August 20, 2012 (Boston, MA) – The Handel and Haydn Society has appointed Mike Peluse to the role of Director of Development. Peluse’s nonprofit and development career spans nearly 15 years. He joins the organization after serving most recently as Development Director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. During his seven years in the position he guided a successful endowment campaign coinciding with the Orchestra’s 75th anniversary. Prior to that he managed development operations at the New York State Historical Association in Cooperstown, New York and served as office manager for the Vermont Symphony Orchestra.

Marie-Hélène Bernard, Executive Director/CEO, said, “We are very pleased to welcome Mike to the Handel and Haydn Society. His impressive development experience and enthusiasm for our mission will be tremendous assets to our institution, and I look forward to introducing him to our patrons and constituents.”

Peluse holds a B.A. in music from Tufts and an M.A. in ethnomusicology from Wesleyan. He returns to Boston with his wife, Hannah, a museum professional, and their dog and two cats.

“I’m thrilled to join this historic institution at such an important juncture. The upcoming Bicentennial is an astonishing landmark, and I am excited for the opportunity to bring my knowledge to the Handel and Haydn Society,” said Peluse. “There is great potential for the organization to continue to grow and flourish, and I look forward to helping foster its growth.”

ABOUT HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY
Handel and Haydn Society (H&H) is a professional Period Instrument Orchestra and Chorus and an internationally recognize­d leader in the field of Historically Informed Performance, a revelatory style that uses the instruments and techniques of the composer’s time. Founded in Boston in 1815, H&H is considered the oldest continuously performing arts organization in the United States and has a longstanding commitment to excellence and innovation: it gave the American premieres of Handel’s Messiah (1818), Haydn’s The Creation (1819), Verdi’s Requiem (1878), and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (1879). Handel and Haydn today, under Artistic Director Harry Christophers’ leadership, is committed to its mission to perform Baroque and Classical music at the highest levels of artistic excellence and to share that music with as large and diverse an audience as possible. H&H is widely known through its local subscription series, tours, concert broadcasts on WGBH/99.5 Classical New England and National Public Radio, and recordings. Its recording of Sir John Tavener’s Lamentations and Praises won a 2003 Grammy Award and two of its recordings, All is Bright and Peace, appeared simultaneously in the top ten on Billboard Magazine’s classical music chart. Since September 2010, H&H has released two CDs with Harry Christophers on the CORO label, Mozart Mass in C Minor and Mozart Requiem, and will complete a Mozart trilogy with the release of Mozart Coronation Mass in September 2012. The trilogy is the first collection of works in a series of live commercial recordings leading to H&H’s Bicentennial in 2015. H&H recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of its award-winning Karen S. and George D. Levy Educational Outreach Program, which brings music education, vocal training, and performance opportunities to 10,000 students annually throughout Greater Boston and beyond.

Handel and Haydn Society is funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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