2002–2003 season highlights from members of the Handel and Haydn Society Chorus and Orchestra

The Handel and Haydn Society Chorus and Period Orchestra are set to present a 2002-2003 season of celebrated masterpieces and musical gems. Grant Llewellyn’s second year as Music Director features masterworks by Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Mendelssohn and Beethoven. Programming also includes the popular jazz-crossover concert and a performance of French Baroque and period dance, featuring members of the acclaimed Boston Conservatory Dance Theater.

"I’m excited that the upcoming season will highlight the virtuosity and flexibility of our chorus in such an astounding range of repertoire—from the most delicate and intimate Renaissance motets for Christmas to the sonic blockbuster of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony." Associate Conductor and Chorusmaster John Finney says.

Season Opens With Bach’s Mass in B Minor

A season of glorious music from the Baroque and Classical eras commences on October 18 and 20, 2002 at Symphony Hall with Llewellyn conducting Bach’s Mass in B Minor. The Mass is one of soprano Gail Abbey’s favorite pieces. "I think it is one of the most challenging and inspired works ever written," she comments. "It encompasses a wide range of musical styles, textures and colors. The choruses are some of the most difficult I have ever encountered, and singing them with a chorus as expert as Handel and Haydn will be pure joy."

Audiences can expect a full season of historically informed performances, in which music is played on the instruments and with the styles and techniques available to the composers in their time.

"The Society Orchestra has a clean, pure and sweet sound that is unique to period instruments," remarks soprano and Educational Outreach Quartet member Susan Consoli. "It blends with the voices of the chorus to produce absolutely beautiful tones."
Period instruments, Abbey adds, are very "singer-friendly."

"By that I mean that the instruments compliment one another and blend together in a way that the result is something more than the sum of its parts. Their tone is so clear and pure that the intricacies of the music are allowed to come through. The Handel and Haydn Orchestra plays with a great deal of heart, and the instruments project that very directly to the audience."

“An English Christmas”

Llewellyn takes the baton for the annual holiday concerts at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall on December 20, 21 and 22. "An English Christmas" delves into works by Byrd and Tallis, as well as some traditional carols.

"I always look forward to the Jordan Hall Christmas concerts," Abbey says. "The combination of human voices singing incredibly beautiful music in this intimate setting will be magical."

Mendelssohn and Hogwood

On March 14 and 16, Conductor Laureate Christopher Hogwood leads Mendelssohn’s "Italian" Symphony and Weber’s Concertino for Horn with soloist James Sommerville, Principal Horn of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

"The ‘Italian’ Symphony reveals some great writing for the winds and timpani," relates timpanist John Grimes. "With modern orchestras, the strings stand out more, but with period instruments you get more of the full effect.”

Grimes continues: "The ‘Italian’ is also one of my favorite symphonies, especially the last movement—It’s extremely fast, so the orchestra and audience will have to hang on tight; It’s going to be a fun ride!"

Bach: Miniature Masterpieces

Associate Conductor Finney takes the podium for "Bach: Miniature Masterpieces" on March 28 at Jordan Hall and on March 30 at Sanders Theatre, Finney explores Bach’s "Missa Brevis in A Major" for chorus and orchestra, Cantata No. 196 ("Der Herr Denket an uns") and Sonata for Two Flutes and Continuo in G Major.

"I am personally looking forward to conducting Bach’s ‘Missa Brevis in A Major,’ an absolute gem among Bach’s shorter choral works," Finney shares. "It features the wonderfully transparent sonority of two Baroque flutes with a small string ensemble, gently supporting the exquisite vocal lines. It’s a piece I’ve been wanting to conduct for years, and I’m thrilled to have the chance to direct it with the Handel and Haydn Chorus and Orchestra."

Season Finale: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9

The Handel and Haydn Society closes the season with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Schoenberg’s brief Friede auf Erden on April 11, 12 and 13 at Symphony Hall. Llewellyn will be conducting Boston’s first period-instrument performance of Beethoven’s "Choral Symphony."

"I have played this piece on modern violin but am very much looking forward to the challenges Beethoven would have placed in front of me had I been a player approaching his score for the first time back in his day," says violinist Krista Reisner. "Beethoven really explores the boundaries of the instrument, which I am sure Grant will help bring to light."

New Members Join the Handel and Haydn Society Board

The Society is delighted to welcome two new members to the Board of Governors: Elizabeth P. Wax, of Brookline, and Ronald N. Woodward, of Marblehead. Bonnie Wax served on the 2001 Gala Committee, and through her tireless work as Co-Chair of the 2002 Gala Committee, helped raise more than $130,000 for the Society's education programs and new artistic initiatives. She is an award-winning artist and dedicated community volunteer, and is currently involved with many organizations in Brookline. She is an alumna of Wellesley College. Ron Woodward is a member of the Society’s Education Committee, and a big fan of Baroque music played on period instruments. He is a retired Executive Vice President, Treasurer, and Director of Addison-Wesley Longman, Inc., publisher of educational materials. He is an alumnus of Phillips Exeter Academy and Hamilton College. Both Bonnie and Ron have served on the Board of Overseers, and have been Handel and Haydn subscribers for over 10 years.

Handel and Haydn would also like to welcome three new members to the Board of Overseers: Amy S. Anthony, Executive Director and President of Preservation of Affordable Housing, Inc., of Brookline; Susan M. Stemper, Principal, Clark/Bardes Consulting, of Needham; and Sandra Sue McQuay, Legal Partner, Sullivan Weinstein & McQuay, of the South End.

A Festive Return for Christopher Hogwood!

Conductor Laureate Christopher Hogwood returned to Boston in April to conduct two performances of Handel's Ariodante in Symphony Hall. To welcome Mr. Hogwood back to the Handel and Haydn stage, a reception was held in his honor on Thursday, April 18, at the offices of Denneen & Company in Boston. Handel and Haydn Society Governor Mark Denneen, President and CEO of Denneen & Company, a consulting firm specializing in marketing, branding and growth strategy services, welcomed Handel and Haydn Governors, Overseers and members of the Society’s Conductor's Circle to a festive celebration. Tenor Jeffrey Thompson, who sang the role of Lurcanio in Ariodante, performed arias from the opera, accompanied by Michael Sponsetter on harpsichord.

Summer Activities of the Handel and Haydn Society Artistic Staff

Throughout June, Music Director Grant Llewellyn led performances of Mozart’s The Magic Flute with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. He also spoke at the Annual Luncheon for the 2002 Chorus America Conference held this June in Denver. At the invitation of Robert Spano, he will co-direct the Tanglewood Music Center Conducting Fellowship program from July to August.

Conductor Laureate Christopher Hogwood fulfilled engagements in France and Turkey during the month of June, including performances of Mozart’s "Fantasy for Mechanical Organ" K. 608, arranged by John Harbison. This summer he continues his clavichord playing and is working on his editing projects—Purcell’s "Keyboard Music" for the Purcell Society and the "Fitzwilliam Virginal Book" for Musica Britannica.

Associate Conductor John Finney conducted the modern premiere of Austrian composer Johann Bernard Staudt’s opera Patientis Christi Memoria (1685) on June 7 as part of a Jesuit conference at Boston College. The cast for this performance included a host of Handel and Haydn Society musicians, and Finney directed from the harpsichord and organ.

Concertmaster Daniel Stepner traveled to Leipzig, Germany in late June to serve as a judge in the International Bach Competition. Stepner will be occupied in July and August with the Aston Magna Festival, a period-instrument concert series in the Berkshires for which he serves as Artistic Director.

Did you know?

The Handel and Haydn Society boasts the largest subscriber audience of any period-instrument organization or choral group in the United States. That’s an amazing accomplishment considering there are so many outstanding musical ensembles performing in America today. Congratulations to Grant Llewellyn, Christopher Hogwood, John Finney and the many fine musicians of our Chorus and Orchestra.

Historical Tidbits

In 1880, a year before becoming the first Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, George Henschel performed with the Society; not as a conductor, but as soloist in Handel’s Messiah.

The first work by a female composer presented by Handel and Haydn was the premiere of Amy Marcy Beach’s Mass, Op. 5 in 1891. The concert was perhaps the first performance of a major work by a woman composer by a major organization in America. Beach is the only woman whose name is carved into the granite facade of Boston’s Hatch Shell.

Celebrated Boston sculptor, Thomas Ball, whose works appear in Boston Common, Central Park in New York and Lincoln Park in Washington, D.C., was also a singer of some distinction. He sang the title role in the Society’s first performance of Mendelssohn’s Elijah in 1848.

"The unique position of the Handel and Haydn Society as the parent musical organization of this country is well-known."
–Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919)

Hallelujah! Handel and Haydn’s Messiah reaches near and distant shores

From Bangor, Maine and Honolulu, Hawaii to Juneau, Alaska and Houston, Texas, approximately 500,000 enthusiastic radio listeners throughout the United States tuned in to their local NPR stations last December to enjoy Handel’s Messiah performed by Grant Llewellyn and the Society’s Chorus and Orchestra. Produced by SymphonyCast, these broadcasts of Messiah were part of a series that highlights notable symphonic events, including compelling celebrations of artistic, historic and musical significance.

Handel and Haydn Recording Reaches Top 10 Classical Billboard Charts!

Tavener’s Lamentations and Praises, featuring members of the Handel and Haydn Society Orchestra and the acclaimed vocal ensemble Chanticleer, reached the top 10 on Billboard Magazine’s Classical Charts last spring. Tavener’s work was co-commissioned by the Handel and Haydn Society, Chanticleer and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and received its world premiere in January.

Grant Llewellyn and Handel and Haydn on BBC Television

BBC Television traveled to Boston last December to shoot the documentary "Sounds Welsh: Grant Llewellyn" as part of a series featuring prominent Welsh artists. In addition to capturing footage of Llewellyn conducting the Society’s Orchestra and Chorus performing Messiah, the BBC also filmed this acclaimed musician enjoying a bike ride along the Charles River and Christmas shopping for his family in Faneuil Hall. "Sounds Welsh: Grant Llewellyn" aired on Welsh television in January and was broadcast throughout Britain in April on a new cultural program on BBC 4.

Handel and Haydn Society Executive Director Receives Award

Mary Deissler, Executive Director of the Handel and Haydn Society, was awarded the Michael Korn Founders Award at Chorus America’s annual conference last month in Denver. This award honors an individual with a lifetime of significant contributions to the development of the professional choral art. In addition to her duties at Handel and Haydn, Ms. Deissler sits on numerous boards and has served on the Board of Directors of Chorus America in many capacities since 1991, including President and chair of the Development and Finance committees. Her inspired leadership is credited with helping to re-define and re-build Chorus America as it entered the new millennium. Past winners include Ned Rorem, Robert Shaw and Alice Parker. Mary is the first arts administrator to be given this award. Congratulations, Mary!

Handel and Haydn Phonathon: It’s Their Calling!

A novelist, an antique dealer, an executive recruiter, a printer, two radio hosts, a variety of professional musicians and students from Boston’s many outstanding music schools all have one thing in common: They’ve all been among the ranks of the Handel and Haydn Society subscription team callers.

"I love Handel and Haydn and am a big fan of music performed on period instruments," says 7-year veteran Linda Kush, who is a printer by day and long-time recorder player and early music afficionado. "I think of our role as musical ambassadors for the Society."

Subscribers are the life-blood of any performing arts organization. These dedicated patrons not only provide an institution with a solid financial footing, but also bring enthusiasm, joy and passion to the concert experience. The Handel and Haydn Society has been fortunate over its history to attract a very loyal following of subscribers to the annual concert series. Since the late 1980's many have become better acquainted with Handel and Haydn and joined as subscribers through the annual summer phone campaign.

"I believe our annual Phonathons are unique in that we are represented by callers who themselves are avid Handel and Haydn concert-goers and fans," explains Marc Young, who has overseen the Society’s efforts since 1994. "We strive to have a warm, low-key approach in inviting the interest of our audience members. And, as a customer-friendly organization, we’re conscientious to make note of all patrons who have asked not to be called, and instead communicate with them by mail."

Several of the subscription team callers have represented the Society over a period of years, the longest-serving for a decade. Always a diverse group, they are united by their love of music, their appreciation for the Handel and Haydn concert experience, and their respect for the audience. States Barbara Fay, now in her eighth year representing the Society, "I attend the concerts throughout the season and make a point of learning about the repertoire that Handel and Haydn performs. I know the concert halls, I know what it’s like to be an Handel and Haydn subscriber, and I’m pleased to recommend it to one and all!"

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