January 25, 2013 (Boston, MA) – The Handel and Haydn Society has appointed Bill Pappazisis to the role of Assistant Director, Education. Pappazisis, the former Director of Fine and Performing Arts for the Belmont Public Schools, brings to H&H over 25 years of experience in public school arts administration. Experienced with curriculum development and programming in music, visual art, theater, and dance, Pappazisis was one of the writers of the Commonwealth’s first Arts Curriculum Framework, a policy guiding the development of arts education programs in all Massachusetts public schools. A former lecturer at the Boston University School of Music, where he taught choral methods, he is widely known throughout New England for his expertise in choral conducting and choral music education. He has held a number of leadership positions in the American Choral Directors Association at the local and national levels.

Marie-Hélène Bernard, Executive Director/CEO, said, “We are very pleased to welcome Bill to the Handel and Haydn Society. Bill’s extensive experiences with curriculum building and administration in music education will be a tremendous asset as we continue to grow and develop the Karen S. and George D. Levy Educational Outreach Program.”

Pappazisis was the recipient of the Massachusetts Music Educators Association Lowell Mason Award for his contributions to the field of music education, and the MMEA Visionary Leadership Award for his work in public school arts administration.

“For over 25 years, the Handel and Haydn Society has been providing exceptional opportunities for talented young musicians in the greater Boston area. In addition, it has made a longstanding commitment to reaching out to the youth in the city of Boston, as well as in underserved communities in the metropolitan area through music performance and educational programming,” said Pappazisis. “I’m thrilled to be part of an organization that remains focused on making music a meaningful, relevant, and core educational experience, and that has been at the center of Boston’s artistic culture for almost 200 years.”

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 enrich life and influence culture by performing Baroque and Classical music at the highest levels of artistic excellence, and by providing engaging, accessible, and broadly inclusive music education and training activities. 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 the release of its first collaboration with Harry Christophers on the CORO label in September 2010, it has made available three live commercial recordings of works by Mozart – Mass in C Minor (2010), Requiem (2011), and Coronation Mass (2012) and is planning the release of a Haydn project (2013) and of an a cappella program with its professional choir for the 2013 holiday season. The 2010–2011 Season marked the 25th anniversary of Handel and Haydn’s 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.

The Karen S. and George D. Levy Educational Outreach Program
Established in 1985, the Handel and Haydn Society’s Karen S. and George D. Levy Educational Outreach Program was created with strong ties to the organization’s early leaders. Lowell Mason, best known as the founding father of music education in American public schools, enjoyed a long association with Handel and Haydn, first as musical editor and later as President of H&H from 1827–1832. Mason taught classes at the Bowdoin Street Church and founded the Boston Academy of Music in 1833 to promote music education to the public. When H&H launched its official educational initiative in 1985, it focused on public education with its free school visits that now reach public schools in nine Massachusetts districts; the Collaborative Youth Concerts followed in 1987, in which students from different school districts and cultural backgrounds come together to perform for their communities alongside Handel and Haydn musicians. Collaborative Youth Concerts celebrate their 25th Anniversary in 2012, and honor a rich history of providing students with a sense of achievement and musical ownership in ways that traditional youth concerts cannot.

In 1994, H&H started the Vocal Apprenticeship Program (VAP) with Youth Chorus (grades 6–8) and the High School Soloists pre-professional program, held at New England Conservatory. Later, VAP reached younger students with Singers (grades 3–5) and high school students with its Young Men’s (grades 8–12) and Young Women’s (grades 9–12) Choruses, so that students could grow with the program for several years, increasing their individual sense of accomplishment as they passed through each level. Students enrolled in VAP learn music theory and receive performance opportunities throughout each season. VAP classes take place in the state-of-the-art music division wing of the Boston Latin School, located in one of the most culturally accessible neighborhoods of Boston, next to Massachusetts College of Art; the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

The Handel and Haydn Society is the only professional music organization in Massachusetts serving as a parent to its own youth ensemble program and regularly presenting them in conjunction with its professional series at Symphony Hall. VAP is also the only youth ensemble program in New England to include individualized scholarships for vocal instruction, diction, and other classes for potential music majors in collaboration with New England Conservatory.

Visit our new media center for releases, photos and more.