‘A Baroque Holiday Celebration’ Streams

Members of the Harvard Baroque Chamber Orchestra gave a holiday concert at the Cotuit Center for the Arts on December 13th, but with restrictions tightening around Massachusetts, no one could see it. That is, until now: it is available for free streaming at artsonthecape.org.

It consists of selections from Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio,” several Bach chorales, Handel’s Messiah, Corelli’s “Christmas Concerto,” Telemann’s Concerto for Four Violins, and Baroque, traditional, and modern carols.

Harvard Baroque describes itself as “a small chamber orchestra dedicated to bringing back to life the vivid rhetoric and dancing rhythms of baroque music.” The group made its Cape Cod debut in 2017, as part of the Village Concert Series by the Sandwich Arts Alliance.

It consists of Harvard students, as well as students and recent graduates from the New England Conservatory, the Boston Conservatory, Boston University, and the Longy School of Music. They normally rehearse each week in Harvard’s Memorial Church, using the university’s collection of historical instruments and bows. But since the pandemic, they have had to be more creative. They are currently working on an all-virtual performance of Handel’s Messiah to premiere in late January.