Handel Choir of Baltimore is a critically acclaimed choral ensemble that presents performances of Handel’s Messiah with the Handel Period Instrument Orchestra, as well as other major choral and choral-orchestral works. In addition to its subscription concerts, Handel Choir maintains an active presence in the Greater Baltimore community, performing at civic events, educational programs, concert series and retirement communities. The ensemble’s repertoire spans the Renaissance to the 21st century, with a particular emphasis on the music of the Baroque. Handel Choir has enjoyed collaborations with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, American Opera Theater, Peabody Early Music, Baltimore Baroque Band, Children’s Chorus of Maryland, Harmonious Blacksmith, and UMBC Camerata.

Under the artistic direction of Brian Bartoldus, Handel Choir continues its focus on authentic performance practice with the Handel Period Instrument Orchestra, founded by Artistic Director Emerita Melinda O’Neil. Its seasoned musicians, performing on replicas of Baroque instruments, provide a fresh glimpse into the contemporary soundscapes of Bach, Handel, and other celebrated masters of the 17th and 18th centuries. Such specialization imbues performances with a rare vitality, employing phrasing, ornamentation, and rhetorical shape that differ noticeably from the vast majority of modern performances. Handel Choir is Baltimore’s exclusive ensemble dedicated to the performance of Baroque choral-orchestral works with such authenticity.

The continuing development of the choral repertoire is central to Handel Choir’s mission. As such, Handel Choir has commissioned and premiered several new choral works in recent years, including Requiem for the Fallen by Jonathan Leshnoff, Song of the Shulamite by Donald McCollough, and Houses of Peace by Joshua Bornfield. Maestro Bartoldus is particularly committed to engaging with composers from the Baltimore region, as well as championing composers from historically underrepresented groups. He is proud to perform and premiere works by such talented and celebrated colleagues as Roxanna Panufnik, Joshua Bornfield, Tawnie Olson, and James Lee III.

Chandos Singers Chamber Ensemble

Chandos Singers, inaugurated in 2006, is a chamber ensemble of approximately four to six singers per part selected from the larger Handel Choir. The group often performs in smaller concert venues as an emissary of Handel Choir and in repertoire more suitable for a smaller ensemble.

Chandos Singers have performed several works with period instrument orchestras, including Handel’s My Heart is Inditing and The King Shall Rejoice; Bach’s Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen and Jesu, meine Freude, and a cappella works by Tavener, Messiaen, and Duruflé. In 2010, Chandos Singers gave a staged performance of Handel’s Jephtha in collaboration with American Opera Theater and the Ignoti Dei Orchestra of period instruments. In 2012, they performed Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and Dunphy’s Gonzales Cantata in collaboration with Peabody Early Music, Peabody Chamber Opera and American Opera Theatre.

Their name is derived from the Duke of Chandos, an important patron of G.F. Handel when he first moved to London from Germany. Handel’s compositions for the Duke’s talented chamber musicians, most notably his ‘Chandos Anthems,’ represent the Baroque master’s first major body of English language choral works.