Music Worcester Kicks Off 2024-25 Season With The Philip Glass Ensemble At Mechanics Hall
This launches a 21-concert season that includes the debut of Music Worcester's 11-year program.
By: A.A. Cristi Aug. 20, 2024
The 166th season of Music Worcester will open October 18th with the world renowned Philip Glass Ensemble performing at Mechanics Hall. This launches a 21-concert season that includes the debut of Music Worcester's 11-year program, THE COMPLETE BACH, along with concerts by world renowned musicians that range from classical to jazz. Subscription packages for 3 or more events, along with single tickets, are on sale at musicworcester.org.
“This season explores new territories for Music Worcester, and ultimately demonstrates the almost infinite reach and influence of music” said Adrien Finlay, Music Worcester's Executive Director. “From starting our in-depth 11-year exploration of the works of J. S. Bach, to welcoming ensembles highlighting works by living composers such as the Philip Glass Ensemble and Sphinx Virtuosi, the 2024-2025 Season will present the incredible potential of classical music across the centuries and into other genres.”
Created in 1968, The Philip Glass Ensemble (PGE) comprises the principal performers of the work of the iconic composer. Based in New York City, PGE serves as a laboratory for his music, and they continue to perform his works worldwide. The concert in Mechanics Hall will include Glassworks and the recently rediscovered Music in Eight Parts. This work was first performed a handful of times in 1970, but the manuscript was subsequently lost until being found at Christie's Auction House in 2017, and received its recording debut in 2020.
THE COMPLETE BACH, which will encompass 12 concerts a year through 2035, kicks off with the first-ever BACHtoberfest October 25th-27th. This All-Bach weekend of concerts begins with CONCORA, the professional chorus of Greater Hartford, CT led by Chris Shepard singing Cantatas BWV 70, 119, and 120 at Mechanics Hall on Friday October 25th. Mechanics Hall Principal Organist Peter Edwin Krasinski will present a free concert of organ works by Bach on Saturday afternoon, October 26th, including several of the composer's Toccata & Fugue settings.
Cellist Zlatomir Fung, the youngest ever to win First Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition, and at just 28 years of age considered one of the preeminent cellists of his generation, having just joined the faculty of The Juilliard School, headlines the weekend on Saturday night at Mechanics Hall, playing Bach's Complete Cello Suites.
Sunday, October 27th will feature two performances, a morning presentation of Cantata 61 by the choir of First Unitarian Church in Worcester during their regular 10:30am service, and the inaugural afternoon concert of the BACHtoberfest Choir, comprised of choral singers from around the country. Performing Cantatas BWV 50, 62, and 122 at Mechanics Hall, the BACHtoberfest Choir will come together each fall for the duration of THE COMPLETE BACH and is open to any interested singer. Applications to be part of the Choir are here.
The 2024-2025 season continues as Music Worcester welcomes back Maxim Vengerov, who Classic FM calls “one of the greatest violinists in the world,” performing with pianist Polina Osetinskaya on November 17th in Mechanics Hall. The program will include works by Brahms, Prokofiev, and both Clara and Robert Schumann.
The holiday season will be celebrated with 3 events in December. On the 6th of the month, at First Unitarian Church in Worcester the Worcester Chamber Music Society performs Bach's Christmas Cantatas BWV 32, 132, and 151 (as part of TBC). The annual performance of Handel's Messiah by The Worcester Chorus is scheduled for December 7th at Mechanics Hall, while the Holiday Concert with The Worcester Chorus Women's Ensemble rounds out December on Sunday the 22nd at Trinity Lutheran Church.
About Music Worcester
Music Worcester, Inc., originally known as the Worcester County Music Association, for years ran the Worcester Music Festival. Current programs reflect the merger in the mid-1990s of the Festival with the International Artists Series and the MA Jazz Festival. Performances regularly include visiting orchestras and guest soloists, chamber music ensembles and ballet companies, world music and jazz groups, and choral masterworks. Multiple educational programs currently serve youth and families of greater Worcester: masterclasses by visiting artists, Tickets to Opportunity, Festival Singers, in-school residencies, and the Artist-in-Residency program. Integral to Music Worcester's annual operations, The Worcester Chorus has been part of the organization since the very first concert season in 1858.
The 2024-2025 Season at Music Worcester
*Part of THE COMPLETE BACH
Philip Glass Ensemble Early Works
Friday, October 18th at 8pm Mechanics Hall
BACHtoberfest 2024-Mechanics Hall
CONCORA Bach Cantatas BWV 70, 119, 120
Friday October 25th at 8pm
Bach Organ Multimedia Concert - Peter Edwin Krasinski
Saturday October 26th at 4pm
Zlatomir Fung, Bach Complete Cello Suites
Saturday October 26th at 7pm
First Unitarian Church Choir, Cantata BWV 61
Sunday, October 27th at 10:30am
BACHtoberfest Choir, Bach Cantatas BWV 50, 62, 122
Sunday October 27th at 4pm
Maxim Vengerov (violin) and Polina Osetinskaya (piano)
Sunday, November 17th at 4pm Mechanics Hall
Worcester Chamber Music Society Bach Christmas Cantatas BWV 32, 132, 151
Friday December 6th at 7:30pm First Unitarian Church
The Worcester Chorus Handel Messiah
Saturday December 7th 8pm Mechanics Hall
Holiday Concert -The Worcester Chorus Women's Ensemble
Sunday December 22nd 4pm Trinity Lutheran Church
Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass
Friday January 24th at 8pm Mechanics Hall
Imani Winds and Boston Brass
Friday February 14th 8pm Tuckerman Hall
Ian Bostridge lieder recital
Sunday March 2nd 4pm Tuckerman Hall
Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields & Bruce Liu
Sunday March 9th 6pm Mechanics Hall
Bach's Birthday Bash 2025 Mechanics Hall
The Complete Keyboard Partitas Jeremy Denk
Friday March 21st at 7pm
The Worcester Chorus Secular Cantatas BWV 213 & 214
Saturday March 22nd at 4pm
Handel and Haydn Society Concerti for Two Harpsichords
Saturday March 22nd 8pm
Worcester Bach Collective Cantatas BWV 28, 36, 40, 64, 133
Sunday March 23rd at 4pm
Sphinx Virtuosi American Forms
Sunday March 30th, co-production with The Prior Performing Arts Center at College of The Holy Cross
Moveable Feast: Bach Organist Recital
Sunday April 27 at 4pm Trinity Lutheran Church and First Baptist Church
Time for Three
Wednesday May 14th at 7:30pm BrickBox Theatre at JMAC
The Worcester Chorus
Sunday May 18t hat 4pm Mechanics Hall
Tickets and information on these and all Music Worcester events can be found at musicworcester.org.
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