Handel Messiah

Following their sell-out tour in 2023, Wild Arts brings their trademark fresh and innovative approach to Handel's legendary telling of the Christmas story to Carlisle Cathedral for the first time.

The period specialist players of the Wild Arts Ensemble join the star singers of the summer opera tour for an innovative version that will bring the music and story to life. Staging will be performed by the company tailored to each venue from a framework devised by theatre and opera director Tom Morris (Breaking the Waves, Dr Semmelweis, War Horse), with Wild Arts' Artistic Director Orlando Jopling directing from the keyboard.

Lucy Hall & Natasha Page soprano
Catherine Backhouse & Martha Jones mezzo
Guy Elliott & Sam Marston tenor
Timothy Nelson baritone
Edward Hawkins bass

Sijie Chen & Gabriella Jones violin
Hannah Shaw viola
Reinoud Ford cello
Kate Brooke bass
Joel Raymond & Geoff Coates oboe
Chris Rawley bassoon
Brendan Musk & Sam Lewis trumpet
Tom Lee timpani
Orlando Jopling harpsichord

You are welcome to arrive from 6.30pm and the performance will start at 7pm.

Drinks: The Cathedral Café will be open to serve pre-concert and interval drinks on the night of the performance. 

Duration: approx. 2 hours 30 minutes including interval

£50 |£40 | £35 | £30 | £25 | £20 |£15 | £15 for under 25s

The Cathedral is fully accessible. Wheelchair space is provided in rows M & N, and your ticket includes a free carer seat alongside. Please email us at info@wildarts.org.uk for any access or seating questions and we would be very happy to help.

The institution now known as Carlisle Cathedral came to life in 1122, during the reign of King Henry I, as a community of Canons Regular. Initially it was a monastic church, built possibly on the foundations of an earlier church, in the Norman architectural style – i.e. with solid masonry, large round piers, round arches and smallish round-headed windows.

These features may still be seen in the south transept and the remaining two bays of the nave, which are now used as the Chapel of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment. Many large churches of Augustinian foundation were built in England during this period as the Archbishop of Canterbury, William de Corbeil, was a member of the order. Carlisle was the only Augustinian Priory that also served as a Cathedral before the Reformation.

While the Cathedral was first built in the 12th century, the ceiling's main timbers date from 1400 - put in place following a devastating fire in 1292. The decorative scheme dates from Ewan Christian’s restoration of the Cathedral 1853-6. The style follows the medieval original, but the detailed design and colour (angels and stars) was the work of Owen Jones (1809-1874), one of the great decorative artists of the day.