Dec. 20, 21 & 22, 2024 data-filter="[2024 12|2024 12|2024 12|][jones-hall|jones-hall|jones-hall|][December|December|December|][[{|term_id|:2184,|name|:|Livestream|,|slug|:|livestream-concerts|,|term_group|:0,|term_taxonomy_id|:2184,|taxonomy|:|series|,|description|:||,|parent|:0,|count|:108,|filter|:|raw|},{|term_id|:1598,|name|:|Symphony Specials|,|slug|:|symphony-specials|,|term_group|:0,|term_taxonomy_id|:1598,|taxonomy|:|series|,|description|:||,|parent|:0,|count|:42,|filter|:|raw|}]][{|term_id|:2320,|name|:|2024\u201325|,|slug|:|2024-25|,|term_group|:0,|term_taxonomy_id|:2320,|taxonomy|:|season|,|description|:||,|parent|:0,|count|:66,|filter|:|raw|}]" Jones Hall will be filled with joyous refrains and exultant arias, including the iconic “Hallelujah” Chorus, in this powerful presentation of the greatest story ever told. https://david-early-1.wistia.com/medias/5h726yubxj What concertgoers are saying:
“Attending the Symphony, especially with choral performances, is a moment of magic.”
—Carolyn B. {|with_image|:[{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Jonathan Cohen|,|bio|:|Jonathan Cohen has forged a remarkable career as a conductor, cellist, and keyboardist. Well-known for his passion and commitment to chamber music, Jonathan is equally at home in such diverse activities as baroque opera and the classical symphonic repertoire. He is artistic director of Handel and Haydn Society, artistic director of Arcangelo, music director of Les Violons du Roy, and artistic director of Tetbury Festival. In 2025, he becomes artistic advisor to the London Handel Festival.\nThroughout the 2024-25 Season, Jonathan returns to Kammerorchester Basel and directs performances of St. Matthew Passion with both Rotterdam Philharmonic and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. He returns to Glyndebourne Festival for a revival of Barrie Kosky\u2019s production of Handel\u2019s Saul. He leads both the Handel and Haydn Society and Houston Symphony in Messiah; and with Handel and Haydn, he conducts Haydn\u2019s The Seasons, Mozart\u2019s Requiem, and Beethoven\u2019s Mass in C.\nJonathan founded Arcangelo in 2010 to create high quality bespoke projects. The ensemble was the first named Baroque Ensemble in Residence at Wigmore Hall, where it enjoys a continuing close association, and has toured to Philharmonie Berlin, Vienna Konzerthaus, Barbican Centre, K\u00f6lner Philharmonie, Salzburg Festival, and MA Festival Bruges, with three appearances at the BBC Proms, including the premiere of Handel\u2019s Theodora (2018) and a televised performance of Bach\u2019s St. Matthew Passion (2021). It is Principal Ensemble in Residence at the London Handel Festival in 2025.\nArcangelo\u2019s founding commitment to the recording studio has produced 30 critically lauded albums, including Arias for Guadagni and Bach Cantatas with Iestyn Davies (Hyperion, Gramophone Award 2012 and 2017), Mozart\u2019s Violin Concertos with Vilde Frang (Warner, ECHO Klassik Award 2015), C.P.E. Bach\u2019s Cello Concertos with Nicolas Altstaedt (Hyperion, BBC Music Magazine Award 2017), Buxtehude Trio Sonatas Op.1 (Alpha Classics, Grammy 2018 nominee), Tiranno with Kate Lindsey (Alpha, Sunday Times Records of the Year 2021). Arcangelo\u2019s latest recordings include Handel\u2019s Theodora, Sacroprofano with Tim Mead, Handel\u2019s Chandos Anthems (Alpha, releasing 2025), and a landmark project with Nicolas Altstaedt to make the first survey on period instruments of Boccherini Cello Concertos (Alpha).\n|,|title|:|conductor|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Jo\u00e9lle Harvey|,|bio|:|A\u00a0native of Bolivar, New York, American soprano Jo\u00e9lle Harvey has built a reputation as one of the finest singers of her generation, performing major roles on stages such as the Metropolitan Opera, Glyndebourne, Royal Opera House, Z\u00fcrich Opera, Teatro La Fenice, and the Festival d\u2019Aix-en-Provence.\nJo\u00e9lle begins a richly-varied 2024-25 Season with Jane Glover and Music of the Baroque for Haydn\u2019s Creation, returning to Chicago later in the season for the composer\u2019s Paukenmesse with the Chicago Symphony (Manfred Honeck conducting). She sings Mozart\u2019s Requiem with the St. Louis Symphony (St\u00e9phane Den\u00e8ve), a program of Poulenc and Ravel in a return to the Milwaukee Symphony, and Mahler\u2019s 2nd Symphony Resurrection for conductor Robin Ticciati\u2019s final season with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. The season promises performances of Handel\u2019s Messiah with the Houston Symphony, selections from Bach\u2019s Christmas Oratorio with the Cincinnati Symphony, Bach\u2019s Easter Oratorio and Magnificatwith the Cleveland Orchestra, St. John Passion with Orchestra of St. Luke\u2019s and Bernard Labadie, and Handel cantatas with Boston\u2019s Handel and Haydn Society and Jonathan Cohen. During Summer 2025, she returns to the role of Anne Trulove in Chas Rader-Shieber\u2019s new production of The Rake\u2019s Progress at Des Moines Opera. Future seasons include leading roles with the Bayerische Staatsoper and Santa Fe Opera.\nThe soprano began the 2023-24 Season with an appearance at London\u2019s Wigmore Hall, performing the role of Tirsi in Handel\u2019s Clori, Tirsi e Fileno, with Harry Bicket leading The English Concert. She sang Handel\u2019s Messiah with the San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony, North Carolina Symphony and Handel and Haydn Society, and Faure\u2019s Requiemwith the National Symphony Orchestra. Season debuts included the Houston Symphony for Orff\u2019s Carmina burana, and the New World Symphony for Beethoven\u2019s Ninth Symphony. Notably, Jo\u00e9lle joined two long-tenured music directors for their farewell seasons: Louis Langr\u00e9e, leading the Cincinnati Symphony in Brahms\u2019 Ein deutsches Requiem, and the Kansas City Symphony\u2019s Michael Stern, in performances of Mahler\u2019s Symphony No. 2.\n|,|title|:|soprano|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Jennifer Johnson Cano|,|bio|:|Jennifer Johnson Cano\u2019s performance in Santa Fe Opera\u2019s recent premiere of The Righteous earned her accolades from The New York Times, which noted how she \u201cvoluptuously captured\u201d the pain and strength of her character. The Wall Street Journal described her as \u201criveting,\u201d and Opera News has described her as a \u201cmatchless interpreter of contemporary opera.\u201d\nHer 2024\u201325 Season highlights include roles in Die Walk\u00fcre and G\u00f6tterd\u00e4mmerung in the Dallas Symphony Orchestra\u2019s productions of Wagner\u2019s Ring Cycle, Bruckner\u2019s Te Deum with the Orchestre M\u00e9tropolitain, Haydn\u2019s Mass in Time of Warat the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, as well as holiday performances of Bach\u2019s Christmas Oratorio with the Cincinnati Symphony and Handel\u2019s Messiah with the Houston Symphony. She also performs in Arizona Opera\u2019s production of Aidaand in A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream with Opera Theatre of St. Louis.\nJennifer undertakes a\u00a0balance of orchestral, opera, and chamber music performances each season.\u00a0Recent highlights include performances with Houston Grand Opera, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the FLUX Quartet. She has collaborated on numerous projects with The Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-M\u00f6st, as well as the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel in both the United States and Europe. She has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, and Atlanta Symphony.\nHighlights of Jennifer\u2019s operatic career have included the roles of Donna Elvira, Carmen, and Offred with Boston Lyric Opera; performances of\u00a0El Ni\u00f1o\u00a0with the London Symphony Orchestra; and Carmen with New Orleans Opera. She has appeared in more than 100 performances on the stage at The Metropolitan Opera since her debut 14 years ago. Jennifer debuted the role of Virginia Woolf in the world premiere of Kevin Puts\u2019s The Hours with The Philadelphia Orchestra about which The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote, \u201c\u2026her mezzo-soprano tone was deeply alluring.\u201d\nJennifer joined the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at The Metropolitan Opera after winning the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Among her honors are winner of the Young Concert Artist International Auditions, a\u00a0Sara Tucker Study Grant, a Richard Tucker Career Grant, and a George London Award.\n|,|title|:|mezzo-soprano|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Andrew Haji|,|bio|:|Tenor Andrew Haji is one of the most sought-after voices on concert and operatic stages across North America and Europe. His upcoming season includes debuts with the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Dresdner Philharmonie, Kansas City Symphony, and NDR Hannover. Additionally, he makes returns to the Houston Symphony, Carnegie Hall with Orchestra of St. Luke\u2019s, and Boston\u2019s Handel and Haydn Society. On the opera stage, Andrew debuts the titular role of Mozart\u2019s La clemenza di Tito for Pacific Opera Victoria. He continues to frequently collaborate with conductors of note, including Manfred Honeck, Bernard Labadie, Jonathan Cohen, Andrew Manze, Rafael Payare, and Alexander Shelley.\nDuring the 2023-24 Season, he appeared with the Seattle Symphony and Grand Philharmonic Choir (Bach\u2019s Johannes Passion), Victoria Symphony (Handel\u2019s Messiah), Calgary Symphony (Bruckner\u2019s Te Deum), Carnegie Hall (Bach\u2019s Weihnachtsoratorium), Toronto Mendelssohn Choir (Verdi\u2019s Requiem) and at the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Beethoven\u2019s Symphony No. 9), where he last appeared as Don Ottavio in Mozart\u2019s Don Giovanni. \nIn 2023-23, Andrew made international debuts with the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts in Taiwan in his signature role of Nemorino in L\u2019elisir d\u2019amore, and the Edinburgh Festival for Handel\u2019s Saul. He appeared as MacDuff (Macbeth) for Calgary Opera, as Alfredo (La traviata) with the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony, and as Rodolfo (La boh\u00e8me) for Orchestre Philharmonique et Choeur des M\u00e9lomanes. he starred in various digital and streaming productions through the 2020-21 Season, including Mozart\u2019s Requiem for the Canadian Opera Company, and as Rinuccio in the company\u2019s streamed production of Puccini\u2019s Gianni Schicchi.\nOther notable appearances include Les Violons du Roy (Bach Cantatas), Chorus Niagara (Beethoven\u2019s Missa Solemnis), Orchestre symphonique de Montr\u00e9al (Haydn\u2019s Creation), the Victoria Symphony (Mozart\u2019s Requiem), Edmonton Opera (La boh\u00e8me), Calgary Opera (La traviata), Victoria Symphony (Beethoven\u2019s Ninth), and with the Elora Festival (Bach\u2019s Mass in B minor). He has received awards from the Marilyn Horne Song Competition, the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble, and was the winner of the Grand Prix at the 50thInternational Vocal Competition in \u2018s-Hertogenbosch, and the Montreal International Music Competition\u2019s Oratorio Prize.\n|,|title|:|tenor|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Michael Sumuel|,|bio|:|In the 24\/25 season, American bass-baritone Michael Sumuel, lauded as having \u201cvocals that are smooth and ingratiating\u201d (Daily Camera) will return to the Metropolitan Opera to sing the title role in Le nozze di Figaro, sing his first performances of Porgy in Porgy and Bess with Washington National Opera, and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with the Canadian Opera Company and LA Opera. An accomplished and in demand concert artist, Mr. Sumuel will make his debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, performing Mozart\u2019s Coronation Mass, perform the Faur\u00e9 Requiem with the San Francisco Symphony, Bach\u2019s Christmas Oratorio with Music of the Baroque and Dame Jane Glover, Mozart\u2019s Requiem with the Salzburg Camarata, again with Dame Jane Glover, and Handel\u2019s Messiah with Jonathan Cohen and the Houston Symphony.\nOperatic highlights include the Metropolitan Opera (Reginald in X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X and Belcore, L\u2019Elisir d\u2019Amore), San Francisco Opera (Figaro, Le nozze di Figaro; Escamillo, Carmen; Elviro, Xerxes), Lyric Opera of Chicago (Masetto, Don Giovanni), Houston Grand Opera (Belcore, Sharpless, Marcello, Papageno in Die Zauberfl\u00f6te and Frank in Die Fledermaus), Glyndebourne Festival Opera (Sharpless, Junius in The Rape of Lucretia, Theseus in A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream), Norwegian National Opera (Alidoro in La cenerentola and Escamillo), Seattle Opera (Figaro; Leporello, Don Giovanni), Detroit Opera (Forester, The Cunning Little Vixen and Elviro), Santa Fe Opera (Escamillo), and LA Opera (Jesus in The St. Matthew Passion).\nIn concert, previous work has included\u00a0Messiah\u00a0with\u00a0San Francisco Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, the United States Naval Academy, New Jersey Symphony, Phoenix Symphony and University Musical Society in Ann Arbor, Mozart\u2019s Mass in C Minor with Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Lukes, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Beethoven\u2019s Symphony No. 9 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Seattle Symphony, and Mozart\u2019s Requiem with the New York Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, Music of the Baroque, Orchestra of St. Luke\u2019s and North Carolina Symphony. Other repertoire includes Beethoven\u2019s Missa Solemnis (Pittsburgh Symphony and Grant Park Music Festival), Bach\u2019s Christmas Oratorio (Les violons du Roy), Christus and bass solos in Bach\u2019s The Passion According to St. John (Seattle Symphony), the Faur\u00e9 Requiem (National Symphony Orchestra), Haydn\u2019s Theresienmesse (Grant Park Music Festival), Bach\u2019s Easter Oratorio (Music of the Baroque), Puccini\u2019s Messa di Gloria (San Diego Symphony), the bass solos Bach\u2019s St. John Passion (Music of the Baroque), Haydn\u2019s Lord Nelson Mass (Pacific Chorale), the bass solos in Bach\u2019s St. Matthew Passion as well as the Magnificat (Music of the Baroque, Mercury Houston) and finally, Bach cantatas BWV 61 and 140 (Handel and Haydn Society). Frequent conductor collaborators include Dame Jane Glover, Jonathan Cohen, Bernard Labadie, James Conlon, Zubin Mehta, Patrick Summers, Jaap van Zweden, Marc Minkowski and more.\nMr. Sumuel\u2019s competition accolades include being awarded a Richard Tucker Career Grant, Metropolitan Opera National Council audition Grand Finalist and a winner of the Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition. A Texas native, he is an alumnus of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera and the Filene Young Artist program at Wolf Trap Opera. He currently resides in San Francisco with his wife and son.\n|,|title|:|bass-baritone|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Houston Symphony Chorus|,|bio|:|The Houston Symphony Chorus is one of Houston\u2019s oldest and most distinguished musical organizations.\nOver the years, the Chorus has sung with dozens of the world\u2019s most notable conductors, including Andr\u00e9s Orozco-Estrada, Steven Reineke, Michael Krajewski, Robert Shaw, Andr\u00e9 Previn, Leopold Stokowski, Christoph Eschenbach, Sir John Barbirolli, Ferenc Fricsay, Lawrence Foster, and Hans Graf, to name only a very few.\nIn addition to performances in Jones Hall, the Symphony\u2019s home venue, the Chorus has also delighted audiences in various concert halls throughout the United States, Europe, and Mexico.\nRecent reactions to its performances include:\nClassical\/Chorus: \u201c\u2026beautifully balanced, modulated sound that seamlessly blended with the orchestra.\u201d\n\u2014Review of\u00a0A German Requiem, Houston Chronicle, May 8, 2018\nClassical\/Chorus: \u201c\u2026 the chorus was magnificent.\u201d\n\u2014Review of\u00a0Stabat Mater, Houston Chronicle, September 27, 2018\nThe Chorus consists entirely of volunteer singers who have considerable musical skill, vocal talent, and choral experience. They audition for placement each year.\u00a0 The Chorus performance schedule is possibly the busiest in the country, consisting of up to fourteen different sets of repertoire for a total of 45 concerts.\nThe Chorus has enjoyed the leadership of seven directors: Alfred Urbach (1946\u20131986), A. Clyde Roller (1967\u20131968), Wayne Bedford (1968\u20131969), Don Strong (1969\u20131977), Virginia Babikian (1977\u20131986), Charles Hausmann (1986\u20132014), and Dr. Betsy Cook Weber (2014\u20132022).\u00a0 Because of Dr. Hausmann\u2019s extraordinarily long service, he was named Director Emeritus upon his retirement.\nOver the years, the Chorus has sung with dozens of the world\u2019s most notable conductors, including Andr\u00e9s Orozco-Estrada, Steven Reineke, Michael Krajewski, Robert Shaw, Andr\u00e9 Previn, Leopold Stokowski, Christoph Eschenbach, Sir John Barbirolli, Ferenc Fricsay, Lawrence Foster, and Hans Graf, to name only a very few.\nIn addition to performances in Jones Hall, the Symphony\u2019s home venue, the Chorus has also delighted audiences in various concert halls throughout the United States, Europe, and Mexico.\nRecent reactions to its performances include:\nClassical\/Chorus: \u201c\u2026beautifully balanced, modulated sound that seamlessly blended with the orchestra.\u201d\n\u2014Review of\u00a0A German Requiem, Houston Chronicle, May 8, 2018\nClassical\/Chorus: \u201c\u2026 the chorus was magnificent.\u201d\n\u2014Review of\u00a0Stabat Mater, Houston Chronicle, September 27, 2018\nThe Chorus consists entirely of volunteer singers who have considerable musical skill, vocal talent, and choral experience. They audition for placement each year.\u00a0 The Chorus performance schedule is possibly the busiest in the country, consisting of up to fourteen different sets of repertoire for a total of 45 concerts.\n|,|title|:|chorus|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |}],|without|:[]}
HANDEL Messiah