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12/20/2017 07:30 AMWhen Branford Messiah celebrates its 30th performance on Friday, Dec. 22 at Branford First Congregational Church, organizers of the shoreline’s musical holiday rite will honor the artistry and dedication of Dr. Edward “Ed” Hull, who not only helped bring this amazing gift to the community, but has been the tenor soloist for every performance.
He’s a well-respected, multi-talented music professional, but as Ed humbly describes himself, “I’m a many-traded person, master of none!”
Ed was musical director at First Church in 1986 when the late Ettie Minor Luckey first shared her Branford Messiah vision with him. Together, they brought the very first powerful performance to Branford as a free community holiday gift, and that annual tradition has continued for three decades. Featuring a mix of professional musical talent and directorship and backed by a community-filled choir, Branford Messiah performs Part I of George Frederic Handel’s classical oratorio Messiah.
In 1986, Ed was in his second year as music director for First Church, having arrived in Branford from a music career that spanned both academia and professional performance. Ed spent more than a decade teaching at universities and another decade performing as a soloist, cantor, and with several opera companies in New York City. He and his wife, Diane, a classically and academically trained professional pianist and organist, met in New York City.
In 1984, they made the pilgrimage here from Memphis, Tennessee, where Ed had been serving as professor of music and voice tenor in residence at the University of Memphis. The Branford opportunity at First Church was a perfect fit in more ways than one. In addition to gaining Ed as music director, the church welcomed Diane as organist of the church’s impressive Flenthrop organ.
“We were very excited,” says Ed of arriving here in Branford, where the Hulls raised their four children. “What excited us was building the program with dance choir and bell choir. Then, two years after we got here, Ettie Luckey approached me about starting the [Branford] Messiah.”
Ettie couldn’t have known it, but Messiah plays a special role in Ed’s heart.
“My first Messiah was in 1959,” he says. “I was a student at Syracuse, and I was a baritone. Some of my earliest professional engagements were involved with the Messiah [and other] simple oratorios, so it’s a been a very special thing for me since 1959, and then 30 years as tenor with Branford Messiah.”
Ed sand as a baritone when he earned his doctoral degree in voice, but as his voice matured and through study with experienced teachers who help develop his repertoire, Ed found an extension on both ends of the voice, and become a tenor.
“I’m not a natural tenor, but a developed tenor,” he explains, noting a “wonderful” example of a developed tenor is famed Spanish tenor Plácido Domingo.
From the very start, with outstanding highlights such as Ed as tenor soloist, Branford Messiah consistently delivers a classic performance that fills the sanctuary with song and orchestral music enjoyed by an appreciative, capacity crowd. In addition to being Branford Messiah’s tenor soloist for 30 years, Ed directed the performance’s choir and vocal soloists for 15 years, even though he completed his music directorship with First Church in 1990.
“I did not stay at the church after 1990, but I stayed as part of Messiah. I began the program and stayed with it, and kept the program growing,” says Ed, adding, “I was quite enamored of the way it started. It was more of a local thing at the beginning, [but] the quality of the performance has always been consistently fine.”
Branford Messiah’s orchestra is populated by professionals from area symphonies and led once again by the renowned Dr. Roy Wiseman, currently serving as conductor of the Wesleyan University Orchestra.
“It’s a very strongly instrumented program,” says Ed. “This is a unique [Messiah] because it also has drawn on the Yale community and also the young professionals singers from [the University of Hartford] that come in.”
Vocalists joining Ed as soloists for the 30th performance include Lielle Berman (soprano), Rebecca Ringle Kamarei (mezzo soprano), and Jorell Williams (baritone).
Through his private Branford voice studio, which he directed for 40 years and concluded in 2010, Ed has helped many students develop their craft; many joined the community choir of Branford Messiah.
“Through the years, I developed quite a large voice studio, and it was a wonderful experience that I could draw from students,” says Ed.
Ed also directed the Branford Chorale for five years in the 1990s and was the voice/diction teacher for the New England Actors’ Theatre for six years, also in the ‘90s. During those years, he also took on what he says was his most profound experience in teaching.
“We had thought about going back to college [to teach] and I was offered a position back in Memphis in 1990, but we decided to stay here for our kids,” says Ed. “Then, an interesting program became available in Bridgeport, working with high school students in drama and voice. I took the position and kept it for 20 years. I just loved working with the kids, and I think they appreciated my foundational approach.”
Ed retired from his position with Bridgeport Public Schools in 2008, but not for long.
“They contacted me and said they were short a position in K to 3, so for two years I worked with the youngest kids, and it was wonderful. It brought them a kind of excitement I think was missing. Probably most rewarding years of my teaching was the opportunity to entertain and make music enjoyable for little kids, because they just love any kind of music. I tried to combine that with a good foundation and fundamentals.”
Working with young kids goes back to Ed’s college days and also his time as a college teacher.
“I became very interested in youth work,” says Ed. “I was a program director and camp director for YMCA for years and years, and that came back to roost when my kids became of camp age in Branford. I directed the Hamden Y Camp from 1986-’88.”
The Hull’s four children were “Montessori kids,” says Ed. All went on to participate in the music programs of Branford High School, their alma mater. The Hull kids are now in their early- to late 30s and enjoying remarkable success in their fields of choice. As with so many Branford families, the tradition of enjoying Branford Messiah brings them back together.
“I enjoy it immensely,” says Ed. “It’s been great not only for my family of six—my wife was also accompanist for it—but I know it’s also become a wonderful tradition for so many of my students and members of my choir who have sung it, and for the community of Branford.”
Branford Messiah’s 30th performance is Friday, Dec. 22, at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 1009 Main Street, Branford. The concert is free of charge and seating is on a first come, first-served basis. For more information, visit www.branfordmessiah.org.