What is the Children’s Messiah?

Our Children’s Messiah performances take place every December and are specially crafted with young ears in mind! Guided by Mr Handel himself, this specially devised 45-minute adaptation of Handel’s masterpiece will guide young listeners through some of his greatest hits, with plenty of fun and interactive games along the way.

For many children this may be their first introduction to the concert hall — and we want it to be a transformative experience. Get to know our soloists, conductor, chorus and orchestra, as well as the music that we love to perform. And who knows, there might even be the chance for some brave audience members to conduct the orchestra themselves…

‘The children loved it – especially conducting! It was so well planned and the performances – especially from Handel himself – were brilliant and aimed at young people without playing down to them. It is a perfect introduction to choral music.’

‘The concert was very powerful and inspiring! The children enjoyed it, and were blown away by the vocalists in particular. I don’t think many of them had heard singing like that before.’

Accessibility

Our Children’s Messiah performances are presented with British Sign Language. We also have team members trained in BSL who will be happy to assist you during your visit. We are also pleased to offer social stories for our Children’s Messiah events, so that we can better welcome people on the autism spectrum and their families.  If you have further questions regarding access, you can visit our accessibility page, or contact our accessibility lead, Amy Strachan, on amy@dunedin-consort.org.uk.

‘I’ve been to a lot of events that cater for BSL users and this one was by far the best that we have experienced! It was absolutely fantastic.’

Our Children’s Messiah performances in Scotland are generously supported by Baillie Gifford.