MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WTVF) — With less than a week until the coronation of King Charles III, one group brought the celebration to Middle Tennessee a little early.
It was a packed house in Hinton Hall at MTSU where the Middle Tennessee Choral Society held a special concert in honor of the historic event.
"That first moment when there’s measures of orchestral build up to the first piece," said Musical Director for the Middle Tennessee Choral Society, Angela Tipps. "Then the choir and timpani and trumpet comes in with ‘Zadok the Priest’ and that is just a wonderful once in a lifetime moment."
‘Zadok the Priest’ was just one of several selections performed at the event. The group performed Handel’s Coronation Anthems which have been a part of British coronations for nearly 300 years.
"You know I’ll be able to tell my grandchildren that we did a concert when King Charles III was crowned," said Tipps. "So it’s something to pass on to generations, even if you’re not, you know, a Tory anymore."
The Choral Society was accompanied on stage by the Middle Tennessee Sinfonietta.
"George Frederick Handel wrote four anthems for King George II in 1727," said Tipps. "One of them, ‘Zadok the Priest’, the first piece of the concert, has been performed at every monarch’s coronation since it was written."
The Choral Society is composed of vocalists of all ages from across the mid-state. "It is adults, mostly, and it’s folks from all over the middle Tennessee area who love to sing," said the Choral Society's president, Mike Harris.
"Some of this is not easy to sing," said Tipps. "There’s a lot of really fast moving notes in some of them which our voices don’t generally do a lot."
The free event gave listeners the royal treatment of what's to come during historic event.
"We hope the audience will enjoy it as much as we enjoy singing it," said Harris.
If you missed the performance, you can watch a livestream of the performance here.
