Boston Baroque Continues Holiday Traditions With MESSIAH And New Year's Concerts

Boston Baroque rings in the holiday season with two December programs that have become beloved holiday traditions for so many: Handel's Messiah and our New Year's Celebration concerts. This year's Messiah will take place on December 6th and 7th at 7:30pm at New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall. The New Year's Celebration concerts will be on Tuesday, December 31st at 8pm and Wednesday, January 1st at 3pm at Sanders Theatre at Harvard University.

Boston Baroque's entrancing orchestra, including concertmaster and recent GRAMMY- nominee Christina Day Martinson, and captivating chorus will perform Handel's cherished holiday oratorio twice this December. This year will feature an all-star cast of soloists, including Amanda Forsythe, soprano; Ann McMahon Quintero, mezzo-soprano; Thomas Cooley, tenor; and Andrew Garland, baritone. The holiday season is not complete without Boston Baroque's celebrated annual performances of the complete Messiah.

The New Year's Celebration program of Baroque sparklers is the perfect way to ring in the new year. A popular annual event at Harvard University's Sanders Theatre, this year will feature Corelli's Concerto Grosso No. 6, an orchestral suite by Rameau, a pair of Bach gems-his Concerto in D for Three Violins and Orchestral Suite No. 4 in D-and Vivaldi's glittering motet, "Nulla in mundo paz sincera" with soprano Maggie Finnegan. The tradition continues with complimentary champagne and chocolates to toast the end of one year, and the start of the next.

Single tickets begin at $25, and season subscriptions start at $81. Both may be purchased online at bostonbaroque.org or by calling the Boston Baroque offices at 617-987-8600.

ABOUT BOSTON BAROQUE

Boston Baroque is the first permanent Baroque orchestra established in North America and, according to Fanfare Magazine, is widely regarded as "one of the world's premier period- instrument bands." The ensemble produces lively, emotionally charged, groundbreaking performances of Baroque and Classical works for today's audiences performed on instruments and using performance techniques that reflect the eras in which the music was composed.

Founded in 1973 as "Banchetto Musicale" by Music Director Martin Pearlman, Boston Baroque's orchestra is composed of some of the finest period-instrument players in the United States, and is frequently joined by the ensemble's professional chorus and by world- class instrumental and vocal soloists from around the globe. The ensemble has performed at major music centers across the United States and performed recently in Poland for the 2015 Beethoven Festival, with sold-out performances of Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 in Warsaw and Handel's Messiah in Katowice.

Boston Baroque reaches an international audience with its twenty-five acclaimed recordings. In 2012, the ensemble became the first American orchestra to record with the highly-regarded UK audiophile label Linn Records, and its release of The Creation received great critical acclaim. In April 2014, the orchestra recorded Monteverdi's rarely performed opera, Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in patria, which was released on Linn Records and received two nominations at the 2016 GRAMMY Awards.

Boston Baroque's recordings have received six GRAMMY Award Nominations: its 1992 release of Handel's Messiah, 1998 release of Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610, 2000 release of Bach's Mass in B Minor, 2015 release of Monteverdi's Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in patria, and 2018 release of Biber's The Mystery Sonatas.