Who We Are

The Handel Week Festival is an annual festival to celebrate the music of George Frideric Handel (1685-1759). The Festival is currently held in the spring of each year at Pilgrim Church in Oak Park and was begun in the year 2000, in Oak Park, Illinois. It was patterned after the highly successful Bach Week Festival in Evanston. Founders Dr. Dennis E. Northway and Charles Chauncey Wells believed that the works of this great master would be as enthusiastically received as Bach Week's 4 decades of success.

Handel Week Festival is a production of Handel Week Incorporated, an Illinois non-profit corporation devoted to popularizing and promoting the music of Handel. It encourages musicians and various media venues to play his works and supports activities pertaining to Handel both in Chicagoland and throughout the world. Handel Week Incorporated is a not-for-profit corporation under Section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Officers

Alison Nelson, President
James Barry, Vice President
Marianne Simpson, Treasurer
Diana Sherry, Secretary
Lillian Hohman, Publications Director

Directors

Carl Grapentine (Honorary), Philip A. Kraus, Barbara Larsen (President Emerita), Jane Shirley, and Dr. Dennis E. Northway, Artistic Director [email protected]

Jeanne Busch, President Emerita
Nancy Smiley, President Emerita
Charles Chauncey Wells, President Emeritus & Co-founder.