Still | In Memoriam
Lidström | World Premiere
-Mats Lidström, cello
Beethoven | Symphony No. 3 “Eroica”
Cellist Mats Lidström performs a world premiere based on a Robert F. Kennedy speech during his bid for the American Presidency. William Grant Still’s In Memoriam memorializes the forgotten Black soldiers who fought for our country in the Civil War. The “heroic” Third Symphony expresses Beethoven’s belief in the indomitable spirit of mankind.
Johannes Brahms, German Requiem
conducted by Andrew Altenbach
The Chelmsford Community Band was founded in 1972 and is a volunteer group of adult musicians who greatly enjoy bringing live music to the greater Chelmsford, Massachusetts, USA area. The concert band and jazz ensemble both perform several concerts throughout the year and on Chelmsford Common every summer. Donations pay for rehearsal space, purchasing music, Directors salaries, concert venue rental fees, and much more.
The Chelmsford Community Band was founded in 1972 and is a volunteer group of adult musicians who greatly enjoy bringing live music to the greater Chelmsford, Massachusetts, USA area. The concert band and jazz ensemble both perform several concerts throughout the year and on Chelmsford Common every summer. Donations pay for rehearsal space, purchasing music, Directors salaries, concert venue rental fees, and much more.
Internationally celebrated pianist Jeremy Denk will perform the complete collection of Bach’s Keyboard Partitas on stage at historic Mechanics Hall for the first performance of Bach’s Birthday Bash 2025.
Jeremy Denk, piano
Jeremy Denk is one of America’s foremost pianists, proclaimed by the New York Times ‘a pianist you want to hear no matter what he performs.’ Denk is also a New York Times bestselling author, winner of both the MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship and the Avery Fisher Prize, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Conducted by Martin Pearlman
For its first Bach Birthday Bash performance, The Worcester Chorus will perform Bach’s Secular Cantatas on stage at historic Mechanics Hall.
BWV 213 – Laßt uns sorgen, laßt uns wachen
BWV 214 – Tönet, ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten!
The Worcester Chorus, under the sponsorship of Music Worcester, Inc., has the unique distinction of being one of the most outstanding on-going choral groups in the United States. Founded in 1858 to singat the first annual Worcester Music Festival in the newly-built Mechanics Hall, the 100-member group includes both amateur and professional singers from Worcester County and throughout Southern New England.
Its repertoire includes not only the western world’s finest choral masterpieces, but also contemporary literature, arrangements of American folk songs, classics from the musical theater and commissioned works. Each year the Chorus performs with orchestras and soloists in Mechanics Hall and throughout Greater Worcester, including an annual performance of Handel’s Messiah. The Worcester Chorus has also made guest appearances at world famous venues (including Carnegie Hall) throughout the Northeast and overseas.