A radical reinvention of George Fredrick Handel’s Messiah the production fused together traditional and contemporary music, dance and carnival practices. The idea came from Geraldine’s desire to celebrate both her Caribbean and British roots.

It was first created with students at Bretton Hall, Leeds University where Geraldine was a lecturer and then performed at the West Yorkshire playhouse in 1999 and then in Trindad in 2003 and 2004.

Geraldine Connor described it like this:

“A spectacular musical showcase, featuring a multi-ethnic multitude of singers, musicians, masqueraders, dancers and actors …The excitement, music and colour of Carnival blended with Handel’s most inspiring and exhilarating melodies… Gospel, oratorio, soca, bhangra, jazz, reggae, hip hop and ritual theatre combined with towering, glittering carnival costumes and dancing mobiles… Caribbean rhythms and European classics mix with Yoruba ritual, Commedia del ‘arte, Islamic and Hindu cultural references, Pantomime, Masquerade, Street theatre and the liturgy of Christianity…”

It brought together over 150 local Leeds community performers, together with celebrated international artists, all on one stage with a backdrop of Harewood.

Now a cultural landmark in both Leeds and the Caribbean, Carnival Messiah set the tone for what would become Geraldine’s enduring legacy, one of equality, diversity, empowerment, and inclusion in society through the arts.

The production marked the climax of a year of events at Harewood in 2007 to commemorate the bicentenary of the Abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.