Handel and Haydn Society Receives Anonymous $1 Million Gift

The Handel and Haydn Society has received an anonymous gift of $1 million to support long-term priorities, including five-year strategic initiatives, Bicentennial events, and the endowment. This gift, from a donor outside the Board, comes as the organization approaches its Bicentennial in 2015. The funding will also help ensure greater financial strength and health in the organization's future.

"This extraordinarily generous gift will enable our ambitious strategic initiatives and Bicentennial celebrations to have a widespread impact on the community of Boston," said H&H Board Chairman Nick Gleysteen. "It will also build the endowment to sustain Handel and Haydn's growth and deepen our impact on a broader audience for many years to come."

The Handel and Haydn Society will celebrate its Bicentennial with signature choral presentations and special programs throughout Boston and nationally. This recent gift will help, in part, improve and create wider public awareness for educational initiatives that currently reach over 10,000 children a year. These programs are specifically designed to help inspire a lifelong love of singing, build new audiences for Baroque and Classical music, and foster the music educators and performers of the future.

"We are extremely grateful to this donor for their expression of confidence in the work H&H is doing, both artistically and in terms of community and educational outreach," said H&H Executive Director and CEO Marie-Hélène Bernard. "As we enter our 200th season in the fall, H&H will be one of Boston's most exciting musical destinations."

This $1 million donation comes just over a year after the organization announced receipt of its first-ever million-dollar gifts, from Wat and Jane Tyler and Karen Levy.

On January 6, the Handel and Haydn Society welcomed Jan Miner as Major Gifts Officer, a position that had been foreseen by the organization in its 2012 strategic plan. Jan Miner brings over 30 years of experience, having served more recently as Director of Development for the Cambridge School of Weston and Boston Lyric Opera. She has also held senior development positions at Dimock Community Health Center (Roxbury) and Simmons College.

In other personnel news, Handel and Haydn Society Artistic Director Harry Christophers is delighted to make two promotions within the Period Instrument Orchestra: violinist Christina Day Martinson as the new Associate Concertmaster and violinist Susanna Ogata as Assistant Concertmaster. They will join Concertmaster Aisslinn Nosky in an important leadership role within the violin section.

Born in Saskatchewan, Canada, Christina Day Martinson has been involved with H&H since 2003. She has served as H&H Concertmaster on several occasions, including H&H's CD release of Mozart's Mass in C Minor. Martinson has performed solo concertos with various international ensembles and has been featured twice on WGBH radio's "Classics in the Morning" with Cathy Fuller. She has also been Concertmaster with the Boston Baroque, including on their recent Vivaldi Four Seasons recording on the Telarc label.

Susanna Ogata, who joined H&H in 2000, received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the Eastman School of Music where she studied violin performance with and served as teaching assistant for Charles Castleman. She also received an Artist Diploma at the Longy School of Music where she studied with Laura Bossert and Baroque violin with Dana Maiben. Ogata is a founding member of the Boston Classical Trio and Coriolan String Quarter. She is currently working on a project with Ian Watson to record the ten sonatas for piano and violin of Ludwig van Beethoven.

To post a comment, you must register and login.