Guest Conductor Richard Egarr to Showcase Mozart and Beethoven in H+H Concert, 2/13-14

Youth is the underlying theme of the Handel and Haydn Society's next series of concerts as it presents the early compositions of two giants of the Classical era, Mozart and Beethoven. In addition, the program will feature the young singers of H+H's Collaborative Youth Concert (CYC) initiative.

"We have a fascinating program of firsts: Mozart's first Mass, composed at the extraordinary age of 12, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 1 in C Major," says guest conductor Richard Egarr. "The familiar Beethoven should still surprise, and the unfamiliar Mozart will surely satisfy."

Beethoven began work on his first symphony while in his 20s -- the start of his legendary revolution in symphonic form. Mozart's seldom-performed Mass in C Minor, K. 139 is known as the Waisenhausmesse (Orphanage Mass) because it is presumed the work received its premiere at the 1768 dedication of an orphanage church in Vienna.

"This program is a marvelous trip into C major as described by these two masters," says Egarr. "Mozart's Waisenhausmesse certainly has sunny, festive aspects, but takes in contrasts of triumph and deep pathos along the way. Beethoven's first symphonic essay also brings a shining lightness, but of course as always with Beethoven there is wit and humor in all degrees and forms."

The British-born Egarr, music director of the famed Academy of Ancient Music and a sought-after fortepianist, harpsichordist and chamber music performer and coach, continues his survey of Beethoven symphonies with the Handel and Haydn Society. Since his H+H debut in 2008, he has proven to be a popular conductor with Boston audiences. Egarr most recently led the Period Instrument Orchestra in performances of Beethoven Symphony No. 4 in January 2014. For this upcoming program, he will also conduct H+H Chorus in the Mozart Mass. Soloists hail from the Chorus: soprano Sonja DuToit Tengblad, alto Emily Marvosh, tenor Stefan Reed, and baritone David McFerrin.

Other choral music will introduce performances on February 13 and 14. On those dates, H+H will present young singers from eight Boston-area high school choruses in this year's Collaborative Youth Concert initiative. Part of the Karen S. and George D. Levy Education Program, CYC encompasses joint rehearsals between students and H+H professionals and culminates in performances on the concert stage. This year, conductor Lisa Graham will lead students from Boston Arts Academy, Boston Latin School, Brockton High School, Lawrence High School for the Performing Arts, Lynn Classical and Lynn English High Schools, Norwood High, and Peabody Veterans Memorial High School in two movements from Joseph Haydn's Missa brevis Sancti Joannis de Deo.

CONCERT DETAILS:

Mozart and Beethoven

Friday, February 13 and Saturday, February 14, 7.30pm and Sunday, February 15, 3pm

NEC's Jordan Hall

Richard Egarr, conductor

Period Instrument Orchestra and Chorus

Beethoven's Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21

Mozart's Mass in C Minor, K. 139, Waisenhaus

For Friday and Saturday performances:

Collaborative Youth Concert Choruses (from Boston Arts Academy, Boston Latin School, Brockton High School, Lawrence High School for the Performing Arts, Lynn Classical and Lynn English High Schools, Norwood High, and Peabody Veterans Memorial High School)

Lisa Graham, conductor

Two movements from Haydn's Missa brevis Sancti Joannis de Deo.

Tickets from $22. Tickets to Mozart and Haydn, along with other subscription concerts, are on sale at the Handel and Haydn Society Box Office by phone at 617 266 3605, online at www.handelandhaydn.org, or in person at 9 Harcourt St. Boston (M-F 10am-6pm). Subscriptions to the 2014-2015 Bicentennial Season are still available. Options include a six-concert series as well as "Choose Your Own" packages.

RELATED EVENTS:

Pre-Concert Conversation

Led by Teresa W. Neff, Historically Informed Performance Fellow

Friday, February 13 and Saturday, February 14, 6.30pm and Sunday, February 15, 2pm at NEC's Jordan Hall

Free with concert tickets

H2 Young Professionals After-Party

Friday, February 13, 2015 after the performance

Tentative location: Haru Restaurant, 55 Huntington Avenue, Boston

Audience members who are young professionals or young professionals at heart are invited to attend.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES:

RICHARD EGARR, CONDUCTOR - Richard Egarr is equally happy conducting, directing from the keyboard or playing concerti (on organ, harpsichord, fortepiano or modern piano), giving solo recitals, playing chamber-music, and indeed talking about music at every opportunity. Music Director of the Academy of Ancient Music since 2006, Egarr has further renewed his contract to 2017. Plans with the AAM include a Monteverdi opera cycle at the Barbican Centre where they are an Associate Ensemble. Early in his tenure, Egarr established the Choir of the AAM, and operas/oratorios lie at the heart of his repertoire; in 2010, he conducted Mozart's opera La finta giardiniera in concert at the Barbican Centre and the Theatre des Champs-Élysées. He made his Glyndebourne debut in 2007 conducting a staged version of Bach's St. Matthew Passion.

Egarr has a flourishing career as a guest conductor with orchestras ranging from the London Symphony to the Royal Concertgebouw and Philadelphia orchestras. He has been Principal Guest Conductor of the Residentie Orchestra in The Hague since September 2013, conducting a Beethoven symphony cycle and staged Handel oratorios over several seasons. In 2011, he was appointed Associate Artist of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in recognition of his growing relationship with the ensemble.

Egarr continues to play solo recitals across the world, returning to the Wigmore Hall in 2014 and to Carnegie Hall in February 2015, when his program includes Bach's English Suites and Handel's Great Suites, as featured on his two latest releases for Harmonia Mundi. His growing list of recordings with the Academy of Ancient Music includes seven Handel discs (2007 Gramophone Award, 2009 MIDEM and Edison awards), and most recently J.S. Bach's Orchestral Suites, released on the AAM's own label in November 2014.

COLLABORATIVE YOUTH CONCERTS - Collaborative Youth Concerts bring together high school choruses from various public school districts to master challenging repertoire by the iconic composers Bach, Handel, Haydn, and Mozart, and perform with members of H+H's Period Instrument Orchestra and Vocal Quartet. The concerts give students the opportunity to work with professional musicians and perform with them in their own schools for their peers, teachers, families, and community members. Students learn repertoire throughout the first semester of the school year, coach with H+H musicians in January -- focusing on historically informed performance and style -- and perform together in February.

These concerts are part of H+H's Karen S. and George D. Levy Education Program. Established in 1985, the program reaches 10,000 students through its five components: Vocal Quartet school visits, Collaborative Youth Concerts, coaching and masterclasses, school partnerships, and the Vocal Arts Program (VAP), which includes five youth choral ensembles for students in grades 3-12 and pre-professional vocal training for high school students.

H+H is the only professional music organization in Massachusetts that serves as a parent to its own youth ensemble program and regularly presents its students in conjunction with its professional series. Additionally, VAP is the only youth ensemble program in New England that includes instruction in musicianship for all students and individualized scholarships for vocal instruction, diction, and other classes for potential music majors.

LISA GRAHAM, CONDUCTOR - Lisa Graham is thrilled to be joining the Handel and Haydn Society's Bicentennial Season in the Collaborative Youth Concerts. An active participant in the musical life of the greater Boston area, she previously conducted Handel and Haydn's Young Women's Chorus from 2002-2011. She is in her eleventh year as Music Director of the Metropolitan Chorale, who recently toured for a second season with the Boston Pops for their holiday concerts. Dr. Graham is the Evelyn Barry Director of Choral Programs at Wellesley College, where she conducts the Wellesley College Choir, Chamber Singers and Choral Scholars in addition to teaching academic courses in the Music Department. Prior to her arrival in the Boston area, Dr. Graham was on the conducting faculty at California State University Northridge. She also taught conducting at the University of Southern California where she earned her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts Degrees.

ABOUT THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY - Founded in Boston in 1815, the Handel and Haydn Society (H+H) is considered America's oldest continuously performing arts organization. H+H celebrates its Bicentennial in 2015 with a series of special concerts and initiatives to honor 200 years of music making. Under Artistic Director Harry Christophers' leadership, H+H's mission is to enrich life and influence culture by performing Baroque and Classical music at the highest levels of artistic excellence, and by providing engaging, accessible, and broadly inclusive music education and training activities. H+H's Period Instrument Orchestra and Chorus present live and recorded historically informed performances of this repertoire in ways that stimulate the musical and cultural life of the Greater Boston community and beyond.

H+H's esteemed tradition of innovation and excellence began in the 19th century with the American premieres of Handel's Messiah, Haydn's Creation, Verdi's Requiem, and Bach's St. Matthew Passion. Today, H+H is widely known through its local subscription series, tours, concert broadcasts on 99.5 WCRB and National Public Radio, and recordings. H+H's first recording with Harry Christophers, Mozart Mass in C Minor, was issued in September 2010 on the CORO label. Subsequent releases include Mozart Requiem (2011), and Coronation Mass (2012), as well as the critically acclaimed Haydn, Vol. 1 (September 2013), the best-selling Joy to the World: An American Christmas (October 2013), and Handel Messiah (October 2014).

As a 21st-century performing arts organization, H+H's primary roles are to perform and educate, and to serve as a resource center and community partner. The Karen S. and George D. Levy Education Program, established in 1985, reaches 10,000 children each year in underserved Greater Boston communities. H+H also maintains partnerships with cultural and higher educational institutions.