Boston Baroque Performs Two Holiday Concerts—Messiah & New Year's

Boston Baroque’s 51st season continues with a return to two programs that have become beloved holiday traditions for many: Handel’s Messiah and a New Year’s Celebration. Audiences near and far will have the opportunity to join Boston Baroque for the holidays, as we welcome both in-person audiences and virtual audiences around the world via livestream on IDAGIO.

The Messiah performances will take place on Saturday, December 2nd at 7:30pm at GBH’s Calderwood Studio in Brighton, and Sunday, December 3rd at 3pm at NEC’s Jordan Hall in Boston. The Saturday 7:30pm performance will be streamed live on IDAGIO, and available to rent on-demand for 30 days following the stream.

Music Director Martin Pearlman’s GRAMMY®-nominated interpretation of Handel’s Messiah will be performed in its entirety with all three parts with an intermission. The organization presented the first Boston period-instrument performances of the complete oratorio in 1981. This year’s performances will feature an all-star cast of soloists, including the return of soprano Amanda Forsythe and mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford to the Boston Baroque stage, and the Boston Baroque debuts of tenor Karim Sulayman and baritone Roderick Williams.

The New Year’s Celebration performances will take place on Sunday, December 31st at 8pm at GBH’s Calderwood Studio, and Sunday, January 1st at 3pm at Harvard University’s Sanders Theatre. The 8pm performance on December 31st will be streamed live on IDAGIO, and available to rent on-demand for 30 days following the stream.

The program will marry beloved works with rarely-heard gems to ring in the New Year. Boston Baroque’s renowned orchestra will perform J.S. Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3, William Boyce’s Symphony No. 1, and two works by Heinrich Biber—Partita No. 1 and Battalia à 10. The program will conclude with two arias by Handel featuring soloists soprano Sonja Tengblad and Justin Bland on natural trumpet—“Eternal Source of Light Dive” from Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne and “Let the Bright Seraphim” from Samson.

Audiences near and far will have the opportunity to enjoy these concerts as we welcome virtual audiences around the world via our partnership with IDAGIO Concerts. Livestream director Matthew Principe will take the helm again, in partnership with GBH’s Production Group, bringing a sumptuous concert experience online with the carefully crafted camera angles and dynamic lighting. Through the streaming partnership with IDAGIO, Boston Baroque performances have been streamed on 6 continents across 55 countries.

Both in-person and livestream tickets are available for purchase online at baroque.boston or by calling the Box Office at (617) 987-8600. Livestream tickets begin at $9, and in-person tickets range from $25-$175. The virtual performance will become available to stream on-demand 30 days after the live air date, with on-demand rentals beginning at $9.

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