Highlights of fourth season under Artistic Director Jonathan Cohen include H+H’s third CitySing with Mendelssohn’s Elijah, the world premiere of a co-commission, Messiah with Conductor Laureate Harry Christophers, and Bach’s complete Brandenburg Concertos.
BOSTON | Founded on March 24, 1815 “to promote the love of good music and a better performance of it,” the Handel and Haydn Society is pleased to announce its 2026-27 Season.
In his fourth season as H+H Artistic Director, Jonathan Cohen will conduct five concerts, including the season opening performance of Handel’s L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, a world premiere performed with H+H Programming Consultant and countertenor Reginald Mobley, and the season finale, Mendelssohn’s Elijah featuring the third annual H+H CitySing, a program conceived by Cohen to invite members of Boston’s vibrant singing community to perform alongside the H+H Orchestra and Chorus.
Conductor Laureate Harry Christophers will lead H+H’s 173rd annual performances of Handel’s Messiah, guest conductor Jean-Marie Zeitouni leads Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, and award-winning director and violinist Rachel Podger returns for Bach’s complete Brandenburg Concertos.
Continuing a tradition of ringing in the New Year with music to celebrate freedom and honor progress in human rights, H+H looks forward to presenting its free Emancipation Proclamation Concert on December 31. This concert takes place each year on the eve of the anniversary of the Grand Jubilee Concert held in Boston in 1863 to celebrate the enactment of the Proclamation, at which H+H musicians performed. The H+H Youth Choruses will be featured at performances throughout the upcoming season and will host its signature Chorale Festival enrichment program for Boston-area public school chorus students in February.
“Like Handel’s contrasting dialogues in L’Allegro, this season offers a musical tapestry of celebration and reflection, of familiar works and new perspectives,” said Cohen. Season subscriptions, including popular create-your-own packages, are available now at HandelandHaydn.org.
The Art of Living Oct 2 + 4 at Symphony Hall
Artistic Director Jonathan Cohen opens H+H’s 212th Season with Handel’s inventive oratorio L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, a musical ode to the human spirit with text based on John Milton’s 1645 companion poems, L’Allegro (the cheerful man) and Il Penseroso (the pensive man). The H+H Orchestra and Chorus and guest soloists including soprano Joélle Harvey will be joined by Massachusetts Poet Laureate Regie Gibson who will read from Milton’s poetry and share new spoken reflections.
Handel’s Messiah Nov 27 + 28 + 29 at Symphony Hall
The Society’s 173rd consecutive performances of Handel’s Messiah will be led by Conductor Laureate Harry Christophers, whose long and treasured relationship with H+H has shaped many memorable performances with Boston audiences. Guest soloists soprano Hilary Cronin, countertenor Christopher Lowrey, tenor Robert Murray, and baritone Roderick Williams join the orchestra and chorus to carry on this beloved holiday tradition.
Baroque Christmas Dec 17 + 20 at NEC’s Jordan Hall
For the first time as Artistic Director, Jonathan Cohen conducts H+H’s annual Baroque Christmas concerts at Jordan Hall, this year a showcase of seasonal motets and suites by German composers Johann Vierdanck, Michael Praetorius, Johann Hermann Schein, and Heinrich Schütz. The program’s centerpiece is Schütz’s musical setting of the Nativity, Die Weihnachtshistorie (The Christmas Story), an H+H premiere. Period instruments including 17th‑century cornetts and sackbuts (early trombones) bring vivid, distinct sound to this festive concert.
Kiss and Tell: A World Premiere Jan 29 + 30 at NEC’s Jordan Hall
Cohen returns to Boston for a world premiere of a co-commission by H+H and Cleveland-based early music ensemble Les Délices performed with H+H Programming Consultant and countertenor Reggie Mobley. Kiss and Tell is a new myth-inspired cantata by composer Damien Geter with libretto by poet and scholar Tsitsi Jaji that explores the coded language of love and desire in bucolic poetry from the late 17th & 18th centuries. This work draws from Classical Greek (Apollo), Norse (Loki), West African (Anansi), and Japanese traditions to celebrate love and belonging across time and space.
Brandenburg Concertos Feb 19 + 21 NEC’s Jordan Hall
The Brandenburgs are back! Celebrated violinist Rachel Podger directs the complete Brandenburg Concertos, lively works that showcase Bach’s trademark chamber music dialogue and the dynamic ensemble playing for which H+H is celebrated.
Beethoven’s Fifth March 19 + 20 at Symphony Hall
To mark the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death (March 1827), H+H will welcome Edmonton Symphony Orchestra Music Director Jean-Marie Zeitouni to conduct the H+H Orchestra in Beethoven Symphony No. 5.
Haydn in Plain Sight Apr 2 + 4 at NEC’s Jordan Hall
Cohen leads the H+H Orchestra in a program of concertos by Haydn and C.P.E. Bach starring guest cellist Nicolas Altstaedt in his H+H debut. Also on the program is Haydn’s Farewell Symphony, allowing audiences to experience another aspect of historically informed performance—the unique, theatrical finale of this piece in which musicians leave the stage one-by-one, as they did when the symphony premiered in 1772 at the remote summer palace of Prince Nikolaus Esterházy.
Mendelssohn’s Elijah May 1 + 2 at Symphony Hall
The season wraps with a grand finale, Mendelssohn’s Elijah directed by Cohen and including members of choral ensembles from across Massachusetts selected for the third annual H+H CitySing alongside the H+H Orchestra and Chorus, H+H Youth Choruses Chamber Choir, and guest soloists. Elijah holds an important place in H+H history: the work has been performed 75 times, including for H+H’s first concert in the newly opened Symphony Hall in October 1900 and at H+H’s 100th and 200th anniversary celebrations.
About the Handel and Haydn Society
Boston’s Grammy-winning Handel and Haydn Society performs Baroque and Classical music with a freshness, a vitality, and a creativity that inspires all ages. Called “one of the most exciting ensembles of historically informed performances in the world” (OperaWire), H+H has been captivating audiences for 211 consecutive seasons (the most of any performing arts organization in the United States), speaking to its singular success at welcoming new audiences to this extraordinary music, generation after generation.
H+H performed the “Hallelujah” chorus from Handel’s Messiah in its first concert in 1815, gave the American premiere in 1818, and ever since has been both a musical and a civic leader in the Boston community. During the Civil War, H+H gave numerous concerts in support of the Union Army (H+H member Julia Ward Howe wrote “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”) and on January 1, 1863, H+H performed at the Grand Jubilee Concert celebrating the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation. Two years later, H+H performed at the memorial service for Abraham Lincoln.
H+H’s Orchestra and Chorus delight more than 76,000 listeners annually through concerts at Symphony Hall and other leading venues as well as radio broadcasts. Through the Karen S. and George D. Levy Learning and Education Program, H+H supports eight youth choirs of singers in grades 2–12 and provides thousands of complimentary tickets to students and communities throughout Boston, ensuring the joy of music is accessible to all. H+H provides deeply discounted tickets and hosts special events for undergraduate and graduate students and concertgoers under 40 through the H+H Masterpass and H² membership programs. H+H has released 16 CDs on the CORO label and has toured nationally and internationally. In all these ways, H+H fulfills its mission to inspire the intellect, touch the heart, elevate the soul, and connect all of us with our shared humanity through transformative experiences with Baroque and Classical music.