The Handel and Haydn Society to Honor Women with Every Voice Streaming Concert
Sunday, November 8, 2020 at 3:00PM ET
(Boston October 22, 2020) Members of the Handel and Haydn Society Orchestra and Chorus will celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage in America by honoring the incredible contributions of female composers with the Every Voice concert for peace and justice. Led by H+H’s new Programming Consultant Reginald Mobley, H+H’s beloved annual community concert will move online this year and feature music that celebrates the achievements of Queer Women, Women of Color, and Women of Boston. Every Voice will be available free of charge, Sunday, November 8, 2020 at 3:00PM. Subscribers and donors over $100 will automatically be sent a link for this performance. Others may access this concert by registering, with a suggested donation of $10, through the Handel and Haydn Society website at handelandhaydn.org/concerts/every-voice-2020/ .
This year’s program includes a tribute to Queer Women featuring the beautiful Venite, laetantes, Op. 20, No. 12, by famed Italian composer Isabella Leonarda, whom many scholars identify as queer. Next will be a celebration of female composers of color. H+H will perform Mari Esabel Valverde’s Prelude for piano in A-flat Major and Dr. Zanaida Stewart Robles’ “Kuumba.” The concert will also include works by Women of Boston including “A White Rose,” “Out of the South Blew a Wind,” and “Song to the Dark Virgin” by New England Conservatory trained composer Florence Price, and Amy Beach’s Improvisation No. 1 in A Major, Op. 148. Readings will also be performed with each section. The program will close with J. Rosamond Johnson’s “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” and a special livestream Q+A hosted by Emily Marvosh.
“With the 100th anniversary of Women’s Suffrage, we want to give power to women’s voices and draw attention to new composers that our audiences may not be familiar with,” said Emily Reed, Vice President of Education and Community Engagement for the Handel and Haydn Society. “The program showcases the diverse and unique contributions these incredible women have made to the performing arts world. The classical music world has traditionally focused on the contributions of men, but people who identify as women – including queer women and women of color – have been creating powerful music, all along.”
Performers on Every Voice will include Cassandra Extavour, soprano; Elise Groves, soprano; Emily Marvosh, contralto; Clare McNamara, mezzo-soprano; Reginald Mobley, countertenor; Jonas Budris, tenor; Stefan Reed, tenor; Jacob Cooper, baritone; Dana Whiteside, baritone; as well as Shirley Hunt, cello; and Julia Scott Carey, organ and piano. The H+H Youth Choruses Concert Choir is also performing, conducted by Jennifer Kane.
Every Voice is free and available to the general public. Interested listeners are asked to register online at https://handelandhaydn.org/concerts/every-voice-2020/. Future concerts will be available to general audiences and stream on Tuesdays at 3:00 PM ET and remain available to view for one month.
The Handel and Haydn Society’s 2020–21 Season Performances include:
Every Voice November 8, 2020 Streaming online
Glories of the Baroque November 24, 2020 Streaming online
Baroque Christmas December 22, 2020 Streaming online
The Magic of Handel TBD Streaming online
About the Handel and Haydn Society
Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society is dedicated to performing Baroque and Classical music with a freshness, a vitality, and a creativity that inspires all ages. H+H has been captivating audiences for 206 consecutive seasons (the most of any performing arts organization in the United States). Today, H+H’s Orchestra and Chorus delight more than 50,000 listeners annually with a nine-week subscription series at Boston Symphony Hall and other leading venues. Through the Karen S. and George D. Levy Education Program, H+H supports seven youth choirs of singers in grades 2-12 and provides thousands of complimentary tickets to students and communities throughout Boston, ensuring the joy of music is accessible to all. H+H’s numerous free community concerts include an annual commemoration of the original 1863 Emancipation Proclamation concert on December 31. The artistic director of the Handel and Haydn Society is Harry Christophers. Under Christophers’s leadership, H+H has released 12 CDs on the Coro label and has toured nationally and internationally. In all these ways, H+H fulfills its mission to inspire the intellect, touch the heart, elevate the soul, and connect us with our shared humanity through transformative experiences with Baroque and Classical music.
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