Tucson choir's summer concert goes Baroque

Back in the day — way, way, waaaaay back — composers in the Baroque era penned anthems to celebrate kingly coronations in Europe, but no one was more successful than George Frideric Handel.

Tucson’s Helios Ensemble on Sunday, July 21, will perform excerpts of Handel’s anthems, originally penned to fete King George II in 1727. The concert starts at 4 p.m. at Catalina United Methodist Church, 2700 E. Speedway.

Handel wrote four anthems — “Zadok the Priest,” “Let Thy Hand Be Strengthened,” “The King Shall Rejoice” and “My Heart Is Inditing” — that became standards for later coronations. (Fun fact: Famed Broadway musical composer Andrew Lloyd Webber (“Cats,” “Phantom of the Opera”) composed King Charles 2023 coronation anthem, “Make A Joyful Noise.”)

Sunday’s concert also will include Handel’s Dixit Dominus, a choral setting of Psalm 110 scored for five mixed-voice soloists, five-part chorus, strings and continuo; selections from Adolphus Hailstork’s evocative “Seven Songs of the Rubaiyat;” and Alison Wahl’s ethereal “Cedar to Storm.”

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Helios has performed its annual summer concert every July since founder/music director Benjamin Hansen launched the group in 2014. The group ends its Baroque-themed anniversary year with a special concert Nov. 3, highlighted by selections from Charpentier’s “Magnificat.” That concert at Grace St. Paul’s Episcopal Church will include a post-concert reception.

Tickets for Sunday’s concert are $18 or two for $30 in advance through heliosensemble.org; it’s $20 or two for $35 at the door. Preferred seats are $40.

Students of all grades through college are free with ID. Get more info at heliosensemble.org or by calling 202-262-3634.