AMHERST — The “Messiah,” a pinnacle of choral music, reminds Justina Golden of the family Christmas of her childhood at her grandparents’ home in historic Deerfield.

“The first thing we would do is get a live tree, and once the tree was in place, my mother would put on a version of the ‘Messiah’ from the 1950s,” she said. “That music has been in my bones since I was a child.”

The piece, composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, also has special meaning for other Valley residents — Arianne Abela from her time as a Smith College student and Arcadia member to her position as Amherst College’s director of the Choral Music Program; and Hanif Lawerence, Smith College’s assistant director of Choral Activities, who sang the tenor solo movements, “Every Valley” and “Comfort Ye” for his undergraduate recitals at Alcorn State University.

These three musicians will once again experience the “Messiah,” only this time joined by a community of musicians, singers and holiday enthusiasts. On Sunday, Dec. 1, at 4 p.m., the Grace Episcopal Church in Amherst will host a Messiah sing to benefit the Sidney F. Smith Toy Fund.

Named after a former business manager at the Gazette, the Toy Fund began in 1933 to help families in need during the Depression. Today, the fund distributes vouchers worth $50 to qualifying families for each child from age 1 to 14.

The Messiah event — where audience members become a choir to accompany four soloists and a chamber orchestra — features Abela and her husband, Noah Horn, as conductors. The four soloists are Junko Watanabe, soprano; Golden, alto; Lawrence, tenor; and Paul La Rosa, bass.

“There is no rehearsal and it’s not a set ensemble that comes together every week or a professional group getting paid,” Abela said. “It’s the sheer joy of singing with others and singing this particular piece.”

Messiah sings are a Christmas tradition from 19th-century United States and Europe, and occur throughout New England during the holiday season. Last year’s Messiah sing at the Grace Episcopal Church filled every seat in the church with singers and string players of all ages and musicianship levels. The event, organized by Abela, Horn and Brit Albritton, raised $2,578 for the Toy Fund.

“I suspect that there are many many people singing along with the Messiah in their homes and in their cars the minute the season begins,” Golden said. “There’s something so extraordinary for people who are not routinely choral singers to walk into a room with 300 people, and it’s like everyone is in the car.”

Abela and Horn conducted the previous Messiah sing, and both will perform as soloists in the Arcadia Players’ Messiah sing, also at Grace Episcopal, on Dec. 21. Abela and Horn, known for his musical direction of the Boston-based Cantata Singers and the Grace Episcopal Church, often share the stage, specifically when Abela conducts Horn as a member of the Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble. Rarely, however, do husband and wife share the baton.

“We’ve shared the stage in different ways, but this is the only time we share the conducting of a piece, and it’s been really fun to do that,” Abela said. “We have such respect for each other’s musicianship, and honestly it just feels really natural to pass the baton to the other person.”

Golden missed last year’s Messiah sing, where she was also the alto soloist, due to illness, so she’s extra excited to get on stage this year. She’s sung, taught and conducted music in the Pioneer Valley since 1986 and founded Profound Sound Voice Studio in Florence.

“When all of us are singing, we become so many times the sum of our parts,” Golden said. “Most people don’t get to experience that on a daily basis.”

Hailing from Kingston, Jamaica’s capital, Lawerence had never heard of a Messiah sing before coming to Mississippi for college. He tours with choirs across the United States, Europe and the Caribbean; conducted at the 2024 Mississippi ACDA Summer Conference, and has sung with the Natchez Festival of Music and Opera Mississippi. This will be his first time as a soloist in a Messiah sing.

“I expect to see musicians, performers, musician educators across the Five Colleges there just enjoying this music and this experience,” Lawerence said. “Bringing the community together for a master work like that that they’ve at least heard, I think it’s going to be fantastic evening of music.”

To be eligible for the Toy Fund, families must live in any Hampshire County community except Ware, or in the southern Franklin County towns of Deerfield, Sunderland, Whately, Shutesbury and Leverett, and in Holyoke in Hampden County. The fund provides toys for children 1-14 years of age.

Vouchers will be redeemable at the following stores: A2Z Science and Learning Store, 57 King St., Northampton; Blue Marble/Little Blue, 150 Main St., Level 1, Northampton; High Five Books, 141 N. Main St., Florence; The Toy Box, 201 N. Pleasant St., Amherst; Comics N More, 64 Cottage St., Easthampton; Once Upon A Child,1458 Riverdale St., West Springfield; Plato’s Closet, 1472 Riverdale St., West Springfield; Sam’s Outdoor Outfitters, 227 Russell St., Hadley; Odyssey Bookshop, 9 College St., Village Commons, South Hadley; The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, 125 W. Bay Road, Amherst; World Eye Bookshop, 134 Main St., Greenfield; and Holyoke Sporting Goods Co., 1584 Dwight St. No. 1, Holyoke.

Emilee Klein can be reached at eklein@gazettenet.com.