HANDEL’S MESSIAH
Robert Moody, conductor
Shannon Crowley, soprano
Sarah Neal, alto
Jordan Schreiner, tenor
Michael Parham, baritone
Memphis Symphony Chamber Chorus · Joseph Powell, conductor
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 · 7:30pm
Germantown United Methodist Church
Wednesday, December 3, 2025 · 7:30pm
Lindenwood Christian Church
Thursday, December 4, 2025 · 7:30pm
Maples Memorial United Methodist Church
Program
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No. 1 Sinfony (Orchestra)
No. 2 Comfort ye (Tenor)
No. 3 Every Valley shall be exalted (Tenor)
No. 4 And the Glory of the Lord (Chorus)
No. 5 Thus saith the Lord (Baritone)
No. 6 But who may Abide (Baritone)
No. 7 And He shall purify the sons of Levi (Chorus)
No. 8 Behold, a virgin shall conceive (Alto)
No. 9 O thou that tellest good tidings (Alto/Chorus)
No. 12 For unto us (Chorus)
No. 13 Pifa. Pastoral Interlude (Orchestra)
No. 14 There were shepherds abiding (Soprano)
No. 15 And the angel said unto them (Soprano)
No. 16 And suddenly (Soprano)
No. 17 Glory to God (Chorus)
No. 18 Rejoice greatly O Daughter of Zion (Soprano)
No. 19 Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened (Alto)
No. 20 He shall feed His flock (Alto/Soprano)
No. 21 His yoke is easy (Chorus)
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There will be a 20-minute intermission between the first and second halves of the performance.
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Part II
No. 22 Behold the Lamb of God (Chorus)
No. 23 He was despised (Alto)
No. 24 Surely, He hath borne our griefs (Chorus)
No. 25 And with His stripes we are healed (Chorus)
No. 26 All we, like sheep have gone astray (Chorus)
No. 27 All they that see Him laugh Him to scorn (Tenor)
No. 28 He trusted in God (Chorus)
No. 29 They rebuke hath broken His heart (Tenor)
No. 30 Behold and see if there be any sorrow (Tenor)
No. 31 He was cut off out of the land of the living (Tenor)
No. 32 But Thou didst not leave His soul in Hell (Soprano)
No. 33 Lift up your Heads (Chorus)
No. 38 How beautiful are the feet of them (Soprano)
No. 37 The Lord gave the Word (Chorus)
No. 40 Why do the nations so furiously rage (Baritone)No. 41 Let us break their bonds asunder (Chorus)
No. 42 He that dwelleth in Heaven (Tenor)
No. 43 Thou shalt break them (Tenor)
No. 44 Hallelujah! (Chorus + Soloists)
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No. 45 I know that my Redeemer liveth (Soprano)
No. 46 Since by Man came Death (Chorus)
No. 47 Behold, I tell you a mystery (Baritone)
No. 48 The Trumpet shall sound (Baritone)
No. 53 Worthy is the Lamb/Amen (Chorus + Soloists)
On Stage
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Internationally acclaimed conductor Robert Moody is now celebrating his 10th season as Music Director of The Memphis Symphony Orchestra (Tennessee), 20th season as Music Director of Arizona Musicfest, and his 2nd season as Music Director of the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra.
Under his artistic leadership, AZ Musicfest has become the premiere Winter Music Festival Orchestra in North America, boasting a roster of players from the world’s greatest orchestras. The Memphis Symphony has enjoyed exponential growth in programming, recording, and new commissions. Baltimore Chamber Orchestra boasts top players from the top orchestras in the Baltimore/Washington area and presents innovative and “out of the box” live orchestral programming at world class levels in the Mid-Atlantic.
Prior positions have included music director for both the Portland Symphony (Maine) and the Winston-Salem Symphony (North Carolina), and Principal Conductor for Lakeland Opera (Florida). Earlier in his career, he held conducting positions with the Phoenix Symphony, Evansville Philharmonic, Santa Fe Opera, Brevard Music Center, Interschool Orchestras of New York City, and apprenticed at Landestheater Opera in Linz, Austria.
Guest conducting this season includes debuts with Cincinnati Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Tallahassee Symphony, and Winnipeg Symphony. He also will return to Lakeland Symphony, and lead concerts with the Royal Conservatory Orchestra in Toronto, Canada, and the IberAcademy Orchestra in Medellin, Colombia.
Maestro Moody has conducted many of the world's major orchestras and opera companies, including Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, Dallas and Houston Symphonies, Kansas-City Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Washington National Opera, Aachen and Baden Baden Symphony Orchestras in Germany, Wushi and Shenzhen Orchestras (China),Orquesta Filarmonica de Bogotá (Colombia), the Vienna Chamber Orchestra (Austria), Tampere Philharmonic (Finland) and Banatul Orchestra (Romania). He is also a frequent guest conductor in South Africa, returning often for concerts with the three major orchestras there – the Cape Town, Johannesburg, and KZN (Durban) Philharmonics.
A frequent collaborator with opera superstar Renée Fleming, he will conduct her on multiple occasions in the upcoming season in China, Canada, and the United States. In 2024 he performed the full orchestra world premiere of Voices of Nature: The Anthropocene, a song cycle created by Ms. Fleming in collaboration with National Geographic.
Moody’s work can be found on several commercial recordings, including the Canadian Brass albums Bach and Legends, R. Carlos Nokai’s Fourth World, and with Memphis Symphony Orchestra and trumpet legend Ryan Anthony on Re:Mission Rubato.
Robert is also a close friend and collaborator with Grammy winning composer Mason Bates. Their friendship spans over 30 years, and Moody was the first conductor to commission a full orchestral work from Bates. Robert also commissioned several major works of Mason’s, including Rusty Air in Carolina, and the much lauded Desert Transport. Last season he conducted the world premiere of Bate’s triple concerto Silicon Hymnal with the Grammy winning ensemble Time For Three.
A South Carolina native, Moody holds degrees from Furman University and the Eastman School of Music, where he earned his conducting degree with Donald Neuen. Additional studies included an undergraduate study abroad in Vienna, Austria, and a summer of study with Otto Werner Mueller at Le Domaine Forget in Quebec. He is a Rotarian, and has served on the boards of AIDs Care Services, Winston-Salem YMCA, WDAV Classical Radio, and the Charlotte Master Chorale.
Moody celebrates the life and work of organist/conductor Jimmy Jones, his spouse of 18 years who passed away unexpectedly early in 2024. He now dedicates all his musical endeavors to Jimmy.
Moody lives in Memphis with their two dogs; he is an avid runner, swimmer, history buff, “Jeopardy!” addict, and snow-skier.
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Shannon Crowley is a lyric soprano originally from Virginia Beach, Virginia. Currently, she resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she works as a resident at the Pittsburgh Opera.
Shannon holds a Master’s degree from Rice University studying with Dr. Robin Rice and a Bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University. There she studied with world renowned baritone, Mark Rucker.
Ms. Crowley has performed a vast amount of operatic roles both academically and professionally. After a successful first season with Pittsburgh Opera in which she sang the Shepherd Boy in Puccini’s Tosca and Zelmira in Haydn’s Armida, Shannon will be singing the role of Mary in Fellow Travelers, Nannetta in Falstaff, and covering Musetta in La Boheme during the 25/26 season. This summer, she covered Anne Trulove at Des Moines Metro Opera in The Rake’s Progress. During the summer of 2023 she worked as a festival artist with Opera Saratoga where she covered the role of Norina in Don Pasquale and performed as a leading artist in the world premiere of The Selfish Giant.
With RICE University, Shannon has performed the roles of Drusilla in L’incoronazione di Poppea, Jenny Hildebrand in Street Scene, and covered the role of Belinda in Dido and Aeneas in the Spring of 2024. At her time at the Michigan State School of Music, she sang Miss Wordsworth in Albert Herring, Le Feu and La Princesse n L’enfant et les Sortileges, Giulia in La Scala di Seta, and Servilia in La Clemenza di Tito. She also performed Poulenc’s Gloria as the Soprano Soloist.
Winner of the 2023 Laffont Competition Houston District as well as 2nd place winner of the Gulf Coast Region in 2024, Shannon Crowley has competed at the semifinals and finals in multiple prestigious competitions, including the Mildred Miller Competition, Ruth Burr Competition, Premeire Opera Competition and Annapolis Vocal Competition. After winning the Michigan District at the Metropolitan Opera Competition in 2021, she received the second-place award at the Grand Rapids Opera Competition, and at the NATS Nationals Competition. She was awarded full scholarships to both Michigan State University and RICE University, where she received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in voice performance.
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Sarah Neal is an American mezzo-soprano quickly making an impression as a “musical and theatrical delight” in opera houses across the United States (Colorado Gazette). This past summer, Sarah made her debut as Carmen with Charlottesville Opera followed by her role debut as Rosina in The Barber of Seville with Park City Opera. During the 2024-25 Season, Sarah completed a Young Artist Residency with Opera Memphis, performing as Mercédès in Carmen, Endimione in La Calisto, and as the soloist in Gregg Kallor’s new solo chamber opera The Tell-Tale Heart. Sarah has been awarded by numerous vocal competitions, including The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, The American Council for Polish Culture Vocal Competition, and The Dallas Opera Biennial Lone Star Vocal Competition. Up next, Sarah looks forward to their return to Park City Opera as Maggie in David Conte’s The Gift of the Magi. Other notable roles include the title role in La Cenerentola, Dinah (Trouble in Tahiti), Nancy (Albert Herring), and Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro). Sarah received their Masters of Music from the University of Houston in 2021 and still calls Houston home. Outside of the rehearsal room, Sarah can be found tending to their houseplants, knitting and sewing for hours on end, and reading on their porch swing.
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With his “sincere” acting and a voice “filled with passion”, tenor Jordan Marshall Schreiner is quickly making a name for himself in the romantic repertoire.
Mr. Schreiner is most notably known for his portrayals of the romantic tenor roles, making debuts as the tumultuous Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, under the baton of Maestro Andrew Altenbach, and as the impassioned Rodolfo in La bohème, in a production with director JJ Hudson. Mr. Schreiner portrayed the title role in a new and unconventional production of Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann directed by John Giampietro and conducted by Maestro Mark Shapiro. Mr. Schreiner has also made his mark in the Verdian repertoire, covering Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata under Maestro Thomas Bagwell. During his residency with Tri-Cities Opera, Mr. Schreiner played a number of characters ranging from the Tenor in Alison Mortiz’s production of Glass’ Hydrogen Jukebox to the Gingerbread Witch in Humperdinck’s Hansel and
Gretel, under the baton of Maestro Vlad Iftinca, to the poet and lover, Gonzalve in Ravel’s L’heure espagnole, and finally as Gastone in Verdi’s La Traviata. Mr. Schreiner has also been seen in portrayals of Vaudémont in Tchakovsky’s Iolanta, Tamino in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Martin in Copland’s The Tender Land, and Frederic in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance.
Equally at home on the concert stage, Mr. Schreiner has performed a number of concert works
around the United States. Recent performances include multiple performances of Handel’s Messiah, as well as performances of Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the Catskill Choral Society and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Orchestra of the Finger Lakes.
Mr. Schreiner graduated from Binghamton University in Binghamton, NY with a degree in Opera Performance. While in Binghamton, Mr. Schreiner participated in a number of operas, concerts and events with the regional opera house, Tri-Cities Opera. In 2014, Mr. Schreiner graduated from Mansfield University of Pennsylvania in Mansfield, PA with degrees in both Music Performance and Music Business: Management.
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Michael Parham, a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, is an American baritone known for his “resonant and ear-caressing” voice and compelling artistry on both opera and concert stages.
Most recently, Michael made his Houston Grand Opera debut as a soloist and ensemble member in George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. He has also appeared as a featured soloist in Porgy and Bess in the Grammy Award-winning Metropolitan Opera production. Other met productions include Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up In My Bones—a landmark work as the first opera by a Black composer programmed by the Met—which went on to win the Best Opera Recording category at the 2023 Grammy Awards, Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and Anthony Davis’s X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X. Beyond this, he has made professional debuts with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Virginia Symphony, Opera Las Vegas, and in 2022 debuted the role of Javan in the U.S. premiere of Leslie Uyeda’s When the Sun Comes Out at Portland Opera. Recent role highlights also include Tiger “Jackie” Brown in Threepenny Opera with City Lyric Opera, Lawyer Frazier in Porgy and Bess with South Florida Symphony, Peter in Hansel and Gretel with Opera Las Vegas, and Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus with the Martina Arroyo Prelude to Performance. A self-proclaimed “choir boy,” Michael is devoted to choral music, sacred repertoire, and oratorio, having been featured in works such as Orff’s Carmina Burana, Handel’s Messiah, Dubois’s Seven Last Words of Christ, Mozart’s Mass in C, and excerpts from Mendelssohn’s Elijah.
His artistry has been recognized through many honors, including being a 2019–20 New York District Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, a 2019 Semi-Finalist in the Premiere Opera Foundation Competition, and a 2017 Finalist in the Meistersinger Competition in Graz, Austria. He is a distinguished alumnus of the Chattanooga Boys Choir in 2023 and is a 2024 honoree of Oakwood University Alumni “40 Under 40.”
Michael is an alumnus of Oakwood University, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and the Portland Opera Resident Artist Program. In addition, he holds a certificate in Italian Studies from the Istituto Avventista di Cultura Biblica in Florence, Italy.
As a voice teacher, he proudly trains the next generation of young opera singers. His students have recently performed at the BBC Proms, in recital at Berklee College of Music, in collaboration with Samara Joy, as members of the Denyce Graves Foundation Shared Voices Cohort, at Houston Grand Opera, and on tour with the Jason Max Ferdinand Singers. A passionate advocate for the continued relevance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Parham brings his professional experience and deep commitment to cultural legacy into the studio and the classroom as an Assistant Professor of Music at his alma mater Oakwood University.
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Joseph Powell is a conductor and tenor based in Memphis, Tennessee. A native of Mobile, Alabama, he is currently pursuing the Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting with a Vocal Pedagogy Cognate at the University of Memphis. Powell serves as Interim Director of the Memphis Symphony Chorus and as Artistic Director of Memphis ChoralArts.
Powell holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education and a Master’s degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Southern Mississippi. From 2014 to 2024, he built a thriving choral program at White Station High School, conducting the Chorale, Tenor-Bass Choir, Advanced Treble Chorus, Treble Chorus, and the award-winning contemporary a cappella group DoReHe. Under his direction, White Station ensembles appeared at the TMEA Professional Development Conference (2015, 2018) and the National A Cappella Convention, where DoReHe earned recognition as a High School Championship Finalist in 2018.
Powell’s leadership has been honored nationally and locally. He received the Country Music Association Foundation’s Music Teachers of Excellence Award (2022), was named the Orpheum High School Musical Theatre Awards’ Inspiring Teacher (2024) and is the 2025 St. Paul’s Episcopal School Distinguished Alumni in the Arts. His students’ musical theater productions garnered multiple nominations for Best Student Orchestra, earning the award in 2019. He has also been nominated twice for Shelby County Schools Teacher of the Year.
An active performer, Powell appears regularly with the Memphis Chamber Choir, Opera Memphis, and, from 2014 to 2024, the Memphis Symphony Chorus. He has been featured in opera and musical theatre productions with Opera Memphis and IRIS Orchestra. In addition to performing, he serves as Handbell Choir Director and staff singer at Calvary Episcopal Church, continuing his lifelong commitment to both artistry and community through music.
Memphis Symphony Chamber Chorus
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Olivia Ball
Alicia Butler
Renee Lancaster
Aurora Russell
Pamela Schnell
B.J. Webster -
Faith Armstrong
Lily Axelrod
Katie Brown
Christine Hughes
Jayla Isom
Karyn Santana -
Andre Brooks
Julius Dabbs
Dylan Hooper
Daniel Massey
Joseph Powell
John Sanborn -
Charles Dove II
Edward M. Holt, Jr.
Donavon Hughes
Samuel Hughes
Marques J. Ruff
Memphis Symphony Orchestra
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Barrie Cooper, Concertmaster
The Joy Brown Wiener Chair
Marisa Polesky, Assistant Concertmaster
Diane Cohen, Assistant Principal
Wen-Yih Yu, Assistant Principal
Long Long Kang -
Erin Kaste, Principal
The Dunbar and Constance Abston Chair
Yennifer Correia, Assistant Principal
Jordan Musgrave, Assistant Principal
Ann Pretzer
Michael Klyce -
Jennifer Puckett, Principal
The Corinne Falls Murrah Chair
Michelle Pellay-Walker, Assistant Principal
Aaron Tubergen, Assistant Principal -
Ruth Valente Burgess, Principal
The Vincent de Frank Chair -
Scott Best, Principal
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Lani Smith, Principal
The Paul and Linnea Bert Chair
Shelly Sublett, Assistant Principal -
Susanna Whitney, Principal
The Carolyn Horrell Heppel Chair -
Scott Moore, Principal
The Smith & Nephew Chair
Elizabeth Carter -
Ed Murray, Principal
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Adrienne Park, Principal
The Buzzy Hussey and Hal Brunt Chair -
Stephen Karr
Legacy gifts help ensure that the Memphis Symphony Orchestra continues to inspire and enrich our community for generations to come. This week, we remember our dear friends, J. Richard and Carole M. Briscoe.
A Legacy of Music
