Handel Week Festival


From the Artistic Director



Warmest of WELCOMES to the Handel Week Family! We, the artists, board, volunteers and listeners here at Handel Week prize Baroque masterpieces of music and especially the music of Handel. We present world-class readings of music in an opulent acoustic, all in a room with tremendous sight lines! We surround these in-person and virtual concerts with informative lectures, fascinating program notes and festive receptions. We reach out to young singers to learn what it is to be a professional musician through our Wells Choral Scholar program and we engage young Conductors to hone their craft with our Mark and Randi Ravitts Woodworth Award for young conductors. Welcome to our website and read here about our upcoming musical offerings!
To Handel and his Music!

Dennis Northway

Concerts this Season

Concert 1 - The Grand Handel

Sunday, February 9th, 2020
3pm
See Concert Details

Concert 2 - The Alto in Love and Life!

Saturday, February 22nd, 2020
7:30pm
See Concert Details

Concert 3 - The Regal Handel

Sunday, March 1st, 2020
3pm
See Concert Details

Our festival concerts feature:

  • Music in one of the most acoustically perfect venues in the area
  • For Concerts I and III: Pre-concert lectures beginning @ 2:15 pm and post-concert receptions with the artists
  • Concert II is cabaret-style concert: Intimate tables with refreshments. Artists provide commentary on performance
  • Free lighted parking in adjacent lot.
  • Free admission for children & teens between the ages of 8-18

Newsletter #6 - And a wonderful time was had by all and join us next year for our 25th anniversary!

We, at the Handel Festival are approaching our quarter-century Mark! This year’s concerts were enthusiastically received!! Whether it was the Concerti à due Cori and eight of the most famous Arias and Duets from all of Handel’s music!! Or, our Chamber concert with golden-throated Amy Anderson de Jong singing three of Handel’s magnificent secular cantatas on a program with virtuoso Harpsichord playing by Handel Week favorite, Charlie Carpenter and rounded it off with sonatas for Recorder and Basso continuo, it was a Sunday afternoon concert for the ages! Or, whether it was the witty, charming, delightful and clever music of Henry Purcell’s THE INDIAN QUEEN alongside the FOUNDLING HOSPITAL ANTHEM: Blessed are they that considereth the poor. Our audiences were delighted and our performers were at the top of their game! Thanks, thanks to everyone!

Next year, our 25th anniversary season, we are pulling out all the stops. We will begin with Handel’s Water Music complete along with his recently discovered virtuoso showpiece "Gloria". Our chamber concert will offer three magnificent solo cantatas for Soprano and basso continuo along with music for solo instrument. We will conclude with a full Franz Joseph Haydn Oratorio! We hope you will join us and spread the word!!

Please consider joining us and supporting us with a GENEROUS donation! You will find dates and complete programs on this website. I invite you to explore and to enjoy!

To Handel and His MUSIC!

Dr. Dennis E. Northway, Artistic Director

Our Previous Newsletters

Please click below to see our previous newsletters.
Newsletters

Tickets

Our concert information in available on the concerts page and tickets are available on the Ticket Box page.

Our Venue

Excellent sight lines!
Plenty of parking!
Pilgrim Congregational Church
460 Lake St, Oak Park, IL 60302
directions

Listen Now

O Ruddier than the Cherry
Artist:Philip A. Kraus
Acis and Galata
Handel Festival 2019
The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, Act III Opening
Artist: The Handel Week Festival Orchestra The Oratorio Solomon
2019 Performance
Aria: Will the sun forget to streak
Artist: Kimberly McCord and the Handel Week Festival Orchestra The Oratorio Solomon
Handel Festival 2019
Anthem for the Coronation of Queen Caroline (2008)
Acis And Galatea, The flocks shall leave the mountains (2008)
Chamber Concert (2008)