MUSICIANS OF THE OLD POST ROAD
Announces its 35th Anniversary Season: Elements
For 35 years, Musicians of the Old Post Road has delighted in its mission of presenting concerts that are a journey full of history, imagination, and discovery. Based in the Greater Boston area, the ensemble specializes in the period instrument performance of dynamic and diverse music from the Baroque to early Romantic eras, often focusing on works that have been lost to audiences for centuries. Performances take place in historical buildings (such as meetinghouses, churches, mansions, and museums) along the route of the old Boston Post Road, the first thoroughfare connecting Boston and New York City beginning in the 1670s.
For this special anniversary season, the ensemble will bring to audiences programming inspired by the four classical elements. Celebrated and interpreted across cultures and philosophies through centuries, this season’s music explores the qualities of water, air, fire, and earth in music spanning the Baroque to the Classical, from the Old World to the New World.
The series opens with Water: Cascading Baroque Passion, and features Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre’s dramatic cantata about Jonah and the whale along with other vocal and instrumental works evoking themes of water by Vivaldi, Werner, Campra, and others. Grammy-winning soprano Teresa Wakim will join for her sixth season of collaboration with the ensemble. Concerts are offered on Saturday, October 28, 4 pm at Old South Church, Boston; and Sunday, October 29, 4 pm at First Parish, Sudbury, and online.
The ensemble’s December program, Air: Heavenly Baroque Christmas, is a seasonal celebration with celestial works from Spain and New Spain, featuring music by Iribarren, Salazar, and others, including Zumaya, the first Mexican classical composer of indigenous descent. The ensemble will be joined by special guests María Díez Canedo and Eloy Cruz from ensemble La Fontegara of Mexico, as well as soprano Adriana Ruiz and mezzo-soprano Hilary Anne Walker. Concerts will be presented on Saturday, December 9, 4 pm at First Unitarian Church, Worcester, and online; and Sunday, December 10, 4 pm at Church of the Covenant, Boston.
In the spring of 2024, the ensemble presents Fire: Blazing Italian Baroque. Audiences will experience Baroque pyrotechnics on full display in concerti and sonatas for flute, strings, and harpsichord, including a flute concerto by Nardini, Vivaldi’s La Follia, a concerto by Scarlatti, a sinfonia by Locatelli, and a flute sonata by Anna Bon. Concerts are on Saturday, March 9, 4 pm at First Parish, Wayland, and online; and Sunday, March 10, 4 pm at Old South Church, Boston.
The season concludes with Earth: Rustic Classical, featuring rollicking chamber music with a Bohemian flair for flute and strings, including a flute quartet by Gyrowetz, a nocturne for string trio by Brandl, a flute quintet by Lidl, lively Hungarian dances, and a period arrangement of Mozart’s Rondo alla Turca. Concerts are presented on Friday, April 19, 8 pm at Old South Church, Boston, and online; and Sunday, April 21, 4 pm at the Worcester Historical Museum.
The concert series is supported, in part, by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, an agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Boston Cultural Council, the Sudbury Cultural Council, and an Engagement Award from Early Music America. Collaborating organizations include the Sudbury Historical Society, the Wayland Museum and Historical Society, and the Worcester Historical Museum.
Subscriptions are now on sale. Single tickets on sale August 1, 2023.
Premier Subscription: $250; includes best available seats for 4 concerts, online access to all four live-streamed concerts through June 30, 2024, and access to all 5 Delving Deeper episodes. This year the premier subscription also includes entry to OPR’s special headlining concert for Early Music America’s annual summit in Boston on October 24th.
Basic Subscription: $180; includes best available seats for 4 concerts and access to all 5 Delving Deeper episodes.
Online Subscription: $140 ($250 for family); includes online access to all four live-streamed concerts through June 30, 2024.
Single In-Person Tickets: $55 general admission, $50 seniors, $35 for under 35, Kids 17 and under free with adult.
Day-Of-Concert Rush Tickets (students and EBT Card holders only) are $10, availability permitting. Online single tickets are available for $35. For more information, visit www.oldpostroad.org, email [email protected], or call 781-466-6694.
ABOUT MUSICIANS OF THE OLD POST ROAD
Musicians of the Old Post Road takes its name from its acclaimed concert series that brings period instrument performances of music of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries to beautiful historic buildings along New England’s fabled Old Post Road, the first thoroughfare to connect Boston and New York City in the late 17th century.
Winner of the 1998 Noah Greenberg Award from the American Musicological Society, Musicians of the Old Post Road has also received programming awards from Chamber Music America and the US-Mexico Fund for Culture. The ensemble has toured in Germany, Austria, and Mexico, and has appeared at festivals and on concert series in the US, including the Indianapolis Early Music Festival, the Boston Early Music Festival Concert Series, the Castle Hill Festival, the Artists Series at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, and the Connecticut Early Music Festival. The ensemble has held a residency at Dartmouth College and was featured on WCVB television’s “Chronicle” program and 99.5 All Classical radio’s “Live from Fraser” program.
The ensemble’s discography includes seven recordings that have each been praised in the US and abroad. They include: The Virtuoso Double Bass (Titanic, 1994), Trios and Scottish Song Settings of J. N. Hummel (Meridian, 1999), Galant with an Attitude: Music of Juan and José Pla (Meridian, 2000), Quartets of Telemann and Bodinus (Meridian, 2004), Feliz Navidad: Christmas from Spain and New Spain (Meridian, 2008), and Roman Handel (Centaur, 2013).? The ensemble’s 7th CD, Earthly Baroque, was released by Centaur in 2017.
The Season at a Glance
Water: Cascading Baroque Passion
Features Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre’s dramatic cantata about Jonah and the whale along with other vocal and instrumental works evoking water by Vivaldi, Werner, Campra, and others. With soprano Teresa Wakim.
Sat, Oct. 28, 4pm, Old South Church, Boston
Sun. Oct. 29, 4pm, First Parish, Sudbury, and online
Air: Heavenly Baroque Christmas
A seasonal celebration with celestial works from Spain and New Spain, featuring music by Iribarren, Salazar, and others. Featuring special guests María Díez Canedo and Eloy Cruz from ensemble La Fontegara of Mexico. With soprano Adriana Ruiz and mezzo-soprano Hilary Anne Walker.
Sat. Dec. 9, 4pm, First Unitarian Church, Worcester, and online
Sun. Dec. 10, 4pm, Church of the Covenant, Boston
Fire: Blazing Italian Baroque
Experience Baroque pyrotechnics on full display in concerti and sonatas for flute, strings, and harpsichord, including works by Nardini, Scarlatti, Locatelli, Vivaldi’s La Follia, and a flute sonata by Anna Bon.
Sat. Mar. 9, 4pm, First Parish, Wayland, and online
Sun. Mar. 10, 4pm, Old South Church, Boston
Earth: Rustic Classical
Featuring rollicking chamber music with a Bohemian flair for flute and strings, including works by Gyrowetz, Brandl, Lidl, lively Hungarian dances, and a period arrangement of Mozart’s Rondo alla Turca.
Fri. Apr. 19, 8pm, Old South Church, Boston, and online
Sun. Apr. 21, 4pm, Worcester Historical Museum
