For over three decades, the period instrument chamber ensemble Musicians of the Old Post Road has delighted in introducing audiences to “rediscovered” works from the Baroque through the Romantic. For its 34th season, entitled Forgotten Voices – A Season of Discovery, the ensemble offers more revived works than ever, curating each mainstage concert program and its new online Delving Deeper episode to feature little-known composers worthy of celebration.
This season, the group resumes its full in-person concert schedule and in-person subscriptions while continuing to offer online subscriptions. There will be two performances of each program—one in Boston, and one in Wayland, Sudbury, or Worcester—reuniting concertgoers with the beautiful ambiance of historical venues.
The concert series opens with Masterful Madames: Women Composers in the Circle of Frederick the Great. The program celebrates three fabulous forgotten female composers: Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia, Wilhelmine of Prussia, and Anna Bon. Their wonderful chamber music will be presented together with works by other composers in Frederick the Great’s circle. Concerts are offered October 29, 4pm, First Parish, Sudbury and October 30, 4pm, Emmanuel Church, Boston.
The ensemble’s December program, American Originals: A Moravian Christmas, explores the music of a unique 18th-century community. This spirited holiday program features works penned by Moravian immigrants to the U.S. and works by Quantz and Haydn that they imported and preserved. Featured soloists include soprano Jessica Petrus and mezzo-soprano Hilary Anne Walker. Concerts are on December 10, 4pm, Emmanuel Church, Boston and December 11, 4pm, Trinity Lutheran Church, Worcester.
This winter, Musicians of the Old Post invites viewers to go behind the scenes with its artistic directors as they reveal the process of researching, reconstructing, and editing rediscovered works. This fifth episode of the online Delving Deeper series, Behind the Curtain: Mining, Polishing and Showcasing Lost Musical Gems, will culminate with a performance of a rediscovered work by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges at the Worcester Historical Museum’s beautiful Salisbury Mansion.
The career of 18th-century superstar Faustina Bordoni is spotlighted in March in Baroque Diva. This program features soprano Teresa Wakim performing dazzling arias and cantatas written to highlight Faustina’s vocal virtuosity. Listeners will experience the lasting impact Faustina had on 18th-century opera through works from the fiery to the sublime written by her husband J.A.Hasse, Leonardo Vinci, and Handel. This program is offered March 11, 4pm First Parish, Wayland March 12, 4pm, Old South Church, Boston.
The season concludes with the unveiling of lost works by Christoph Graupner, an unsung German composer who was as legendary in his day as his contemporaries Bach and Telemann. Into the Light: Unearthed Treasures by Christoph Graupner will introduce audiences to his concertos, suites, and sonatas along with works by his colleagues Fasch and Telemann. Concerts will be performed April 29, 4pm, Worcester Historical Museum and April 30, 4pm, Old South Church, Boston.
Single Tickets and Season Subscriptions
In-Person Season Subscription: All four concert programs for $170 (also includes on-demand online viewing and free admission to the fifth online episode of Delving Deeper).
Single In-Person Ticket: $50 ($5 discount available for seniors)
New this season: $35 for under 35
Kids 18 and under are free with adult
Day-Of-Concert Rush Ticket (students and EBT Card holders only): $10, availability permitting
Online single tickets and online subscriptions are also available.
Visit www.oldpostroad.org or call 781.466.6694 for more information and to purchase tickets.
The concert series is sponsored in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, an agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the Boston Cultural Council. The Sudbury concert is supported in part by the Sudbury Cultural Council. Collaborating organizations include the Sudbury Historical Society, the Wayland Museum and Historical Society, and the Worcester Historical Museum.
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.?
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Musicians of the Old Post Road
107 Concord Road
Wayland, MA 01778
www.oldpostroad.org – 781.466.6694
