It's ba-ack.

Yes, it's time for the annual appearances of Handel's Messiah. This December, there'll be at least four Messiahs in the Hamilton area: one from the Bach Elgar Choir, and then three from the Brott Festival (Dec. 15, 16, and 17).

But you'd figure that with Messiah's popularity, every solo singer under the sun would have sung it. Not so. Toronto born, Hamilton-based mezzo Mia Lennox-Williams will sing her first Messiah this Saturday at 8 p.m. in Melrose United Church, 86 Homewood Ave., with the Bach Elgar Choir, Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, and fellow soloists Agnes Zsigovics, Antonio Figueroa and Nathaniel Wiseman, all under Howard Dyck.

"I know all the arias (from Messiah)," said Lennox-Williams from the Dundurn Street home she shares with her husband, a Mohawk grad who works as a post-production editor at BNN. "I always thought I'd be doing Handel's Messiah before I do Bach, but it's turned out to be the opposite."

Lennox-Williams has already sung Bach under such noted conductors as Seiji Ozawa and Helmuth Rilling. She's scheduled to do two other Messiahs later in December, one with the Kingston Symphony and another in Peterborough with former BEC conductor Ian Sadler.

Lennox-Williams auditioned for Dyck back on Feb. 28. As she recalled, the pianist didn't show up, so Dyck had to play the piano part himself. He took one listen to Lennox-Williams and hired her on the spot.

"I was immediately struck by Mia's poise and professionalism, not to mention her beautiful voice, substantial yet flexible, perfect for Handel," wrote Dyck in an e-mail to The Spectator from Saint John, N.B., where he is conducting a series of Messiahs in that province.

A couple of hours after her audition, Lennox-Williams boarded a plane for London where she studied with Martin Isepp and renowned mezzo Yvonne Minton for three months, courtesy of an $11,000 Canada Council grant.

Lennox-Williams admits that Messiah is "done a lot," but she feels that, "culturally, we all want to hear the Hallelujah Chorus at some point.

"There's something about Messiah. It's the tradition that people really like. People go every year to see Messiah. I'm very happy to do it in my hometown."

Tickets are $30, seniors $25, students $15. Call 905-527-5995.

Hometown conductor Sabatino Vacca will be at the helm of Symphony Hamilton as it welcomes renowned Italian-Canadian tenor Ermanno Mauro, Friday, at 8 p.m. for its Family Christmas Concert at Cathedral of Christ the King, 714 King St. W.

In his heyday in the late 1960s to the early 1980s, Mauro sang at Covent Garden, La Scala, the Met, New York City Opera, Vienna State Opera, San Francisco Opera and Canadian Opera Company, among many others.

Mauro's set with SH will include Christmas chestnuts such as Gesu Bambino, and O Holy Night. Other guests include trumpeter Adam Zinatelli and violinist Jeremy Trainor, both Young Artist Competition winners.

The concert will be repeated on Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Royal Botanical Gardens, 680 Plains Rd. W., Burlington. Advance tickets for either show are $25, student-senior $12, child $5. Tickets at the door are $28, student-senior $15, child $5. Call 905-526-6690.

Another chestnut that's often trotted out shortly after Christmas is the opera Hansel und Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck (no, not the British performer).

The Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts' Opera Workshop will present the work Saturday at 7 p.m. in the HCA Concert Hall, 126 James St. S., with a repeat performance the following night at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $12, though children 12 and under are free. The HCA's Yamaha grand will get quite the workout this weekend. All the more so, since Russian-Canadian pianist Alexander Tselyakov will be in recital at the Conservatory on Sunday at 2 p.m. performing sonatas by T. Patrick Carrabre, Rachmaninov, Beethoven and Liszt.

Tickets are $27, senior $22, and student $15. Call 905-528-4020.

Leonard Turnevicius is a music educator and organist.