For Immediate Release
November 2, 2026
PRESS CONTACT
Joanna Boyle, General Manager
Musicians of the Old Post Road
781.466.6694
musicians@oldpostroad.org
PHOTOS
https://oldpostroad.org/press-room
MUSICIANS OF THE OLD POST ROAD
presents
Christmas in Olde/New England
Saturday, December 5, 2026, 4:00 pm
Church of the Covenant, Boston, MA
Sunday, December 6, 2026, 4:00 pm
First Unitarian Church, Worcester, MA
and live-streamed at www.oldpostroad.org
In-person Audience Tickets $10-$55, kids come free with an adult
Virtual Audience Tickets: $35 individual, $70 family, $10 students
Two-time winner of the Noah Greenberg Award from the American Musicological Society, Musicians of the Old Post Road continues its 38th season with Christmas in Olde/New England, a seasonal celebration featuring joyful and spirited 18th-century Christmas choral and instrumental works from country churches on both sides of the Atlantic. Performances will be presented on December 5 at 4 pm at the Church of the Covenant in Boston and December 6 at 4 pm at the First Unitarian Church in Worcester and online. This is the second program of the ensemble’s “Convergence” season, which explores musical lineages and the merging of cultures and styles across two centuries, with the ensemble’s signature blend of musical “rediscoveries” in dialogue with beloved Baroque and Classical works.
Presented in collaboration with the early music choir Convivium Musicum, the program will include rousing, early arrangements of familiar seasonal tunes and festive instrumental works. In keeping with the ensemble’s tradition of fresh and unusual holiday offerings, the concert showcases Christmas music as heard in 18th-century Old and New England. As a final celebration of 2026 as the 250th anniversary of American independence, music by some of the region’s earliest composers will be included.
The New England repertoire includes choral anthems by the Yankee “tunesmiths” William Billings, Jeremiah Ingalls and others, while the British repertoire features the lively “West Gallery” style of music for choir and instruments as colorfully depicted in Thomas Hardy’s novels. In addition to the choral repertoire, the program will include instrumental selections, including an arrangement of Samuel Wesley’s “Rondo on God rest ye merry Gentlemen” for flute quartet and the premiere of a new arrangement of a rediscovered carol from Cornwall, England.
Musicians for these performances, all of whom will play on period instruments, include flutist Suzanne Stumpf, violinists Sarah Darling and Jesse Irons, cellist Daniel Ryan (performing also on a New England church bass dating from 1815), and organist Nicola Canzano.
This special program is the ensemble’s first collaboration with Convivium Musicum, an early music choir founded and run by its singers. Since 1987, the choir has given concerts offering rarely-heard gems alongside stirring masterworks. Under Music Director Dr. Allegra Martin, their programs are informed by careful research and scholarship, and their performances are devoted to bringing to life the complex and profound emotional texture of its wide-ranging repertoire.
Single In-Person Tickets are $55 general admission, $50 seniors, $35 for under 35. Kids 18 and under are free with an adult. Day-Of-Concert Rush Tickets (students and EBT Card holders only) are $10, availability permitting.
Virtual single tickets and virtual subscriptions are also available. Virtual single ticket holders will be able to view the concert for three days after the livestream. Virtual subscribers will have continuous access until June 30, 2027.
For more information, visit www.oldpostroad.org, email musicians@oldpostroad.org, 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 and 2023 Noah Greenberg Award from the American Musicological Society, Musicians of the Old Post Road has also received programming awards from Early Music America, 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), Roman Handel (Centaur, 2013), and Earthly Baroque (Centaur, 2017), and its most recent CD, Into the Light (OPR Recordings, 2026).
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Press Contact:
Joanna Boyle, General Manager
Musicians of the Old Post Road
781.466.6694
