H+H to Play 400th Performance of MESSIAH

The Handel and Haydn Society's historic Bicentennial Season reaches yet another milestone-the ensemble's 400th complete performance of George Frideric Handel's masterpiece Messiah. Premiered in full in the US by H+H in 1818 and performed for 161 consecutive years, Handel Messiah will receive its 400th performance during the weekend of November 28-30 at Symphony Hall. The holiday celebration continues with Holiday Sing, a participatory, family-friendly program of carols and choral music at Faneuil Hall's Great Hall, and A Bach Christmas, an intimate musical journey through Christmas past, from medieval plainchant to the 18th century.

One of the world's great interpreters of Handel, Harry Christophers promises to keep the experience of Messiah fresh for all listeners. "Messiah offers rewards whenever and wherever I perform the piece." says Christophers who has conducted the work well over 200 times. "It has to be taken for what it is: one of the greatest of all compositions, which demands total commitment and the best you can give to it. As a result, it never fails." A distinguished Anglo-American cast of soloists will join Christophers and the Period Instrument Orchestra and Chorus for this year's performances: soprano Joélle Harvey, countertenor Tim Mead, tenor Allan Clayton, and bass Brindley Sherratt.

The history of Messiah in America is inextricably linked to the Handel and Haydn Society: H+H performed selections of Messiah at its first concert in 1815 and gave the American premiere of the entire work in 1818. It began its annual practice of performing the oratorio in 1854, thereby initiating an unparalleled and unbroken American musical tradition. Under Christophers' direction, Handel and Haydn's nuanced, historically-informed performances have won glowing praise.

Also popular with audiences is the intimate holiday program A Bach Christmas. Full of choral gems such as Bach's Cantata 40 and the Cantata IV from the Christmas Oratorio, this year's program will be led by Scott Allen Jarrett, the music director of the Back Bay Chorale and Marsh Chapel. Corelli's appealing Christmas Concerto is just one of many highlights of this unique and creative program, featuring the Period Instrument Orchestra and Chorus.

On December 13 at Faneuil Hall's Great Hall, Handel and Haydn once again performs the family-friendly Holiday Sing, a participatory program for all ages. Lisa Graham, choral director at Wellesley College and a member of H+H's conducting faculty for ten years, conducts the H&H Chorus, brass quintet, and members of the Vocal Arts Program's Youth Chorus and Singers, Young Women's Chamber Choir, and Young Men's Choruses in Christmas carols and holiday music. The audience is enthusiastically invited to sing along.

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