Reginald Smith Jr. (left) sings the title role in Mendelssohn’s Elijah featuring guest conductor John Morris Russell (right). (GRAPHIC COURTESY OF WINDSOR SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA/UNIVERSITY OF WINDSOR)
By John-Paul Bonadonna
When the Windsor Symphony Orchestra (WSO) presents Mendelssohn’s Elijah at the Capitol Theatre, audiences can expect more than a concert.
They will experience a sweeping, semi-staged musical drama — supported in part by the voices of the University of Windsor Singers.
Led by Conductor Laureate John Morris Russell (in honorary stead of the late Maestro Robert Franz), Elijah will be performed March 7 and 8.
Dr. Bruce Kotowich, University of Windsor interim director of the School of Creative Arts, will serve as chorus master.
For Russell, Elijah is nothing short of a masterpiece.
Composed by Felix Mendelssohn, the oratorio stands among the composer’s most ambitious and emotionally charged creations. Inspired by the choral traditions of Johann Sebastian Bach — whose music Mendelssohn famously helped revive in the 19th century — Elijah blends grandeur with intimacy in a retelling of the Old Testament prophet’s story.
“Elijah is perhaps one of the only biblical prophets revered across Christianity, Judaism and Islam,” Russell explains.
“It’s an extraordinary story of faith, courage and perseverance — and it could not be more timely.”
The oratorio format is often described as opera without staging. At the Capitol, the production features movement, processions and theatrical elements unfolding throughout the theatre.
“We’re using every available inch,” Russell says.
“It will completely surround you.”
Russell notes that the true engine of Elijah is the chorus, where the University of Windsor Singers play a defining role.
For students in the University of Windsor’s School of Creative Arts, performing alongside a fully professional orchestra offers an invaluable experiential learning opportunity. Russell describes it as both rare and transformative.
“This isn’t the case everywhere — that students get to work with a professional symphony orchestra as part of their collegiate experience,” he says.
“It’s unique and it’s something that should be celebrated.”
For students, the experience reinforces lessons that extend well beyond the stage.
Russell shares an analogy he often uses with students. In academic contexts, achieving 90 percent on a test earns an excellent grade. But in music, 90 percent simply won’t do.
“If every member of the orchestra walks in and gets a different 10 percent wrong, you have utter cacophony,” he says.
“Music teaches you that you must start at 100.”
The collaboration between the University and the Windsor Symphony Orchestra is longstanding. Many WSO musicians serve as faculty members and partnerships between the two institutions create a dynamic bridge between professional artistry and academic training.
In 2011, Russell was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Windsor in celebration of his service to the community and his role in cultivating partnerships between UWindsor and the WSO.
For Russell, returning to Windsor carries deep meaning.
He describes the city as holding a permanent place in his heart.
“It’s a homecoming,” he says.
“There is something about the heart of the people there and the extraordinary mosaic that it represents.”
That sense of community resonance is woven into Elijah itself — a story of standing firm amid adversity, of confronting misinformation and division and of holding fast to truth and faith.
In bringing together the Windsor Symphony Orchestra Chorus, the Classic Chorale, and the University of Windsor Singers, the production becomes more than a performance; it becomes a communal act of storytelling.
“It’s about raising us all up and recognizing the power we have within us,” Russell reflects.
“It renews our sense of coming together and creating art that will supersede any of these other things that are going on in the world.”
Tickets for Elijah are available through the WSO website at windsorsymphony.com.
John Morris Russell will also host an interfaith panel at the Alan Wildeman Centre for Creative Arts, Friday, March 6 at 11:30 a.m. Tickets for Faith, Trial, and Redemption discussion are also available on the WSO website.