The Hungarian Handel Society was established in the Nádor Hall (a concert hall in the School for the Blind, Budapest) on 14th April 2009, the 250th anniversary of the great composer’s death.

The School for the Blind is the only special educational institute for students with visual impairment in the world which operates a concert hall. Thus, it has hosted no less than 1500 concerts since 1995. Well-known, outstanding Hungarian artists as well as gifted young musicians regularly perform in the Nádor Hall. The programme of the hall comprises the whole of music literature, however, the major part consists of early music, baroque and contemporary performances.

In adition to its general operation, it is important to note that musicians with visual impairment may give concerts in the Nádor Hall under favourable conditions, and also, that blind and partially sighted people may attend the events free of charge.

The establishment of the Hungarian Handel Society was initiated and promoted by Zoltán Göllesz, the manager of Nádor Hall.

Although it is true that the aging Handel lost his eyesight similarly to his genious contemporary, J. S. Bach (with whom Handel was born in the same year), the reason for establishing the Handel Society should not be explained by the site of the concert hall or composer’s old age blindness; the motivation was that the manager as well as  a number of artists performing in the hall share a love for Handel’s music.

We paid tributes to the composer and his art with the Handel Feast (3-19 April 2009) consisting of ten concerts, opera and oratorio Screenings in the neighbouring Bravia Chamber Hall.

The society wishes to offer marvellous, delightful concerts as well as lectures and presentations introducing the masterpieces of the great composer beyond  the well-known ones.

Concerning its legal status, the Hungarian Handel Society is not a new organisation, its legal basis is provided by a foundation named Egy Hangversenyteremért Alapítvány (Foundation for a Concert Hall). Consequently, the society is already registered by the court of registration, is declared non-profit, which facilitates supporting the organisation from the income tax. Obviously, the foundation that hosts the Hungarian Handel Society is for artistic purposes. The headquarters of both the foundation and HHS is the Nádor Programme Office in the School for the Blind in Budapest, Hungary. It is Mr Zoltán Göllesz the President of the Board of Trustees who encouraged the establishment of the society, the members of which are convinced that operating as a foundation makes it possible to achieve its objectives within a relatively short time while forming an active community.

Zoltán Göllesz