The Handel and Haydn Society Period Orchestra plays on instruments from and in the style of the period in which the music was composed. This produces a unique sound and style. Handel and Haydn Soprano Gail Plummer Abbey notes: “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 Society Orchestra plays with a great deal of heart, and the instruments project that very directly to the audience.”

Some of the instruments played by members of the Period Orchestra were actually made during the Baroque and Classical eras. Others are modern replicas, painstakingly produced by master instrument makers from period examples. The Handel and Haydn Society Period Orchestra includes some of the finest period instrument musicians in the country, some traveling from New York, Washington, or Europe to perform.

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