Handel & Hendrix in London, a museum in Mayfair dedicated to composer George Frideric Handel and musician Jimi Hendrix, is being restored as part of the ‘Hallelujah Project’.
The London museum closed for the works to take place in September 2021 and will reopen to visitors on 18 May 2023, 300 years after Handel first moved in.
Handel lived at 25 Brook Street from 1723 until his death in 1759. There, he wrote some of his greatest works, including ‘Messiah’ and its ‘Hallelujah chorus’, as well as ‘Zadok the Priest’. Hendrix moved into a flat at 23 Brook Street in 1968.
The £3m project will open all of Handel’s house to the public for the first time. It involves restoring the basement and ground floor and refurbishing the upper floors, which first opened in 2001.
The team will recreate Handel’s basement kitchen, and restore the ground floor parlours and the front façade of 25 Brook Street so that guests can enter the composer’s home through his front door.
Refurbishing the homes of Handel and Hendrix
In addition, the museum will feature new works of art and exhibitions, as well as a mixed reality (MR) audiovisual display and live music.
Hendrix’s flat was restored and opened to the public in 2016. His residence is also being expanded as part of the Hallelujah Project.
For the first time, guests will be able to walk up and down the stairs to his flat. They will explore Hendrix’s guitar technique in a new exhibition.
“Restoring Handel’s house to its original appearance was an idea revived by musicologist Stanley Sadie in 1959,” said Simon Daniels, director of Handel & Hendrix in London.
“After 63 years, the Hallelujah Project will finally realise this noble ambition and ensure 25 Brook Street is an engaging, accessible and permanent testament to the fact that London was home to one of the world’s greatest ever composers.”
Images: Handel & Hendrix in London
