(Courtesy photo) Robert Long is music director of the Academy of Sacred Music. He was a guest conductor for the Lincoln Center Messiah Sing-In in 2001 and is director of music ministries and organist for Corpus Christi Parish in Chatham, N.J. He will conduct the Choral Institute’s presentation of “Messiah” July 25 in Altoona.

Think of Handel’s ‘‘Messiah’’ and the ‘‘Hallelujah’’ chorus comes to mind. The Advent and Christmas music sounds familiar around the holidays. Other music in the second and third parts of the oratorio are not heard as frequently but tell the rest of the story of Jesus the Messiah — the Passion leading to the Crucifixion and the aftermath of the Resurrection. Those parts (including the “Hallelujah” chorus) will be heard when the Academy of Sacred Music Choral Institute presents it annual concert. Each year the nonprofit choral institute gives regional vocalists the opportunity to spend three nights gaining instruction and then to present a performance. The concert will be held at 8 p.m. July 25 at First Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1401 12th Ave. Admission is $5. ‘‘Messiah’’ offers a challenge for musicians with a variety of solos and parts for choirs that aren’t usually performed in churches. That’s one of the reasons it was chosen for this year’s performance.