Handel and Haydn Society Welcomes Violinist Aisslinn Nosky in Concert This Weekend

As part of its Bicentennial Season, the Handel and Haydn Society is proud to present a program dedicated exclusively to one of its namesake composers, Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). Canadian-born virtuoso Aisslinn Nosky, concertmaster of the Handel and Haydn Society since 2011, leads the charge as soloist and leader in Haydn's rarely-performed Violin Concerto in C Major, a work that wasn't published until the 20th century. Nosky will join the Period Instrument Orchestra and Artistic Director Harry Christophers in Haydn's Symphonies No. 7 (Le Midi) and 83 (La Poule), as well as the Overture to Lo Speziale.

"Haydn's C Major Violin Concerto has always been a favorite of mine," says Nosky, "and I am extremely excited for the opportunity to bring it to life." Uniformly praised by critics and audiences for her skill and verve, Nosky received this tribute from The Boston Globe's Jeremy Eichler in an April 2013 review: "[Her] playing was distinguished not only by her dance-like physical exuberance, but also by a sense of style and of fantasy that helped lift the virtuosic music at hand above any sense of mere passagework."

Haydn, who was known as "The Father of the Symphony," was actually the master of many forms, including the string quartet and concerto. In this program, one can witness Haydn's development from his early symphony Le Midi, written in 1761, shortly after Haydn joined the court of his then-employer Prince Esterházy, to his much later Paris symphony La Poule (The Hen). The Symphony No. 83 has been nicknamed "The Hen" because of a clucking dotted-note motif that first appears in the oboe against a jerky theme played by the violins.

Rounding out the program is the overture to Lo Speziale (The Apothecary). Premiered in 1768 at the Esterházy court, it was Haydn's third opera.

The concert will be recorded live for commercial release on the CORO label in 2016. The recording will expand H+H's catalogue of works recorded under Harry Christophers, joining the recently recorded Handel Messiah, Joy to the World: An American Christmas, and Haydn Vol. 1. The CORO label was launched in 2001 to record founder and conductor Harry Christophers' UK-based ensemble The Sixteen.

CONCERT INFORMATION:

Haydn with Aisslinn Nosky

Friday, January 23, 7.30pm and Sunday, January 25, 3pm at Symphony Hall

Harry Christophers, conductor

Aisslinn Nosky, violin and leader

Period Instrument Orchestra

Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Hob. I:7, Le Midi

Violin Concerto in C Major, Hob. VIIa: 1

Overture to Lo Speziale, Hob. Ia: 10

Symphony No. 83 in G Minor, Hob. I:83, La Poule (The Hen)

Tickets from $22. 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, January 23 at 6.30pm and Sunday, January 25 at 2pm at Symphony Hall's Higginson Hall
Free with concert tickets

H2 Young Professionals After-Party

Friday, January 23, 2014 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.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

HARRY CHRISTOPHERS, CONDUCTOR - The 2014-2015 Bicentennial Season marks Harry Christophers' sixth as Artistic Director of the Handel and Haydn Society. He has conducted Handel and Haydn each season since September 2006, when he led a sold-out performance in the Esterházy Palace at the Haydn Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria. Christophers' tenure as Artistic Director began with the 2009-2010 Season. Christophers and H+H have since embarked on an ambitious artistic journey with a showcase of works premiered in the United States by the Handel and Haydn Society over the last 199 years, and partnered with the CORO label to produce a series of recordings leading to the 2015 Bicentennial. Christophers is founder and conductor of the UK-based choir and period-instrument ensemble The Sixteen. He has directed The Sixteen throughout Europe, America, Australia, and the Far East, gaining a distinguished reputation for his work in Renaissance, Baroque, and 20th-century music.

Harry Christophers is principal guest conductor of the Granada Symphony Orchestra and a regular guest conductor with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and the Orquestra de la Comunidad de Madrid. In October 2008, Christophers was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Music from the University of Leicester. Most recently, he was elected an Honorary Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford and also of the Royal Welsh Academy for Music and Drama. He received a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) from the Queen of England in 2012 for services to music.

AISSLINN NOSKY, VIOLIN AND LEADER - Aisslinn Nosky, who was appointed Concertmaster of the Handel and Haydn Society in 2011. Is directing her second H+H program after April's critically acclaimed Mendelssohn's Library. With a reputation for being one of the most dynamic and versatile violinists of her generation, Nosky is in great demand internationally as a soloist, leader, and concertmaster. Recent collaborations include the Thunder Bay Symphony, the Lameque International Baroque Festival Orchestra, Arion Baroque Orchestra, the Calgary Philharmonic, Collegium Musicum Hanyang, and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.

Nosky is also a member of I FURIOSI Baroque Ensemble. For over a decade, this innovative Canadian ensemble has presented its own edgy and inventive concert series in Toronto and toured Europe and North America drawing new audiences to Baroque music. With the Eybler Quartet, Nosky explores repertoire from the first century of the string quartet literature on period instruments. The Eybler Quartet's latest recording of Haydn's Opus 33 string quartets was released to critical acclaim in 2012, as well as her 2013 CORO recording of Haydn's Violin Concerto in G Major with the Handel and Haydn Society.

Since 2005, Nosky has been a highly active member of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and has toured and appeared as soloist with this internationally-renowned ensemble.

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 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) and the best-selling Joy to the World: An American Christmas (October 2013). Special CDs recorded for the Bicentennial include Handel Messiah (currently on sale) and Haydn The Creation (scheduled for October 2015).

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.