H+H News

A shocking discovery that its namesake composer Handel may have benefited from the slave trade led the Handel and Haydn Society to embark almost simultaneously on a research project and an act of musical restitution, “Crossing the Deep,” which is playing this weekend at Jordan Hall in two sold-out performances.

When Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society found records detailing iconic composer George Frideric Handel’s ties to the slave trade, it responded in a way only the organization could: through music and performance.

Two weeks into my widowhood, I ventured out to hear the Handel & Haydn Society’s 538th iteration of Handel’s Messiah. A wise decision.

The Handel and Haydn Society was originally founded as a large community chorus, and this year, over 50 additional teen and adult singers will join the performance.

When Handel and Haydn Society artistic director Jonathan Cohen travels, it is often for work. But the 46-year-old Manchester, England, native said that even if his travels were not tied to work obligations, music would be a big part of his journeys. Read More