Shortly after Lecolion Washington Jr. officially became president and CEO of the Handel and Haydn Society in early August, he met with Jonathan Cohen, who has been the organization’s artistic director since 2023. “One of the first things [Washington] said was, ‘I’m getting the scores for all the pieces we’re doing this year’,” said Cohen, who said he left the meeting feeling impressed and optimistic.
Washington, a bassoonist and educator who spent the last nine years leading the Community Music Center of Boston, said it was a matter of “doing my homework” to prepare for his new role at the 200-plus-year-old Boston institution. A performing professional for years, he shared a “fluency of language” with Cohen, he explained. So when they talked about the upcoming season, “Jonny and I were talking not only as institutional colleagues, but as musical colleagues as well,” he said.
The new leader didn’t play any role in shaping the 2026-27 season, which opens in early October with performances of Handel’s “L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato,” an evening-length piece for orchestra, chorus, and soloists based on poetry by John Milton. He said he couldn’t have come up with a better season himself.
“The theme of the season this year is the choices that shape us, the key decisions that [an individual] makes that drive the person, either who they are, or who they aspire to be,” he said.
Though “L’Allegro” isn’t widely known now, it was one of Handel’s most successful pieces during his lifetime, Cohen said. Despite the Italian titles, “L’Allegro” and “Il Penseroso” were written in English, and the poems “clearly inspired Handel a lot, because they talk about how we should be in this world,” Cohen said. “Handel is one of the great word painters of Baroque music, and he clearly just delights in these images that John Milton conjured. It sort of pushed him to really great heights. The music is stunning.”
Washington, who is the first Black person to hold an executive leadership position at H+H, said he believes that “stunning” music will always attract audiences. “There is a very passionate subscriber base,” he said. “The retention there has been extremely high. I want to maintain that and drive the energy forward.”
At the same time, he said, he’s interested in making sure that “folks who maybe aren’t familiar with Handel can see themselves in the way that we describe the works.”
Put simply, a modern listener might not know the music of Handel or the poetry of Milton, but that listener probably knows what it’s like to be an introvert or extrovert, or to be in conflict with someone who’s not in the same place on the introvert-extrovert spectrum. “I think most families, communities, workplaces are always finding the balance between the temperaments of people,” Washington said.
On the H+H website, the marketing blurbs for every concert this season include an umbrella question about the human spirit: even “Messiah,” which the organization has performed every single year since 1854. “It wasn’t part of my plan initially, but ‘Messiah’ was able to fit!” he said. The anchoring question in that case was “what do we rely on when things are uncertain?” For some people, the answer to that is faith, he said. “Even when the future is unclear, we can find some strength in what endures.”
Washington believes those familiar experiences, which he called an “exploration of the human spirit,” might be an accessible gateway to theoretically unfamiliar music. Personally, the “L’Allegro” performance “couldn’t have come at a better time” for him as he’s been asking himself the same questions the piece faces.
“The majority of my life, I’ve been very much an extrovert,” he said. “I’ve always gotten energy from large groups of people.” However, having just dropped off his youngest son at college a few weeks ago, he’s settling into his new job while also adjusting to empty-nester life, in which he has more time than he’s had in decades with only his own thoughts and his two cats for company, he said. He’s still “probably more of an extrovert,” but can appreciate that “reflective, contemplative” time more than he did in the past, he said.
Later in the season, the question of “who do we choose to love?” frames the pairing of a cantata by Handel and a new piece by Damien Geter; a program of C.P.E. Bach and Haydn prompts questions of leading, following, and collaboration, and questions of confidence and perseverance lead to Mendelssohn’s oratorio “Elijah.”
“We are exploring all avenues of expanding our community,” Washington said. “That’s the beauty of being called a ‘society.’ It gives you a few more options as to what the things are that are included in your identity.”
HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY
Oct. 2, 7:30 p.m.; Oct. 4, 3 p.m. Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Ave.
A.Z. Madonna can be reached at az.madonna@globe.com. Follow her @knitandlisten.