H+H to Celebrate Pride with WATER MUSIC at Symphony Hall in April

Welcome spring and celebrate Pride and community at Handel's Water Music, presented by the Handel and Haydn Society at Symphony Hall on Friday, April 10 and Sunday, April 12. H+H Artistic Director Jonathan Cohen leads the period instrument ensemble in this dazzling program of Baroque works featuring the first suite of Handel's Water Music. The program also includes selections from Lully's comedy-ballet Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (in which the composer himself danced in the final act of the 1670 premiere given for King Louis XIV); Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 and three fugues from his late work, Art of the Fugue; and a suite of instrumental dances and overtures by Rameau to be performed by H+H for the first time.

To open both concerts, students from Framingham and Silver Lake Regional high schools who participated in the recent H+H Youth Choruses Chorale Festival will take the stage with the H+H Orchestra to perform the celebratory coronation anthem, Zadok the Priest by Handel. This special performance will be led by H+H Resident Conductor Anthony Trecek-King.

Handel's Water Music was first performed in 1717 at a lavish Royal boating party hosted by King George I. Musicians played on a barge as it floated down the River Thames, delighting the crowds who lined the banks. Mirroring the festive, inclusive atmosphere of this work's premiere, H+H celebrates Pride at these performances. Concertgoers will have an opportunity to take part in activities with local queer-missioned and allied organizations throughout the hall including the Boston Gay Men's Chorus, Boston Public Library, Coro Allegro, and the Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce. In addition, H+H will welcome families enrolled in the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity Program (METCO), to Friday's performance, and Boston students and their families to Sunday's matinee free of charge in partnership with the City of Boston Family Days program. With instrument demos before each concert, families will enjoy learning about the period instruments that H+H musicians play up close.

“H+H is proud to be part of a vibrant, diverse community of musicians and music lovers,” said Lilee Dethchan-Beltran, H+H Acting CEO. “We welcome all to enjoy our third annual Pride celebration and METCO and Family Days concerts with inspired music that connects all of us with our shared humanity.”