The Performing Arts Center was the site of a logistical nightmare on the evening of Sept. 13 when the Grand Valley State University Music Department began its Fall Arts Celebration 2010.

Waves of people flooded the Louis Armstrong Theater to see a performance of John Philip Souza’s “El Capitan,” but when the theater reached capacity, ticket holders spilled over into two adjacent rooms and watched the operetta on TV screens.

A larger venue for the final chapter of the Fall Arts Celebration 2010 should ensure all audience members a firsthand experience of the season’s last performance.

GVSU music students, alumni and faculty will perform George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah” at 8 p.m. Monday at the Fountain Street Church located at 24 Fountain Street NE in Grand Rapids.

The event, which is free and open to the public, celebrates GVSU’s 50th anniversary by bringing the concert to a community that helped foster the school’s development.

“‘Messiah’ is a gift to the community,” said Henry Duitman, a GVSU music professor who will conduct the 80-minute performance. “It harkens back to the strength of the community that helped Grand Valley State get started 50 years ago.”

Composed in 1741, Handel’s “Messiah” is an oratorio, or musical piece consisting of an orchestra, choir and soloists. It presents an interpretation of the Christian view of Jesus as the Messiah, or “anointed one.” The libretto, or text of the composition, comes directly from the King James Bible.

Although the entire oratorio consists of three parts, the 70-member chorus and orchestra will only perform the first part, which describes the prophesy of the Messiah and the birth of Jesus – a fitting arrangement for the holiday season.

The performance will conclude with the composition’s most-famous movement, “The Hallelujah Chorus,” which has permeated popular culture through it use in film and advertisements.

GVSU adjunct voice professor Sandra Maytan said the familiarity of the music from “Messiah” will help draw a large audience to the free show.

“This is a very well-known piece, and many in the older generation know it inside and out,” said Maytan, who will use her mezzo-soprano voice in one of the composition’s solos. “The more you know a piece, the more you enjoy it because you can anticipate what’s coming.”

If the final performance of GVSU’s Fall Arts Celebration 2010 attracts a large crowd to downtown Grand Rapids on Monday night, the Fountain Street Church’s 1,500 seats and two balconies should allow everyone a good view. The sanctuary’s vaulted ceilings and spacious design provide a rich acoustic atmosphere that has drawn live performances from artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, the Grateful Dead and U2.

“The church is far larger than anything we have in Allendale, and the acoustics are 100 times better than anything on campus,” Duitman said.

GVSU sophomore Ross Gordon, who will sing in the 70-person chorus, said the venue will showcase the school’s growing music program unlike any performance this year.

“This is a big thing for Grand Valley’s Music Department and Grand Valley as an arts school,” he said. “We’re starting to do things away from campus for people to see and think, ‘Wow, that’s a growing program, and they sound really good.’”

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