Portland Ovations Welcomes Handel and Haydn Society to Hannaford Hall Today

Portland Ovations brings back the Handel and Haydn Society to Hannaford Hall at USM Portland for an afternoon concert inspired by Felix Mendelssohn's own music library today, April 5th at 3 pm.

Approaching its bicentennial in 2015, the Handel and Haydn Society is the oldest continuously performing arts organization in the United States. Founded in Boston in 1815, the Handel and Haydn Society is internationally recognized for its revelatory style of using the instruments and techniques of the composer's time. The mission of the Society is to perform Baroque and Classical music at the highest levels and share that music with a large and diverse audience. With an esteemed tradition of innovation and excellence, which began in the 19th century with the American premieres of Handel's Messiah (1818), the Handel and Haydn Society over the last 20 years have given important historical performances of core repertoire and introduced innovative programs to great acclaim. They also won a Grammy award in 2002 for their recording of Sir John Tavener's Lamentations and Praises, co-commissioned with Chanticleer.

Handel and Haydn Society's Portland Ovations concert features electrifying concertmaster Aisslinn Nosky who leads her fellow string players in a chamber program of baroque and classical works by George Fredric Handel, Antonio Vivaldi, J.S. Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Felix Mendelssohn.

Ovations Offstage offers a pre-performance lecture, "Mendelssohn's Library" at 2 pm in Hannaford Hall with Mary Hunter, Professor of Music at Bowdoin College who will discuss Mendelssohn's contributions to the formation of the classical music canon.

Tickets for the Handel and Haydn Society are $36 for Ovations' Members, $40 for the general public and a limited amount of $10 student tickets are also available. The Handel and Haydn Society's performance is graciously sponsored by the Maine Mall and supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts and the Margaret E. Burnham Charitable Trust. To purchase tickets visit www.portlandovations.org, contact PortTIX at 207-842-0800 or visit the box office window at Merrill Auditorium.