June 5, 2025
BAROQUEER:
HISTORICALLY INFORMED
Thursday, June 5, 2025 at 7:30pm 2,684th Concert
Judson Memorial Church 55 Washington Square New York, NY 10012
Tuning Meditation Pauline Oliveros (1932-2016)
Violin Sonata in D Minor, Op. 5, No. 12, La Folia Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)
Cantata, Mi palpita il cor, HWV 132c
George Frideric Handel Mi palpita il cor (Arioso and Recitative) (1685-1759) Ho tanti affanni in petto (Aria)
“Other Song” Caroline Shaw (b. 1982)
“Love in their eyes sits playing” Handel from Acis & Galatea, HWV 49
“Juba” from String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor Florence Price (1887-1953)
“Night" Price
Act III, Scene 4 from Atys
Arr. Brian Mummert
Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687)
Concerto for Two Cellos in G Minor, RV 531 Antonio Vivaldi Allegro (1687-1741)
“Flow, my tears" John Dowland (1563-1626)
“If I can help somebody” Alma Bazel Androzzo (1912-2001)
Ever New Beverly Glenn-Copeland (b. 1944) Arr. Brian Mummert
Quid montes, Musae Vicente Lusitano (c. 1520-c. 1561)
Stay On It
PERFORMERS
Cassandra Extavour, soprano
Doug Dodson, countertenor
Reginald Mobley, countertenor and co-curator
Gregório Taniguchi, tenor
Brian Mummert, baritone and co-curator
Dana Whiteside, baritone
Rafa Prendergast, violin
Rebecca Scout Nelson, violin
Keats Dieffenbach, violin and viola
Thomas Barth, cello
Jules Biber, cello and co-curator
Andrew Arceci, bass
David Dickey, oboe and recorder
Pablo O’Connell, oboe and recorder
Dušan Balarin, theorbo and guitar
Peter Lim, harpsichord and organ
BaroQUEER: Historically Informed is an E250 Activation.
Julius Eastman (1940-1990)
THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY
Boston’s Grammy-winning Handel and Haydn Society performs Baroque and Classical music with a freshness, a vitality, and a creativity that inspires all ages. Called “one of the most exciting ensembles of historically informed performances in the world” (OperaWire), H+H has been captivating audiences for 210 consecutive seasons (the most of any performing arts organization in the United States), speaking to its singular success at welcoming new audiences to this extraordinary music, generation after generation.
H+H performed the “Hallelujah” chorus from Handel’s Messiah in its first concert in 1815, gave the American premiere in 1818, and ever since has been both a musical and a civic leader in the Boston community. During the Civil War, H+H gave numerous concerts in support of the Union Army (H+H member Julia Ward Howe wrote “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”) and on January 1, 1863, H+H performed at the Grand Jubilee Concert celebrating the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation. Two years later, H+H performed at the memorial service for Abraham Lincoln.
Leadership
Robert N. Shapiro
Chair, Board of Governors
Carrie L.T. Hammond and Nicholas Dials
Co-Chairs, Board of Advisors
Lilee Dethchan-Beltran
Acting CEO
Robert H. Scott
Acting President
Artistic
Jonathan Cohen
Artistic Director
Ian Watson
Associate Conductor
Aisslinn Nosky
Concertmaster
Scott Allen Jarrett
Resident Conductor, Chorus
Anthony Trecek-King
Resident Conductor, Chorus
Reginald Mobley
Programming Consultant
Harry Christophers
Conductor Laureate
Youth Choruses Conductors
Michele Adams
Youth Chorale and Concert Choir
Alyson Greer Espinosa
Chorus of Sopranos + Altos and Chamber Choir
Dr. Kevin McDonald
Chorus of Tenors + Basses
Nurt Villani
New Voices and Treble Chorus
H+H’s Orchestra and Chorus delight more than 76,000 listeners annually through concerts at Symphony Hall and other leading venues as well as radio broadcasts. Through the Karen S. and George D. Levy Learning and 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 has released 16 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 all of us with our shared humanity through transformative experiences with Baroque and Classical music.
CHAMBERQUEER
Hailed as “a utopian dream… [at] the cuttingedge of classical music” (The Nation), ChamberQUEER highlights LGBTQ+ voices in contemporary & historical music and reimagines the classical concert experience as a radically inclusive gathering space & musical community
Co-Founders
Jules Biber
Danielle Buonaiuto
Brian Mummert
Andrew Yee
for the 21st century. Founded in 2018 by Jules Biber (cello), Danielle Buonaiuto (soprano), Brian Mummert (baritone), and Andrew Yee (cello), CQ operates as a collective of performers, composers, and creators. Our flagship annual Pride festival, staged in Brooklyn each June, has been commended by The New Yorker and listed by The New York Times as a 2022 “Best of Pride” event; 2024’s fringestyle festival, Constellation, featured twenty-one events over six days, showcasing the voices of dozens of LGBTQ+ musicians from around the globe.
ChamberQUEER interrogates and experiments with, or “queers,” European art music’s presumed necessities and existing norms. By crafting new narratives from the canon, democratizing performance etiquette and dress, and shattering the performer-audience binary, we create a fresh and inviting environment for a new generation of music lovers. Recent projects emphasizing these values have included collaboratively-curated concerts with alumnae of Luna Composition Lab; a concert and talk-back with LGBTQ+ students at Boston College; presentations on equity and belonging at Chamber Music America and Early Music America’s national conferences; and shows presented by National Sawdust, WQXR at the Greene Space, Death of Classical at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn Pride, Trinity Wall Street, the Boulanger Initiative, Classical Uprising, and Westerlies Fest. Our founders and members regularly represent ChamberQUEER as ambassadors at chamber music festivals, podcasts, public radio broadcasts, and residencies across the country. chamberqueer.org
TEXTS + TRANSLATIONS
Handel: Cantata, Mi palpita il cor
Text: Anonymous
RECITATIVE
Mi palpita il cor né intendo perché.
ARIA
Agitate è l’alma mia né so cos’è.
RECITATIVE
Tormento e gelosia, sdegno, affanno e dolore, da me che pretendete? Se mi volete amante, amante son. Ma, oh Dio, non m’uccidete, ch’il cor, fra tante pene, più soffrire non può le sue catene!
ARIA
Ho tanti affanni in petto, che qual sia il più tiranno io dir nol so. So ben che do ricetto a un aspro e crudo affanno e che morendo vò.
Shaw: “Other Song”
Text: Shaw
Find where you go
Behind the glare is what I know
The melody climbs higher
The song is in the fold
The harmony is cold
What’s old is new is ever ever told
I go where you are
I know there is no
Assigned melody
The song is in the fold
The harmony is cold
What’s old is new [is old] [is new] is ever ever told
Find the line
I go where you go
My heart throbs, and I don’t know why.
My soul is agitated, and I don’t know what it is.
Torment and jealousy, disdain, pain and sorrow, what do you want from me? If you want me to be a lover, a lover I am. But, oh God, don’t kill me, because my heart, amidst many pains, can suffer your chains no more!
I have so many pains in my chest, which is tormenting me the worst I can’t describe. I know well that I open myself up to a bitter and cruel pain that wants to kill me.
Handel: “Love in their eyes” from Acis and Galatea
Text: John Gay (1685-1732)
Love in their eyes sits playing, And sheds delicious death; Love on their lips is straying, And warbling in their breath! Love on their breast sits panting And swells with soft desire; No grace, no charm is wanting, To set the heart on fire.
Price: “Night”
Text: Louise C. Wallace (1902-1973)
Night comes, a Madonna clad in scented blue.
Rose red her mouth and deep her eyes, She lights her stars, and turns to where,
Beneath her silver lamp the moon, Upon a couch of shadow lies A dreamy child, The wearied Day.
Lully: Act 3, Scene 4 from Atys
Text: Philippe Quinault (1635-1688)
LE SOMMEIL
Dormons, dormons tous; Ah que le repos est doux!
MORPHÉE
Regnez, divin Sommeil, regnez sur tout le monde, Répandez vos pavots les plus assoupissans; Calmez les soins, charmez les sens, Retenez tous les cœurs dans une paix profonde.
PHOBETOR
Ne vous faites point violence, Coulez, murmurez, clairs ruisseaux, Il n'est permis qu'au bruit des eaux De troubler la douceur d'un si charmant silence.
LE SOMMEIL, MORPHÉE, PHOBETOR, PHANTASE
Dormons, dormons tous; Ah que le repos est doux!
Let us sleep, let us all sleep; ah, how sweet rest is!
Reign, divine Sleep, reign over all, spread your most soporific poppies; calm the cares, charm the senses, keep all hearts in profound peace.
Do not force yourselves, flow, murmur, clear streams, only the sound of water is permitted to disturb the sweetness of such a charming silence.
Let us sleep, let us all sleep; ah, how sweet rest is!
Dowland: "Flow my tears"
Text: Anonymous
Flow, my tears, fall from your springs!
Exiled for ever, let me mourn; Where night's black bird her sad infamy sings, There let me live forlorn.
Down vain lights, shine you no more!
No nights are dark enough for those
That in despair their last fortunes deplore.
Light doth but shame disclose.
Never may my woes be relieved, Since pity is fled; And tears and sighs and groans my weary days, my weary days Of all joys have deprived.
From the highest spire of contentment
My fortune is thrown; And fear and grief and pain for my deserts, for my deserts Are my hopes, since hope is gone.
Hark! you shadows that in darkness dwell, Learn to contemn light Happy, happy they that in hell Feel not the world's despite.
Androzzo: “If I can help somebody”
Text: Androzzo
If I can help somebody as I pass along,
If I can cheer somebody with a word or song,
If I can show somebody that they're travelling wrong, Then my living shall not be in vain.
Then my living shall not be in vain, No my living shall not be in vain
If I can help somebody as I go along, Then my living shall not be in vain.
If I can do my duties as a good man ought,
If I can bring back beauty to a world up wrought,
If I can share love's message as we’ve been taught, Then my living shall not be in vain.
Glenn-Copeland: Ever New
Text: Glenn-Copeland
Welcome the spring, the summer rain
Softly turned to sing again
Welcome the bud, the summerblooming flower
Welcome the child whose hand I hold
Welcome to you both young and old
We are ever new, we are ever new
Third Side Music Inc.
Lusitano: Quid montes, Musae
Text: Lusitano
Quid montes, Musae, colitis, quid inhospita saxa, omnia ubi horrescunt, ubi semper flebile letum intentant saltus, rapidarumque antra ferarum?
Vobis mutandae sedes, castra altera vobis exquirenda, ubi sint laeta omnia et omnia tuta. Huc, omnes, huc ite, animis concordibus.
Ecce huc etiam laurum ipse suam Peneida Phoebus transtulit, et nostris alte defixit in oris, atque hic laurus ait: nobis hic curia major esto, Parnassi valeant asperrima lustra.
Why do you haunt the mountains, Muses, why the inhospitable rocks, where everything is frightening, where the ravines always threaten mournful death, and where the caves are full of ravening beasts?
You must change your home, you must seek out a different camp where everything may be happy and everything safe.
Here, all of you, come here with your minds in agreement. Behold, to this place Phoebus himself has brought over even his own laurel, the daughter of Peneus, and fixed her high on our borders, and here the laurel says: let this be a greater hall for us; farewell to the roughest woods of Parnassus.
Text and translation are part of “Vicente Lusitano, Complete Works,” edited by Joseph McHardy and Arne Spohr. “Recent Researches in the Music of the Renaissance,” forthcoming from A-R Editions. www.areditions.com
Eastman: Stay On It
Text: Eastman
Stay on it.
ARTIST PROFILES
Jules Biber, cello + co-curator
Jules Biber is a cellist, educator, and musical curator based in Brooklyn, NY. An accomplished chamber musician and soloist, Jules’ versatility in early, standard and modern repertoire, as well as non-classical styles, makes her soughtafter for a variety of high-profile concerts and recording projects, and her deep commitment to inclusive community has made her one of the city’s progressive curators of classical music spaces.
Jules believes strongly in creating environments for classical music that are free from the concert hall’s antiquated aesthetics. Her first series, “Classical at Pete’s” at Pete’s Candy Store in Williamsburg (later “Branded Classical” at Branded Saloon), created a platform for performers and composers to present their work with the freedom to experiment, in an environment that was equally welcoming to the listener. She has hosted a wide variety of performers, including members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, International Contemporary Ensemble, and New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
Jules is a co-founder and co-organizer of ChamberQUEER (CQ), and serves as the core cellist in the ensemble. She initiated the series “Chamber Chats,” interviews with queer composers about their life and work, as well as the popular event “Show and Tell,” a recurring community mixer and networking event for queer artists. As a composer, she had her CQ debut with “Undercurrents” at the 2023 festival, We Refract, which was co-presented by Five Boroughs Music Festival.
Jules maintains an active freelance career, playing with a variety of ensembles including NOVUS, International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Ensemble LPR, InfraSound, Telos Ensemble, New Jersey Symphony, PUBLIQuartet, and American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME), and has been heard in venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Greene Space, and Zankel Hall. She is also a member of the modern orchestra at Oregon Bach Festival in Eugene, OR.
She was a founding member and cellist-in-residence of the Pikes Falls Chamber Music Festival in Jamaica, VT, from 2012-2017; and a founding member of Elixir Quartet, a Toronto-based period string quartet. Her collaboration with soprano Danielle Buonaiuto, Duo Calisto, focuses on commissioning and developing new repertoire for cello and voice.
Jules has participated in music festivals including Kneisel Hall, Taos School of Music, Tanglewood, and Banff Centre. Her principal teachers include Richard Aaron, Julia Lichten and Marcy Rosen. Jules received her DMA from the CUNY Graduate Center, where her dissertation, published in 2016, focused on 10 Etudes for Solo Cello by Sofia Gubaidulina.
Reginald Mobley, countertenor + co-curator
Grammy-nominated American countertenor Reginald Mobley is globally renowned for his interpretation of Baroque, Classical, and modern repertoire. He leads a prolific career on both sides of the Atlantic. An advocate for diversity in music and its programming, Reginald became the first-ever Programming Consultant for the Handel and Haydn Society following several years of leading H+H in its community engaging Every Voice concerts. He holds the position of Visiting Artist for Diversity Outreach with Apollo’s Fire and has recently been appointed as Artistic Advisor at the Portland Baroque Orchestra. Reginald is also leading a research project in the UK funded by the AHRC to uncover music by composers from diverse backgrounds.
Highlights of this and next seasons include a diverse range of recitals, with piano and continuo (Chicago, De Bijloke in Gent, Wigmore Hall, MA Festival in Bruges, Bayreuth Baroque festival) as well as regular appearances with specialized ensembles in North America (Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Early Music Vancouver, Collegium San Diego, Agave, Seraphic Fire, Washington Bach Consort) and in Europe (Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Wiener Akademie, Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists, and Bach Oxford Soloists). Reginald toured Australia with Bach Akademie in May 2025, and will perform Bach’s St. John Passion with Orchestre de Chambre de Paris as part of the St Denis festival in June 2025.
Reginald has been invited to sing with the US main orchestras including New York Philharmonic, Washington National Symphony, Philadelphia (both chamber and symphony), Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and others. In Europe, he has appeared with Orchester Wiener Akademie, Balthasar Neumann Chor & Ensemble, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, and others.
His first solo CD with ALPHA Classics released in June 2023 was awarded the Opus Klassik Awards in the ‘Classics without limits’ category. In addition, Reginald features on several albums with the Monteverdi Choir, Agave Baroque, and Stuttgart Bach Society.
Brian Mummert, baritone + co-curator
Brian Mummert sings, conducts, arranges, composes, and curates musical experiences that span eras and genres, all in the service of harnessing musical narrative as a mode for deepening mutual understanding. He is the founding artistic director of The New Consort, an American Prize-winning vocal ensemble dedicated to exploring the roles musical ritual and community can play in our lives; and a co-founder of ChamberQUEER and The Red Ribbon Revue, a World AIDS Day concert featuring HIV+ performers celebrating the legacy of artists lost to AIDS.
As a vocalist, Brian specializes in music of the Baroque, having appeared as a soloist with organizations including Saint Thomas Fifth Avenue, Holy Trinity Bach Vespers, the Academy of Sacred Drama, Bach Akademie of Charlotte, and Opera Essentia, about which Parterre raved, "The singing was so good... that I went back a week or two later to hear another performance." An avid ensemble musician as well, Brian is one of the Gentlemen of the Choir of Saint Thomas Fifth Avenue and has appeared with the Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Ensemble Altera, The Thirteen, Oregon Bach Festival's Berwick Chorus, The New York Virtuoso Singers, and The English Voices. Brian has swung with the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, toured the world as the music director of the Yale Whiffenpoofs, and premiered new works by composers including Julian Anderson, Frances Pollock, David Lang, Róssa Crean, Simon Frisch, Jonathan Woody, Sarah Kirkland Snyder, and Tim Holt.
HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY ADMINISTRATION
Lilee Dethchan-Beltran Acting CEO
Robert H. Scott Acting President
Artistic
Conducting staff and programming consultant are listed on page 4.
Ira Pedlikin
Vice President of Artistic Planning and Concert Production
Jon Linker
Senior Manager, Concert Operations and Booking
Jason Fisher Orchestra and Chorus Personnel Manager
Jesse Levine Music Librarian
Administration + Learning Administration
Katie Walsh Controller
Lindy Noecker
Senior Manager of Archives and Administration
Jandeirvy Sous Bookkeeper
Kenneth Ngo
Data and Reports Analyst
Ropes & Gray, LLP Counsel
KLR
Auditors and Tax Preparers
Learning
JongHun Kim Director of Learning Programs
Teresa M. Neff, PhD
Christopher Hogwood Historically Informed Performance Fellow
Development
Rebecca W. King
Vice President of Development
Emily Reed Vice President of Strategic Partnerships
Marion Westgate
Major and Planned Giving Officer
Caitlin Seitz
Major and Institutional Giving Officer
Wesley Farnsworth
Annual Fund and Events Manager
Natsuko Takashima
Development Associate
Marketing + Patron Experience
Marketing + Communications
Sarah L. Manoog
Vice President of Marketing and Communications
Chris Petre-Baumer Director of Marketing and Creative
Joseph Sedarski
Content Marketing Manager
Susan Baranyi
Public Relations and Program Book Manager
Jo-B Sebastian Graphic Designer
Patron Experience
Amanda Nichols
Ticketing Operations Manager
Laurin Stoler Calling Campaign Manager
Jerry Waldman Assistant Calling Campaign Manager
Ben Lipkowitz Telesales Representative
Learning Program Faculty
Youth Choruses conductors are listed on page 4.
Associate Conductors
Andrew Milne
HHYC Chorus of Sopranos + Altos and Chamber Choir
Becca Crivello
HHYC Youth Chorale and Concert Choir
Musicianship Faculty
Matthew Buono
Lead Musicianship Teacher
Mary Kray
Dr. Hexing Ouyang
Olivia Rich
Collaborative Pianists
Leona Cheung
Dr. Pei-yeh Tsai
Kim Whitehead
Vocal Pedagogy Specialist
Hannah Klein
Teaching Artists
Lorrenzo Burnside
Mother Caroline Academy
Rachael Chagat
Winship Elementary School
Laura Nevitt
Mason Elementary School
Did you know ticket sales cover only 22% of our concert costs?
As a non-profit organization we rely on your donations to close the gap not covered by ticket sales. Give today to keep all our musicians on stage.
Make a gift at handelandhaydn.org/YATM to elevate our artistry, engage a broader audience, and ensure our future.