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Welcome to Georgian London, a thriving city of luxurious public gardens, royal processions, multiple opera companies, soaring churches, and the famous Foundling Hospital for Orphans. Handel’s music was everywhere, the composer enjoying a level of fame and fortune greater than his Baroque co-composer, J.S Bach. Their music and lives will be presented by Sue Hammond while Patrick Hunt brings alive the culture and times of 18th century England. It is appropriate that this event takes place in mid-December when Handel’s Messiah is being celebrated by so many.
Patrick Hunt believes the perceived boundaries between academic subjects are too often arbitrary and artificial, and thus explores junctions between many intersecting areas of interest across the broader humanities, sciences, and the arts. Patrick has followed several of his life-long dreams—archaeologist, writer, composer, poet, and art historian—for nearly three decades at Stanford University. Among many other works, he is author of When Empires Clash, Pascal & Voltaire at the Cafe Procope, Hannibal, and Ten Discoveries that Rewrote History.
Susan Hammond is an award-winning classical pianist (a Steinway Artist), teacher, writer, and arts advocate. She has developed courses for children and adults on how to talk about —and hence think about—music. Classical Kids, her series of audio recordings designed to draw today’s children into the world of classical composers, was an unexpected success, selling over five million copies and garnering over one hundred awards. She has performed, taught, and lectured on television (PBS) and throughout the United States and Canada.
