We suggest you visit the groups website for ticket information, directions, health guidelines during the ongoing pandemic, and possible changes.
Towns listed are in Massachusetts, unless otherwise noted.
Singers interested in joining groups to sing in these concerts can look at Open Rehearsals, or the individual member group websites for information about open rehearsals or auditions.
Events are updated during the season, so check back again for any updates.
Keep the Music Coming!
August
August 17, 2021 7:30 p.m.
Assabet Valley Mastersingers, Dr. Robert P. Eaton, Artistic Director
Congregation B’nai Shalom, Westborough
41st Season — Building Bridges
Summer Sing with soloists
Mozart’s Requiem in d minor. Come sing the choruses with members of the AVM chorus while professional soloists sing the solos. All are welcome! Bring your music score or borrow one at the door. Artistic Director Dr. Robert Eaton will briefly rehearse the audience/chorus in the choral sections of the Requiem prior to directing a complete performance of the work including professional soloists; Andrea Ehrenreich, soprano, Jessica Tasucu, alto, Killian Mooney, tenor, John Salvi, bass; and accompanist Mark Bartlett.
www.AVMsingers.org
September
October
October 30, 2021 8:00 p.m.
Assabet Valley Mastersingers, Dr. Robert P. Eaton, Artistic Director
Robert R. Jay Performing Arts Center, Saint John’s High School, Shrewsbury
Songs of Unity
Unity in Diversity – Cynthia Wong
LUX: The Dawn From On High – Dan Forrest
We Exist – Oliver Caplan
Commissioned by AVM in honor of its 40th anniversary, Unity in Diversity, by Northborough native Cynthia Lee Wong, is a song cycle with texts by Wordsworth, Teasdale, and Tagore, touching on themes which resonate today – nature and destruction, love, and unity. In LUX: The Dawn From On High, composer Dan Forrest explores ancient liturgical chant, scripture, and modern secular love poetry. The lyrics of We Exist respond to the 2017 violence in Charlottesville, Virginia with Oliver Caplan’s composition honoring all races, all faiths, and all genders.
www.AVMsingers.org
November
November 7, 2021 4:00 p.m.
Salisbury Singers, Dr. Michelle Graveline, Artistic Director Emerita
Mechanics Hall, Worcester
A Celebration of Classical Favorites
A Farewell Concert with Dr. Michelle Graveline, Artistic Director Emerita
Dr. Graveline, with orchestra and soloists, conducts Salisbury Singers in her farewell concert featuring the Schubert Mass in G, Haydn’s Little Organ Mass showing off the Hook Organ of Mechanics Hall, and Mozart’s Solemn Vespers.
After a cancelled final performance in Spring 2020 as a result of COVID-19, these favorites of Michelle showcase her extraordinary ability to evoke the beauty of the classical masterworks and bring to the audience a thrilling live performance. We welcome all to join us.
www.salisburysingers.org
November 21, 2021 4:00 p.m.
Master Singers of Worcester, Ed Tyler, Artistic Director
Salem Covenant Church, Worcester
Passport to Great Britain
www.mswma.org
December
December 12, 2021 3:00 p.m.
Nashoba Valley Chorale, Anne Watson Born, Music Director
Acton Congregational Church, Acton – conditions permitting; otherwise the concert will be livestreamed
Bernstein Chichester Psalms, Britten Ceremony of Carols, Pinkham Christmas Cantata.
www.nashobavalleychorale.org
December 19, 2021 3:30 p.m.
Assabet Valley Mastersingers, Dr. Robert P. Eaton, Artistic Director
First Church Congregational, Marlborough
Messiah Sing with soloists
COME! SING! LISTEN! A joyful opportunity to participate in singing Messiah with the Assabet Valley Mastersingers. The Christmas portion of Handel’s oratorio in addition to the “Hallelujah Chorus” will be sung. Dr. Eaton will direct the chorus, audience participants, and soloists with organ accompaniment.
www.AVMsingers.org
January
February
February 6, 2022
Shir Joy Chorus, Nan AK Gibbons, Director
Performance will be held live or with virtual chorus recordings (on Zoom) if necessary for the safety of chorus members and the audience.
Details TBD
www.shirjoychorus.com
February 12, 2022 7:00 p.m.
Snow Date: February 13, 2022 4:00 p.m.
Master Singers of Worcester, Ed Tyler, Artistic Director
Salem Covenant Church, Worcester
Stage and Screen
www.mswma.org
March
March 5 2022 7:00 p.m. Trinity Lutheran Church, Worcester
March 6 2022 4:00 p.m. St. Cecilia Church, Leominster
Salisbury Singers, Bradford T. Dumont, Music Director
(location noted with date above)
My Soul Can Reach: Music for Reflection & Renewal
Satisfy your soul with this uplifting performance – a sweeping compilation of work old and new with genres ranging from choral to poetry.
In a mix of classic and contemporary, Music Director Brad Dumont and Conducting Fellow Will Goliger lead the Salisbury Singers in a journey from the ‘Heavenly Hurt’ of personal loss, featuring texts of MA native Emily Dickinson, to the eventual resolution we all seek with Antonio Vivaldi’s resplendent Gloria. These major works will be complemented by a series of contemporary choral pieces from artists including Marques Garrett, Dan Forrest and Peter Anglea, alongside music from our guest string quartet.
Over the years, Salisbury Singers has been pleased to invite young, talented conductors, studying for graduate degrees in Choral Conducting, to be part of our performances. We continue this tradition during this concert by welcoming Will Goliger to conduct the complete Gloria.
www.salisburysingers.org
March 19, 2022 8:00 p.m.
Worcester Chorus, Dr. Christopher Shepard, Artistic Director and Conductor
Mechanics Hall, Worcester
Join us for a historic evening featuring The Worcester Chorus in a performance of J. S. Bach’s Mass in B Minor. This performance will take place for an in-person audience at Mechanics Hall, but will also be broadcasted via Live Stream for anyone unable to attend in person. In addition to Worcester Chorus directors Chris Shepard and Mark Mummert, this presentation will feature the Worcester Festival Orchestra and vocal soloists Jennifer Ferrand Kelly (soprano I), Louise Fauteux (soprano II), Agnes Vojtko (alto), Matthew Anderson (tenor), and Jonathan Stinson (bass).
www.worcesterchorus.com
March 20, 2022 3:30 p.m.
Assabet Valley Mastersingers, Dr. Robert P. Eaton, Artistic Director
Algonquin Regional High School, Northborough
Songs of Ecstasy
For a Breath of Ecstasy – Michael J. Trotta
Carmina Burana – Carl Orff
Dr. Robert P. Eaton will conduct the ensemble and soloists accompanied by two pianos, an oboe and five percussionists.
Each of the movements of For a Breath of Ecstasy chronicles poet Sara Teasdale’s search for solace amidst life’s many storms. .Composer Trotta’s tapestry of different vocal forces set against the backdrop of an oboe, played by Joe Halko and the piano with Judy Yauckoes, reveals moments of yearning, love, joy, and peace.
Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, called a “dramatic cantata”, is performed here as a concert work. It is based upon twenty-five 13th century poems written by itinerant scholars, minstrels, and runaway monks. The theme running through the work is that of the wheel of Fortune, the goddess of fate who rules our lives. The poems touch on all aspects of life, the defects of the church, state and manners; complaints on the power of money and the decline of moral values; the sensual joys of food, drink, and physical love.
www.AVMsingers.org
April
May
May 6 & 7, 2022 Time TBD
Acton Community Chorus, Lisa Cooper, Director
Faith Evangelical Church, Acton
This is why we sing!
www.ActonCommunityChorus.org
May 15, 2022 4:00 p.m.
Master Singers of Worcester, Ed Tyler, Artistic Director
Salem Covenant Church, Worcester
Music of the 21st Century
www.mswma.org
May 15 2022 time TBD.
Salisbury Singers, Bradford T. Dumont, Music Director
Location TBD in Worcester
Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight: Reflections of the Great War
In 2009, a box was discovered in an abandoned house in Chicago with a series of unpublished works by the composer Florence Price. Salisbury Singers is excited to bring to life one of these works, Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight, composed by the first African-American woman to be featured on many of America’s orchestral stages in the early 1900’s. The text of this piece describes the restless ghost of Abraham Lincoln pacing the streets and reflecting on the state of America in the lead up to World War I. Salisbury Singers will explore a series of texts and musical reflections from the period in and around World War I as the nation grappled with a numerous national and international trials.
www.salisburysingers.org
May 22 2022 3:00 p.m.
Sounds of Stow Chorus, Barbara Jones, Artistic Director
First Parish Church of Stow and Acton, Stow
Carol Burnett’s the World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass
Get read to tap your toes! The Sounds of Stow Chorus is excited to present Carol Burnett’s The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass together with Southern Rail one of New England’s premier bluegrass bands. Also on the program, which will run about one hour, are some shorter pieces and a full set of bluegrass! Please visit our website for tickets and more detailed concert information.
www.soundsofstow.org
May 22, 2022 3:30 p.m.
Assabet Valley Mastersingers, Dr. Robert P. Eaton, Artistic Director
Robert R. Jay Performing Arts Center, Saint John’s High School, Shrewsbury
The Seasons by Franz Joseph Haydn
Dr, Robert P. Eaton, Founder and Artistic Director, will conduct soloists Soprano Mary Johnston Letellier, Tenor Gregory Zavracky, and Baritone John Salvi, along with the orchestra and ensemble. The Seasons was completed in 1801, Haydn’s last major composition. It is highly regarded to be his most mature, carefully crafted, and musical. Its orchestral tone-paintings (instrumental pictures such as soaring birds, leaping lambs, storms, stag hunt, drinking scene, etc.) are abundant and unmatched in any other major work. No musical knowledge is necessary to delight in the simple folk song melodies and vivid orchestral tone-painting.
www.AVMsingers.org
June
June 11, 2022 8:00 p.m.
Assabet Valley Mastersingers, Dr. Robert P. Eaton, Artistic Director
Congregational Church of Westborough, Westborough
Glories of France
Assabet Valley Mastersingers are proud to provide this bonus concert this season. This concert pairs two of Frances’s most acclaimed choral composers. Faure’s Requiem is a sublime statement of faith with some of the most beautiful melodies he ever composed. List the Requiems of Durufle and Brahms, it provides comfort and consolation and has become a favorite of performers and audiences alike. By contrast, Poulenc’s Gloria is an exuberant declaration of praise with lively rhythms, beautiful melodies and an overall eclectic musical style. Accompanied by organist Brett McGuire, with soprano Kirsten Watson, baritone Thaddeus Bell.
www.AVMsingers.org
June 26, 2022
Shir Joy Chorus, Nan AK Gibbons, Director
Performance will be held live or with virtual chorus recordings (on Zoom) if necessary for the safety of chorus members and the audience.
Details TBD
www.shirjoychorus.com