When Fundador Morales III of Worcester lends his voice to a performance of Handel’s oratorio “Saul” on Oct. 3 and 5 at Boston’s Symphony Hall, he will not be alone.
The Handel and Haydn Society Orchestra and Chorus will be on stage, along with five guest soloists, the Handel and Haydn Youth Chorus and Chamber Choir, and the Handel and Haydn CitySing, a program that Morales joined in the summer.
That’s about 90 to 100 singers altogether, Morales noted during a recent conversation, along with an orchestra.
“I think it’s going to be massive,” he said.
The performances will be Morales’ first time with CitySing and the Handel and Haydn Society, as well as singing in Symphony Hall and being part of a chorus for “Saul.”
“I’ve never been part of anything like this,” he said. “I can’t wait to hear how Handel and Haydn is going to sound. How it’s going to feel. I don’t think I’m going to be able to stop smiling,” he said.
In fact, “I’m smiling about it (now) because I’m super excited.”
Fundador, who is originally from Boston, has lived in Worcester since 2005. Since 2018, he has been a police, fire and EMS dispatcher with the city’s Emergency Communications Department.
He’s proud of his job. As a dispatcher his responsibility is to help “keep residents safe,” he said. “We’re the first voice” a resident often hears if they have made an emergency call. “I wake up happy every day. I love what I do,” Morales said.
He maintains that positive attitude away from work, particularly about singing.
“I’ve done a lot of music stuff, singing at my church, the national anthem for the Worcester Red Sox. I sing all the time,” he said.
He has sung worship and gospel music, as well as pop music. “I like to sing at community events. I’ve always been pretty much a soloist. I’m excited to blend my voice, to be all one voice with the choir,” he said of the Handel and Haydn Society, widely known as H+H.
Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society will perform Handel’s oratorio “Saul” on Oct. 3 and 5 at Boston’s Symphony Hall.
“I’ve always wanted to sing with an organization like this. When I saw they were holding auditions I jumped right into it.”
Morales is one of about 30 singers from across Massachusetts selected for H+H CitySing, a program conceived by H+H artistic director Jonathan Cohen to “celebrate and showcase the vitality of the Greater Boston singing community and honor the ‘society’ spirit of H+H’s founding.” The program brings singers from the community into the H+H fold.
CitySing launched with H+H’s performance of Handel’s “Messiah” last season, but “Saul” will be Morales’ first performances with the program and H+H.
“I love their mission to be able to bring out their music to the community,” Morales said. “I love their style of work. I feel like they do a phenomenal job.”
The Handel and Haydn Society is entering its 211th consecutive season since its debut in 1815, the most of any performing arts organization in the U.S.
H+H performed the “Hallelujah” chorus from Handel’s” Messiah” in its first concert, and the American premiere in 1818. It has been both a musical and civic leader in the Boston community and gave numerous concerts in support of the Union Army (H+H member Julia Ward Howe wrote “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”) and performed at the Grand Jubilee Concert celebrating the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation. Two years later, H+H performed at the memorial service for President Abraham Lincoln. Today, H+H’s Orchestra and Chorus perform at Symphony Hall in Boston and other leading venues and runs programs supporting youth choirs (and free tickets for children) and the community.
“Saul” is a work that features dynamic arias and rousing choruses throughout. Cohen, in a news release, calls the work “a choral extravaganza.”
The oratorio brings to life the story of Israel’s first king, Saul, and his tragic demise. It opens with a celebratory sequence of choruses culminating in the victorious “Hallelujah” rejoicing at David’s victory over the Philistine champion Goliath. This marks the beginning of Saul’s descent into jealousy and madness, which cannot be soothed even by David’s soft harp in a moment of tenderness. The famous “Dead March” from Act III has been played at numerous state funerals over the centuries, from George Washington and Abraham Lincoln to Winston Churchill.
The Biblical-based text for “Saul” was supplied to Handel by librettist Charles Jennens, their first of several collaborations, including “Messiah”two years later
The guest soloists for the H+H performances are British bass-baritone Neal Davies singing the role of Saul, Rhode Island native countertenor Christopher Lowrey singing David, soprano Sarah Brady as Merab, soprano Julie Roset as Michal and tenor Linard Vrielink as Jonathan.
Countertenor Christopher Lowrey will sing the role of David in the Handel and Haydn Society’s performance of Handel’s “Saul” Oct. 3 and 5 in Boston.
“I’m really excited about this concert. I’m really excited to see how it comes together,” Morales said.
“It’s going to be one of the biggest choruses for Handel and Haydn, and we’re gonna be on that stage and we’re gonna sing with all these amazing singers.”
“Saul” was first performed in 1738, and “for us to be singing it in 2025 — the story behind it and the music behind it is powerful. It still has that effect,” Morales said.
When Morales found out he had been accepted into the H+H CitySing program, “I was really honored. I was super happy and excited. It was Christmas in July almost,” he said.
Rehearsals for “Saul” began Sept. 20 in Boston. Morales works 12-hour day shifts as a dispatcher, but he will be able to make it in.
“My co-workers are very supportive. They’re very excited, even about my rehearsals. A lot of my co-workers live vicariously through me, through my rehearsals.” He expects to see several of them at the Oct. 3 and 5 performances, he said. “Some of them are going to show up.”
Morales describes his singing voice as between a tenor and alto. As a member of a choir he will be part of a whole. “I’m super focused on it. When you’re in a choir you have the control you have to practice. I’m a little bit nervous because I want to give it the respect as a performing piece.”
Besides nerves on the days of the performances, there will be “a little bit of an adrenaline rush.” And Symphony Hall has great acoustics, he added.
Morales hopes to continue with H+H and CitySing after “Saul.”
“I would absolutely come back,” he said. “I would love to explore myself as a singer with them.”
He’s seen the “support from the staff at Handel and Haydn — talking to us about the music, teaching us and coaching us.”
Could his progress reach a point where he could envision being a soloist at a Handel and Haydn Society concert?
“I would probably need a medic in case I pass out,” Morales joked. “But I see myself solidifying myself with them as a singer. I’m there to practice and be better.”
Still, “doing a solo with them — oh, that would be awesome,” he added.
“Saul” – Presented by the Handel and Haydn Society
When: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 3; 3 p.m. Oct. 5
Where: Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Ave., Boston
How much: $15 to $112. 617-262-1815; handelandhaydn.org
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester dispatcher Fundador Morales to sing with Handel + Haydn Soc.
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