Handel’s Messiah
December 06 & 07, 2024
Overview
George Frideric Handel’s Messiah was an instant classic soon after its 1742 premiere and has been a holiday tradition around the world ever since. Through a dramatic series of arias, recitatives, and choruses, Handel offers a musical meditation on Christ’s birth, life, and resurrection—and his message of redemption. Stephen Stubbs leads the SF Symphony and Chorus in this perennial favorite.
Illustration by Shout
Part of HOLIDAYS WITH THE SYMPHONY
Concert Extras
Celebrate the holidays with the SF Symphony and stroll through the winter wonderland of a decked out Davies Symphony Hall, filled with giant lit trees, wreaths, and garlands. While you’re here, treat yourself at the lobby bar with festive winter cocktails, such as a Gingerbread Old Fashioned, limited-time sparkling wine, and special holiday desserts throughout December. And don't forget to visit the hot chocolate cart!
Artists
Conductor
Soprano
Countertenor
Tenor
Baritone
San Francisco Symphony Chorus
Director, San Francisco Symphony Chorus
San Francisco Symphony
Sponsors
These concerts are sponsored by the James Schwabacher Vocal Artists Fund.
Jenny Wong
San Francisco Symphony Chorus
John Holiday
Douglas Williams
Amanda Forsythe
Stephen Stubbs
Aaron Sheehan
Stephen Stubbs
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Conductor
Stephen Stubbs won a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording and maintains a busy calendar as a guest conductor, specializing in Baroque opera and oratorio. He began his career as an opera conductor at the 1987 Bruges Festival, which led to the founding of the ensemble Tragicomedia. Since 1997 he has codirected opera productions at the biannual Boston Early Music Festival, where he serves as artistic codirector. BEMF has been nominated for six Grammy Awards and won a Grammy for their recording of Charpentier’s La descente d’Orphée aux enfers. Stubbs is also the founding director of Pacific MusicWorks, a touring company with a core group of musicians who have worked together for more than 15 years.
Stubbs has conducted Handel’s Messiah with the Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, and Symphony Nova Scotia. Other guest conducting appearances include the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, Musica Angelica, and Early Music Vancouver. On the opera stage, he has made multiple appearances with Opera Omaha, as well as with Seattle Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and Dutch National Opera. He makes his San Francisco Symphony debut with these performances.
Stubbs has conducted Handel’s Messiah with the Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, and Symphony Nova Scotia. Other guest conducting appearances include the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, Musica Angelica, and Early Music Vancouver. On the opera stage, he has made multiple appearances with Opera Omaha, as well as with Seattle Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and Dutch National Opera. He makes his San Francisco Symphony debut with these performances.
Amanda Forsythe
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Soprano
Amanda Forsythe is a regular soloist with Baroque ensembles and festivals including Les Talens Lyriques, Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, Boston Early Music Festival, Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, Tafelmusik, Apollo’s Fire, Opera Prima, Pacific Musicworks, Early Music Vancouver, and Philharmonia Baroque. This season she performs with the Chicago Symphony, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Victoria Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Boston Baroque, Tucson Baroque Festival, and Boston Early Music Festival. In recent season she has also appeared with the Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Orchestra Sinfonica Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Moscow Philharmonic, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, Academy of Ancient Music, St. Louis Symphony, Music of the Baroque, and Lucerne Symphony Orchestra. She makes her San Francisco Symphony debut with these performances.
Forsythe sang Euridice on the recording of Charpentier’s La descente d’Orphée aux enfers with the Boston Early Music Festival that won a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. Her discography includes more than 25 albums and DVDs, many of them premiere recordings. Forthcoming discs include Handel’s Roman Cantatas, Pergolesi’s La serva padrona, and a solo Telemann album.
Forsythe sang Euridice on the recording of Charpentier’s La descente d’Orphée aux enfers with the Boston Early Music Festival that won a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. Her discography includes more than 25 albums and DVDs, many of them premiere recordings. Forthcoming discs include Handel’s Roman Cantatas, Pergolesi’s La serva padrona, and a solo Telemann album.
John Holiday
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Countertenor
Highlights of John Holiday’s 2024–25 season include roles at Boston Lyric Opera, Berlin Comic Opera, Bavarian State Opera, and a tour with the English Concert to Carnegie Hall and the Barbican. He also performs with the New Jersey Symphony, Apollo Chamber Players, gives a solo recital at Wolf Trap, and recently appeared on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts. He makes his San Francisco Symphony debut with these performances.
In recent seasons, Holiday has appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, Glimmerglass Festival, Wolf Trap Opera, Handel and Haydn Society, Dutch National Opera, and Arizona Opera. In addition to concerts and recitals, he has curated The John Holiday Experience to showcase his affinity for many different including classical, pop, jazz, and R&B.
Holiday has been the recipient of numerous awards including the 2017 Marian Anderson Vocal Award; the 2014 Richard Tucker Foundation’s Sara Tucker Award; and first place wins at the 2013 Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, 2012 Sullivan Foundation, and 2011 Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition. He was selected among WQXR’s “20 for ’20 Artists to Watch,” nominated for “Newcomer of the Year” by the German magazine Opernwelt, and listed as one of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 100 honorees for 2018.
In recent seasons, Holiday has appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, Glimmerglass Festival, Wolf Trap Opera, Handel and Haydn Society, Dutch National Opera, and Arizona Opera. In addition to concerts and recitals, he has curated The John Holiday Experience to showcase his affinity for many different including classical, pop, jazz, and R&B.
Holiday has been the recipient of numerous awards including the 2017 Marian Anderson Vocal Award; the 2014 Richard Tucker Foundation’s Sara Tucker Award; and first place wins at the 2013 Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, 2012 Sullivan Foundation, and 2011 Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition. He was selected among WQXR’s “20 for ’20 Artists to Watch,” nominated for “Newcomer of the Year” by the German magazine Opernwelt, and listed as one of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 100 honorees for 2018.
Aaron Sheehan
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Tenor
Aaron Sheehan made his professional operatic debut with the Boston Early Music Festival in the 2005 world premiere staging of Mattheson’s Boris Gudenow, and went on to further roles with BEMF in Lully’s Psyché; Charpentier’s Actéon; Monteverdi’s Orfeo, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, and L’incoronazione di Poppea; Steffani’s Orlando; Desmarest’s Circé; and Handel’s Acis and Galatea.
Sheehan appears on more than 35 recordings, including Handel’s Acis and Galatea with Boston Early Music Festival, Rameau’s Le Temple de la Gloire and Handel’s Saul with Philharmonia Baroque, and Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria with Boston Baroque. He sang the title role in BEMF’s recording of Charpentier’s La Descente d’Orphée aux enfers, which won Best Opera Recording at the 2015 Grammy Awards.
Recent appearances include the Seattle Symphony, Armenian Philharmonic, Smithsonian Museum, American Bach Soloists, Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, and National Symphony Orchestra of Peru. He has also been heard with Pacific Music Works, Blue Heron Choir, Bach Collegium San Diego, and Paul Hillier’s Theater of Voices, Royal Opera at Versailles, Tanglewood Music Festival, New Zealand Festival of the Arts, San Francisco Early Music Festival, and Vancouver Early Music Festival. He makes his San Francisco Symphony debut with these performances.
Sheehan appears on more than 35 recordings, including Handel’s Acis and Galatea with Boston Early Music Festival, Rameau’s Le Temple de la Gloire and Handel’s Saul with Philharmonia Baroque, and Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria with Boston Baroque. He sang the title role in BEMF’s recording of Charpentier’s La Descente d’Orphée aux enfers, which won Best Opera Recording at the 2015 Grammy Awards.
Recent appearances include the Seattle Symphony, Armenian Philharmonic, Smithsonian Museum, American Bach Soloists, Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, and National Symphony Orchestra of Peru. He has also been heard with Pacific Music Works, Blue Heron Choir, Bach Collegium San Diego, and Paul Hillier’s Theater of Voices, Royal Opera at Versailles, Tanglewood Music Festival, New Zealand Festival of the Arts, San Francisco Early Music Festival, and Vancouver Early Music Festival. He makes his San Francisco Symphony debut with these performances.
Douglas Williams
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Baritone
Douglas Williams has appeared in leading opera roles including Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro with the Milwaukee Symphony, Don Giovanni with Opera Atelier, and Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress with the Munich Philharmonic. Recent highlights include the premiere of a new work by Matthew Barnson with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and a debut recording of Henry Demarest’s Circé with the Boston Early Music Festival. In concert, he has appeared with the Berlin Philharmonic, NDR Radio Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Detroit Symphony, National Symphony, and Nashville Symphony. He makes his San Francisco Symphony debut with these performances.
Williams has also been cast in opera productions by choreographers Mark Morris and Sasha Waltz, and he is currently creating a choreographic Die schöne Müllerin for himself and three dancers. In chamber music, he has sung with Igor Levit and the Jack Quartet at the Tanglewood Festival, with the Signal Ensemble in the world premiere of Charles Wuorinen’s It Happens Like This, and recently as a guest recitalist with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. He trained at the New England Conservatory and Yale School of Music.
Williams has also been cast in opera productions by choreographers Mark Morris and Sasha Waltz, and he is currently creating a choreographic Die schöne Müllerin for himself and three dancers. In chamber music, he has sung with Igor Levit and the Jack Quartet at the Tanglewood Festival, with the Signal Ensemble in the world premiere of Charles Wuorinen’s It Happens Like This, and recently as a guest recitalist with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. He trained at the New England Conservatory and Yale School of Music.
Jenny Wong
Director, San Francisco Symphony Chorus
A native of Hong Kong, Jenny Wong is Chorus Director of the San Francisco Symphony and associate artistic director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale. Her conducting engagements have included the Los Angeles Philharmonic Green Umbrella Series, Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, Pasadena Symphony and Pops, the Industry, Long Beach Opera, Phoenix Chorale, and Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles. In 2021, Wong was one of nine national recipients of Opera America’s inaugural Opera Grants for Women Stage Directors and Conductors.
As Chorus Director, Wong has worked with SF Symphony Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen and Music Director Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas, as well as numerous guest conductors. She has also prepared choruses for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony, working with conductors Gustavo Dudamel, Susanna Mälkki, Jonathan Cohen, and Osmo Vänskä, among many others. Wong led the SF Symphony Chorus for the Deutsche Grammophon recording of Kaija Sariaaho’s Adriana Mater, which won the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording, and helped prepare the Los Angeles Master Chorale for the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, which won the 2022 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance. Together with Grant Gershon and the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Wong was also awarded the 2022 American Prize in Choral Performance in the Professional Division.
As Chorus Director, Wong has worked with SF Symphony Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen and Music Director Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas, as well as numerous guest conductors. She has also prepared choruses for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony, working with conductors Gustavo Dudamel, Susanna Mälkki, Jonathan Cohen, and Osmo Vänskä, among many others. Wong led the SF Symphony Chorus for the Deutsche Grammophon recording of Kaija Sariaaho’s Adriana Mater, which won the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording, and helped prepare the Los Angeles Master Chorale for the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, which won the 2022 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance. Together with Grant Gershon and the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Wong was also awarded the 2022 American Prize in Choral Performance in the Professional Division.
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