Randal Turner sings Messiah in Birmingham

Randal Turner's CD cover

Now that Thanksgiving is over, we begin our annual posts on Messiahs around the world. One that we're particularly excited about is in Birmingham, Alabama with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. Randal Turner will be singing the baritone part and will be joined by two other amazing male voices: countertenor Ryan Belongie and tenor Colin Ainsworth. Kimberly McCord will take on the soprano part. Performances are on December 15 and 16 and tickets are available online.

Last year, the Indianapolis Performing Arts Examiner wrote of his Messiah:

Of all the special moments (and there were many) provided by each singer, there was one that stood out. With his deeply rich and imposing voice, Turner was commanding when he sang the familiar, "The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 

Turner has shown himself to be adept at singing everything from early music to modern music. We've featured him in another Handel role, Siroe, as well as last year's Messiah in Indianapolis. His range of roles has taken him into Mozart, Donizetti and Rossini, as well as contemporary composers like Benjamin Britten, John Cage, Andre Previn and Rufus Wainwright. His CD of "Living American Composers" remains one of our favorite song recitals and is still available at CD Baby.

Randal Turner sings "Gelido inogni vena from Handels' Siroe:

Of course, you can enjoy Randal Turner in our 2013 Barihunks Charity Calendar. He's appearing for the second year in a row and has an entire month dedicated to him: