Handel and Haydn Society
The Handel and Haydn Society is an American chorus and period instrument orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. Known colloquially as 'H+H', the organization has been in continual performance since its founding in 1815, the longest serving such performing arts organization in the United States.
Handel and Haydn Society
Recent history[edit]
With Hogwood, the society made its first appearance outside of the United States at the 1996 Edinburgh Festival.[56] H+H also presented a number of programs that linked the baroque tradition of improvisation to that of such contemporary jazz artists as Chick Corea and Gary Burton.[57]
Grant Llewellyn was music director from 2001 through 2006 and held the title of principal conductor for three seasons through 2009.[58] During his tenure, the society produced several commercial recordings, including Peace and All is Bright, and received its first Grammy Award for a collaboration with the San Francisco choral ensemble Chanticleer for the 2003 recording of Sir John Tavener's Lamentations and Praises.[59]
The society also entered into a multi-year partnership with Chinese director Chen Shi-Zheng starting in 2003, which resulted in fully staged productions of Monteverdi's Vespers (in 2003)[60] and Orfeo (in 2006) that Chen saw as the beginning of a cycle of Monteverdi's surviving operas and his Vespers. The 2006 Orfeo was co-produced by the English National Opera. Chen also directed a production of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas in 2005 for Handel and Haydn. In July 2007, the ensemble made its debut at the London Proms under Sir Roger Norrington.[61]
Harry Christophers first conducted the Handel and Haydn Society in September 2006 at the Esterházy Palace at the Haydn Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria, the society's first appearance on the European continent. He returned to the society for further guest-conducting appearances in December 2007 and January 2008. In September 2008, the society announced the appointment of Christophers as its artistic director, effective with the 2009–10 season, with an initial contract of three years. In September 2011, the society extended Christophers' contract for another four years, through the 2015–16 season.[62][63] In January 2019, the society announced that Christophers is to conclude his tenure as its artistic director at the close of the 2020–21 season.[64] In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Christophers formally concluded his tenure as artistic director in May 2022, and now has the title of conductor laureate with H+H.[65]
Since 2011, each concert season has featured masterworks the society premiered in the United States. In February 2011, it presented Handel's Israel in Egypt, the American premiere of which it gave on February 13, 1859. In March and April 2012, the society performed Bach's St. Matthew Passion. The society gave the complete American premiere of Bach's masterpiece in 1879. The group gave several concerts in California in the spring of 2013 and ended its 2012–13 season with Handel's Jephtha, a dramatic oratorio given its American premiere by H+H in 1867.[66]
In February 2020, Jonathan Cohen first guest-conducted H+H. Cohen returned for additional guest appearances in April 2022 and October 2022. In November 2022, H+H announced the appointment of Cohen as its next artistic director, effective with the 2023-2024 season, with an initial contract of 5 years.[67]
The Handel and Haydn Society's Karen S. and George D. Levy Educational Outreach Program provides music education to children in communities throughout eastern Massachusetts with several components:
The society selects the winner of its annual Candace MacMillen Achtmeyer Award, which extends the society's support to an outstanding senior who has participated for at least two years in the Vocal Apprenticeship Program (High School Soloists, Young Men's Chorus, Young Women's Chorus).[c]
The Barbara E. Maze Award for Musical Excellence extends the society's support to an outstanding VAP alumnus with a cash award of $2,000 given to a high school graduate who intends to continue professional vocal instruction. The award is named in honor of Handel and Haydn Society Governor Barbara E. Maze, who was instrumental in creating VAP. Ms. Maze was chair of the society's Cultural Diversity Committee, and a member of the Handel and Haydn Educational Outreach Committee. She was a retired Assistant Dean of Student Affairs for Boston University. Maze was the National Chairperson for the Leontyne Price Vocal Arts Competition, and President of Project STEP.