is director of music at First Mennonite Church in Bluffton. He has conducted numerous large-scale choral/orchestral works. This is his 16th occasion conducting Handel's Messiah-his ninth at Bluffton University.

The chamber orchestra is composed of 20 area instrumentalists, including a number of faculty and students. The soloists are Dr. Crystal Sellers, soprano; Julia Szabo, alto; David Sawatzky, tenor; and Calvin Griffin, bass.

"The opportunity to perform Handel's Messiah at Bluffton goes well beyond its long tradition," said Suderman. "Each performance, unique in its own right, offers the possibility of a more in-depth look at the beauty and meaning of this incredible combination of music and scriptural text."

The soloists for this years' performance are Crystal Sellers, soprano; Julia Szabo, alto; David Sawatzky, tenor; and Calvin Griffin, bass.

Dr. Crystal Sellers
Dr. Crystal Sellers, visiting assistant professor of music at Bluffton University, is the soprano soloist. She began her vocal studies at Fort Hayes Arts and Academics High School in Columbus, Ohio, and continued her studies in music at Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, where she earned a bachelor's of music degree in voice performance.

Sellers received her doctor of musical arts degree in voice performance at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, this fall. There, she was the first doctoral student to complete the Singing Health Specialist Interdisciplinary graduate specialization, and her doctoral dissertation titled "I Sing Because I'm Free: Developing a Systematic Vocal Pedagogy for the Modern Gospel Singer" is the first of its kind in the country to develop a methodology for teaching gospel singing.

Julia Szabo
Julia Szabo, director of alumni relations and annual giving at Bluffton University, was a professional singer in New York City for 25 years. Her work there included singing in many professional choral ensembles, along with solo appearances at Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, and roles with a number of opera companies.

Her work in various vocal ensembles led to a spot backing up Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli on "The Late Show with David Letterman." Later this year, Szabo will appear at Carnegie Hall to sing the Soprano II solos in Mozart's Great Mass in C Minor.

David Sawatzky
David Sawatzky, assistant professor of music at Bluffton University, teaches aural skills integrated arts, and music ministry courses. He has conducted the women's choir, Bel Canto and currently conducts the men's choir, Accent!.

He is also the music director of Bluffton's annual May Day musical. He received his undergraduate degrees from Canadian Mennonite Bible College (now Canadian Mennonite University) and the University of Manitoba, and his master's degree from the University of Alberta. He has completed doctoral studies at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Ill., where he taught choral conducting and directed the University Chorus.

Calvin Griffin

Calvin Griffin, the bass soloist for the performance, is a native of Columbus, Ohio. He is currently pursuing a bachelor's degree from The Ohio State University, under the direction of Dr. Patrick Woliver. Last summer, Griffin made his Brevard Music Center debut with the roles of Coppelius/Dr. Miracle in Les Contes D'Hoffmann and Simone in Gianni Schicchi.