Handel at the Fitzrovia Chapel

In March, as part of the 2018 London Handel Festival, you have the opportunity to listen to the sublime music of Handel at the Fitzrovia Chapel — with the bonus of a free event.

The chapel events

On Tuesday 20 March, the festival presents Handel Singing Competition showcase concerts at the chapel. The first concert is at 19:00 and the second is at 20:30. In the afternoon, you are warmly invited to drop in to their rehearsal. We will be announcing details of the free event shortly.

Festival highlights

Highlights of the festival include celebratory anniversary performances of two works Handel composed during his 1718 residency at Cannons: Acis and Galatea, in an imaginative staging directed by Martin Parr, with Laurence Cummings conducting the London Handel Orchestra and Pegasus, with soloists to include Lucy Page, Nicholas Pritchard and Edward Grint, at St John’s Smith Square on Monday 19 and Wednesday 21 March, and Esther, directed by Adrian Butterfield with soloists Erica Eloff, William Wallace and Josep-Ramon Olive at Wigmore Hall on Thursday 22 March.

The full calendar of highlight events, mostly held at Handel’s parish church – St.George’s, Hanover Square (SGHS) is listed below, in each case you can click on the link alongside to book tickets but please be aware of priority booking dates for Handel Supporters.  Please look at the festival’s full calendar here to book for lunchtime recitals, guided walks and other special events.

Festival highlights calendar

Saturday 17 March  – “Come and Sing” Foundling Anthem, Grosvenor Chapel (daytime and evening), to book click here

Monday 19 March – Acis and Galatea (as above), St John’s Smith Square, to book click here

Tuesday 20 March – Handel Singing Competition showcase concerts, featuring two winners from 2017: Marcjanna Myrlak and Jungkwon Jang at the Fitzrovia Chapel, to book click here  (Details of the free drop-in event will be announced shortly.

Wednesday 21 March – Acis and Galatea (as above), to book click here

Thursday 22 March – Esther (as above), Wigmore Hall (please note that this event is sold out, contact our Box Office for returns)

Friday 23 March – Mr Handel’s Scholars, a repeat of our successful format from last year, featuring past winners of the Handel Singing Competition with the London Handel Orchestra and Laurence Cummings.  This year we will have a varied programme of arias with Anna Devin, Maria Oustroukhova, Nathan Vale and Derek Welton (SGHS), to book click here

Saturday 24 March – Amadigi (concert performance) with Opera Settecento directed by Leo Duarte and soloists Michal Czerniawski, Erica Eloff, Maria Ostroukhova and Ilona Revolskaya (SGHS), to book click here

Sunday 25 March – London Handel Players and Julia Doyle – music by Handel (from Nine German Arias) and Pepusch at the Charterhouse, to book click here

Monday 26 March – Talks about Handel’s Investments by Professor Ellen Harris at the Bank of England Museum, to book click here 

Wednesday 28 March – Handel Singing Competition, Semi-Finals, Grosvenor Chapel, to book click here

Friday 30 March – St.Matthew Passion, St.George’s Hanover Square – our hugely popular annual performance of Bach’s masterpiece in a liturgical setting, with Laurence Cummings, London Handel Orchestra and soloists, to book click here

Wednesday 4 April – “Handel in Vauxhall”, Bridget Cunningham will direct an expert team of soloists, including Greg Tassell and Benjamin Bevan in a programme exploring the music Georgian audiences would have heard at the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens (SGHS), to book click here

Thursday 5 April – “Honour, Profit & Pleasure”, film screening of 1985 film about Handel with Simon Callow and Jean Rigby (SGHS), to book clickhere

Friday 6 April – Judgement of Paris (Thomas Arne) and excerpts from Semele, directed by John Andrews, with the Brook Street Band and soloists to include Soraya Mafi, Ed Lyon, Anthony Gregory, Susanna Fairbairn and Gillian Ramm (SGHS), to book click here

Saturday 7 April – “A Celebration of Frasi” with Ruby Hughes (past winner of Handel Singing Competition) and Laurence Cummings (SGHS), to book click here

Sunday 8 April – Chandos Anthems 1, 2, 4 with London Handel Orchestra, directed by Adrian Butterfield, at St.Lawrence, Little Stanmore, to book click here

Monday 9 April – “Handel, Health & Hallelujah”, talk about healthcare in Georgian England by Charles Bonney at the Royal Society of Medicine – this event should be booked directly through the Royal Society of Medicine’s events department, to book please call 020 7290 3855 or click here

Tuesday 10 April – Handel Singing Competition, Finals, St.George’s, Hanover Square, to book click here 

Wednesday 11 April – Giulio Cesare (concert performance), Early Opera Company directed by Christian Curnyn at St.John’s, Smith Square, with soloists Tim Mead, Anna Devin, Hilary Summers, Callum Thorpe, Rupert Enticknap and James Hall, to book click here

Thursday 12 April & Saturday 14 April – Teseo (concert performance), David Bates and La Nuova Musica with soloists from Royal Academy Opera (separate casts for each date), to book click here

Friday 13 April – Dettingen Te Deum, South Bank Sinfonia & Vox Musica, directed by Adrian Butterfield and Michael Berman (SGHS), to book clickhere

Monday 16 April – Occasional Oratorio (as above), St.George’s, Hanover Square, to book click here