Family Weekend: Traditional Irish Music & Flanagan Brothers Presentation
2025-11-01 19:00 (America/New_York) | DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC – Brooks Concert Hall, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Family Weekend

Traditional Irish Music & Flanagan Brothers Presentation

Diarmuid Ó Meachair, accordion
John Hannagan ‘28, Brooks Scholar, accordion
Ulysses Loken, piano
Dan Neely, banjo
Mat Mulqueen, piano

Enjoy a foot tapping performance of traditional Irish music by Diarmuid Ó Meachair, accordion, John Hannagan ‘28 Brooks Scholar, accordion and Ulysses Loken, piano.
This performance will be followed by a Flanagan Brothers presentation by Dan Neely, Banjo, Matt Mulqueen, Piano and Diarmuid Ó Meachair, melodeon.

Details

November 1, 20257 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Brooks Concert Hall

Traditional Irish Music
2025-11-03 12:00 | DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC – Dinand Library –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Traditional Irish Music

Diarmuid Ó Meachair, accordion
John Hannigan, accordion
Nathan Gourley, guitar

Pop-up concert of Traditional Irish Music – Experience the lively spirit of Irish music at a traditional Irish music pop-up concert!
Join us for an energetic performance featuring traditional jigs and reels. Whether you’re a fan of Irish culture or just curious, this free event offers a unique opportunity to experience live Irish music—right here on campus.
Don’t miss the chance to tap your feet! All are welcome!

Details

November 3, 202512 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Dinand Library

Traditional Irish Music
2025-11-03 14:00 | DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC – Dinand Library –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Traditional Irish Music

Diarmuid Ó Meachair, accordion
John Hannigan, accordion
Nathan Gourley, guitar

Pop-up concert of Traditional Irish Music – Experience the lively spirit of Irish music at a traditional Irish music pop-up concert!
Join us for an energetic performance featuring traditional jigs and reels. Whether you’re a fan of Irish culture or just curious, this free event offers a unique opportunity to experience live Irish music—right here on campus.
Don’t miss the chance to tap your feet! All are welcome!

Details

November 3, 20252 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Dinand Library

Holy Cross Chapel Artist Series: Martin Jean, Yale University
2025-11-04 19:00 | DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC – St. Joseph Memorial Chapel –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Martin Jean, Yale University

Holy Cross Chapel Artist Series

Martin Jean holds a secure place within the highest ranks of the world’s concert organists and is recognized widely as a brilliant, warmly communicative artist whose playing exhibits “visceral intensity, expressive eloquence, and exquisite elegance” (The Kansas City Star).
He is known for his wide reportorial interests, which are fed by the variety of performance instruments at Yale and the numerous European and Asian study tours upon which he embarks with the Yale Organ Department and for his own concertizing.

Details

November 4, 20257 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

St. Joseph Memorial Chapel

Lunchtime Concert Series: A Collection of Originals | Haley Labdon ‘28, Singer/Songwriter
2025-11-05 12:00 | DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC – The Beehive –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

A Collection of Originals

Haley Labdon ‘28, Singer/Songwriter

Lunchtime Concert Series

The program will feature a collection of original compositions featuring voice and acoustic guitar.
Inspired by the passing of time, the natural world, and the human experience, the pieces highlight personal experiences and stories through indie-folk style music.

Details

November 5, 202512 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

The BeehivePrior Performing Arts Center

Charles Weiss Summer Research Recital: Nate Murray ‘26 & Julianna Stratton ‘26
2025-11-08 13:00 | DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC – Brooks Concert Hall, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Charles Weiss Summer Research Recital

Julianna Stratton ‘26
Nate Murray ‘26

This concert will include premiere performances of The Voices We Wear by Julianna Stratton ‘26 and Songs under a Cricket Moon by Nate Murrary ‘26. These song cycles were inspired by reflections on life, love, and longing, and were written as one component of Weiss Summer Research projects.
The Voices We Wear was inspired by the romantic idiom of the character piece and is loosely tied to the chronology of a lifetime, exploring the one-dimensional identifiers we assign to ourselves in seeking universality and connection beyond our own personal experiences. Each movement is centered around a classical or romantic text, and represents a different person we ‘become’ over the course of our life.
Songs under a Cricket Moon emanates from a collection of over 200 poems written by two women during the Heian period in Japan. It explores themes of longing, love, and betrayal, and how these emotions can both coexist and suddenly morph into a different one. This musical journey employs both male and female voices and a diverse instrumental ensemble, serving to challenge traditional expectations about gender and narrative.

Details

November 8, 20251 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Brooks Concert Hall

Carol Lieberman, Baroque Violin & Mark Kroll, Harpsichord
2025-11-11 16:00 | DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC – Brooks Concert Hall, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Carol Lieberman, Baroque Violin & Mark Kroll, Harpsichord

The program will feature music for Baroque violin and harpsichord by Johann Sebastian Bach, François Couperin, Georg Friedrich Handel and Domenico Scarlatti.

Details

November 11, 20254 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Brooks Concert Hall

Holy Cross Orchestra with Alice Jones & Alexander Davis*
2025-11-12 19:30 | DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC – Luth Concert Hall –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Holy Cross Orchestra

with Alice Jones (flute) & Alexander Davis (bassoon)

*Funded by The Patrick E. Moriarty, M.D. ’57 Visiting Scholars Program
Guest artists Alice Jones (flute) and Alexander Davis (bassoon) join the Holy Cross Orchestra, under the direction of Michael Carney, for the world premiere of Matthew Jaskot’s double concerto, By the Ocean in May.
This piece was inspired by annual family trips to Cape Ann (Gloucester and Rockport, MA) taken to commemorate a moment of personal loss. The central focus of the work is to explore how the healing process evolves as time passes, and that overcoming grief is not a linear experience, but instead circular. The work includes many fascinating sonic representations of rays of light, sunsets, shades of cerulean, and prismatic ribbons which contrast with the boisterous and punchy second movement.

Details

November 12, 20257:30 p.m.

Price

Free entry

Venue

Luth Concert HallThe Prior Performing Arts Center

Chamber Music Recital
2025-11-18 19:30 | DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC – Brooks Concert Hall, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Chamber Music Recital

Chamber music is played by small ensembles of two or more players such as duos, trios, quartets, etc., where every part is played by a single performer. Its intimate setting creates a process that is democratic, participative, and that across history has been compared to a conversation among friends.
This recital features the students who participate in the Chamber Music course as they perform the works they have studied during the semester.

Details

November 18, 20257:30 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Brooks Concert Hall

Holy Cross Jazz Ensemble
2025-11-20 20:00 | DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC – Luth Concert Hall –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Holy Cross Jazz Ensemble

Join us for an unforgettable evening of music as the Holy Cross Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Combos take the stage! Experience the sounds of swing, bebop, funk, and more performed by some of the college’s most talented student musicians.
Whether you’re a jazz aficionado or just looking for a night of great live music, this concert promises high energy, soulful solos, and tight grooves you won’t want to miss.

Details

November 20, 20258 p.m.

Price

Free entry

Venue

Luth Concert HallPrior Performing Arts Center

End of Semester Student Recitals
2025-11-21 16:00 | DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC – Brooks Concert Hall, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

End of Semester Student Recitals

Students who participated in the private lesson program perform the works they have studied during the semester. Please join us in celebrating their work!

Details

November 21, 20254 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Brooks Concert Hall

Wind Ensemble Pop-Up Concert
2025-11-24 18:00 | DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC – The Beehive –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Wind Ensemble Pop-Up Concert

Join the Holy Cross Wind Ensemble for a seasonal pop-up concert in the Beehive. Embrace a moment of levity and seasonal beauty before the rush of finals.
For this concert, music selections will be chosen by the performers.

Details

November 24, 20256 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

The BeehivePrior Performing Arts Center

Holy Cross Laptop Ensemble Federation
2025-12-02 20:00 | DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC – Booth Media Lab –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Holy Cross Laptop Ensemble Federation

Join the Holy Cross Laptop Ensemble Federation (H-CLEF) for a concert of choreographed sound and image showcasing final student projects written for Music 242: Coding Music.

Details

December 2, 20258 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Booth Media LabPrior Performing Arts Center

Forty-Seventh Annual Festival of Lessons & Carols
2025-12-04 20:00 | DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC – St. Joseph Memorial Chapel –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Forty-Seventh Annual Festival of Lessons & Carols

Please join us for the College’s Annual Festival of Lessons and Carols for Advent.
The service will take place in St. Joseph Memorial Chapel on Thursday, December 4 at 8 p.m.

Details

December 4, 20258 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

St. Joseph Memorial Chapel

Gamelan Gita Sari Concert
2025-12-06 19:30 | DEPARTMENTS OF MUSIC AND THEATRE & DANCE – Boroughs Theatre –, 1 College St, Worcester, 01610, United States
Departments of Music and Theatre & Dance

Gamelan Gita Sari Concert

Join us for this end-of-semester performance from the students in I Nyoman Catra’s Balinese dance and gamelan classes, in which they will display what they have learned in a delightful evening showcasing the Balinese performing arts.

Details

December 6, 20257:30 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Boroughs TheatrePrior Performing Arts Center

Traditional Irish Music Hour
2026-01-21 12:00 | Brooks Concert Hall, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Traditional Irish Music Hour

Join us for a Irish traditional music concert with Diarmuid Ó Meachair (accordion) & Andrew Caden (fiddle).
Diarmuid Ó Meachair is a traditional Irish accordion and melodeon player from Cúil Aodha, Co. Cork, and is also a sean-nós singer. In 2022, he was awarded the prestigious TG4 Ceoltóir Óg na Bliana (Young Musician of the Year). Diarmuid currently teaches Irish traditional music at College of the Holy Cross. Diarmuid, who has performed with De Dannan internationally since 2022, has released four solo albums and he has been nominated for three RTÉ Folk Awards: Best Instrumentalist (2023 & 2024) and Best Emerging Artist (2023).
Andrew Caden is a fiddle player originally from Bethesda, MD. Andrew is currently based in Dublin, where he works at the Irish Traditional Music Archive. Andrew is completing an MA programme in Archives & Records Management at the University College of Dublin. Andrew, who was taught primarily by New York fiddle player Brian Conway, counts among his greatest musical influences Michael Coleman, James ‘Lad’ O’Beirne, Seán McGuire, and Frankie Gavin. Andrew has performed and taught at many traditional music festivals throughout Ireland, and he has been recognised by numerous established traditional musicians as one of the most promising young Irish fiddle players of today. In June 2025, Andrew released a duet album “Across the Atlantic” with flute player Conor McDonagh (available on Bandcamp), which has been met with critical acclaim from The Journal of Music and The Irish Echo.

Details

January 21, 202612 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Brooks Concert Hall

Winter Homecoming Concert: Julianna Stratton ’26, cello & Robert Gardner ’26, piano
2026-02-07 12:00 | Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Winter Homecoming Concert

Julianna Stratton ’26, cello

Robert Gardner ’26, piano

This program explores the complex themes of memory, political resistance, and the formation of identity through place and experience. Shostakovich’s Cello Sonata, a classical example of a composer writing music grappling with the political environment of his time, is paired with a selection from his student, Galina Ustvolskaya’s “Grand Duet,” a work that challenges the normative compositional and musical boundaries of her time.
Together, these works take us on a musical journey of resistance and creativity in the face of oppression, ranging from cosmic, soaring melodies, to angry, hammering, defiance. In the words of Ustvolskaya herself: “The important thing is that the music is genuine and strong.”

Details

February 7, 202612 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Cantor Art Gallery3rd Floor, Prior Performing Arts Center

Semiosis Quartet Residency
2026-02-10 19:30 | Brooks Concert Hall, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Semiosis Quartet Residency

Florescence
Semiosis QuartetNicole Parks – violinEmma Burge – violinAmelia Hollander Ames – violaOlivia Katz – cello
Semiosis Quartet offers a respite from the February cold with music for string quartet by Holy Cross faculty Matthew Jaskot and Chris Arrell, and more.
Arrell’s Voyagers draws inspiration from breathtaking images of the solar system from the Voyager Interstellar Mission, which began in 1977. The concert includes the premiere performance of Jaskot’s Florescence, which is inspired by a short excerpt of text from Sufi mystic Bawa Muhaiyadeen (translated by Coleman Barks): “You’re the meaning that blooms in the heart. In this world of flowers, in the next world.”
Join us as we navigate through musical terrain to explore florescence in many forms. Sonic blooms, fluid harmonies, moments of stillness, and rhythmic intensity are just a few ways that the evening’s repertoire will transport you to another sound-world full of new and fascinating discoveries!

Details

February 10, 20267:30 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Brooks Concert Hall

Holy Cross Chapel Artist Series: American Guild of Organists (Worcester Chapter)
2026-02-15 15:00 | St. Joseph Memorial Chapel, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

American Guild of Organists (Worcester Chapter)

Holy Cross Chapel Artist Series

Join us for this Chapel Artist Series presentation featuring Robert Potterton, Robin Dinda and Andrew Sheranian, all members of the Worcester Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

Details

February 15, 20263 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

St. Joseph Memorial Chapel

Lunchtime Concert: Blue in the Beehive
2026-02-18 12:00 | The Beehive in The Prior, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Blue in the Beehive

Lunchtime Concert Series

Chaney Goldstein ‘28, saxophoneChris Maratea ‘28, bassSean Dooley ‘29, piano
Join us for a lunchtime set of jazz standards performed by Chaney Goldstein (saxophone), Sean Dooley (piano), and Chris Maratea (bass), and incorporating styles such as swing, ballads, Latin and funk.

Details

February 18, 202612 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

The BeehivePrior Performing Arts Center

Brooks Scholars Concert
2026-02-19 19:30 | Brooks Concert Hall, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Brooks Scholars Concert

Sophie Rose Riopel ‘29, saxophoneLogan Sherwin Kornilov ‘28, pianoJohn Hannagan ‘28, button accordion Robert Gardner ‘26, piano
The Brooks Scholarship is a four-year, full tuition scholarship offered to a music major or double major in music and another discipline. Recipients demonstrate outstanding accomplishment in their area of musical study as well as significant academic achievement. The Department of Music proudly presents a concert featuring the Brooks Scholars, our most accomplished student artists.

Details

February 19, 20267:30 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Brooks Concert Hall

Holy Cross Wind Ensemble & Orchestra: Beloved Classics from Broadway to the Silver Screen
2026-02-25 19:30 | Luth Concert Hall, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Beloved Classics from Broadway to the Silver Screen

Holy Cross Wind Ensemble & Orchestra

Join us for a program featuring some of the greatest show tunes and movie soundtracks arranged for orchestra and wind ensemble.

Details

Feb 25, 20267:30 p.m.

Price

Free entry

Venue

Luth Concert HallPrior Performing Arts Center

Holy Cross Chapel Artist Series: Renee Louprette, Bard College
2026-03-10 19:00 | St. Joseph Memorial Chapel, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Renee Louprette, Bard College

Holy Cross Chapel Artist Series

American organist Renée Anne Louprette maintains an international career as recitalist, conductor, collaborative musician, and teacher.
Professor Louprette’s musicianship is renowned worldwide, and this is a recital not to be missed.

Details

March 10, 20267 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

St. Joseph Memorial Chapel

Kalaf Epalanga Residency: Listening Session
2026-03-12 17:00 | Brooks Concert Hall, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Kalaf Epalanga Residency

Listening Session

This March, Angolan musician and writer Kalaf Epalanga joins the Music Department as a 2026 Patrick E. Moriarty Visiting Scholar.
As a musician, Kalaf co-founded the record label Enchufada and is a member of the music collective Buraka Som Sistema. He co-curated the 2023 Africa Writes Book Festival in London (UK) and curated the 2021 Berlin African Book Festival (Germany). “Whites Can Dance Too” is his debut novel, translated to English by Daniel Hahn and published by Faber.
During his two-day residency, Kalaf will host public events and meet with students during in-class visits.

Details

March 12, 20265 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Brooks Concert Hall

Sunny Jain's Wild Wild East
2026-03-12 19:30 | PRIOR PRESENTS – Luth Concert Hall –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Prior Presents 2025–26

Sunny Jain’s Wild Wild East

A co-presentation with the Department of Music

Purchase Tickets

The career of composer, drummer and dhol player Sunny Jain is a celebration of cultural diaspora. Its deep-rooted tradition ripples outward, changing – and being changed by – the cultures that it touches. The ease with which Jain braids his sound highlights the interconnectedness of global styles — and that sense of connection goes beyond the music itself, as Jain leads his group across genre borders he knows are arbitrary.
Defined by its restlessness, and daring enough to encompass many different identities, Wild Wild East is raucous, powerful, gorgeous, jubilant, dissonant, and built of a truly American spirit. In other words, it recognizes a world that’s always changing: today’s cowboy or cowgirl learns how to adapt to their conditions, seeing that they’re just as conditional as everything around them.
Called the “Hendrix of dhol” by Manchester Salon (UK), Jain is most known for founding the pioneering band Red Baraat, a frenzied fusion of bhangra, hip-hop, jazz, rock, and sheer, unbridled energy. NPR called them “the best party band in years” and their 2017 NPR Tiny Desk concert was touted as the 8th best TDC of all time by New York Magazine. He and his current five-piece band have toured the country and the world with performances from his Smithsonian Folkways Recordings album Wild Wild East.

Details

Mar 12, 20267:30 p.m.

Price

$35 | $45 | $55

Venue

Luth Concert Hall
The Prior Performing Arts Center

“The indefatigable drummer and dhol player Sunny Jain is an unrepentant maximalist.”
Jay Ruttenberg
Contributor, The New Yorker

Explore More

Kalaf Epalanga Residency: Keynote
2026-03-13 19:00 | Brooks Concert Hall, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Kalaf Epalanga Residency

Keynote

This March, Angolan musician and writer Kalaf Epalanga joins the Music Department as a 2026 Patrick E. Moriarty Visiting Scholar.
As a musician, Kalaf co-founded the record label Enchufada and is a member of the music collective Buraka Som Sistema. He co-curated the 2023 Africa Writes Book Festival in London (UK) and curated the 2021 Berlin African Book Festival (Germany). “Whites Can Dance Too” is his debut novel, translated to English by Daniel Hahn and published by Faber.
During his two-day residency, Kalaf will host public events and meet with students during in-class visits.

Details

March 13, 20267 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Brooks Concert Hall

Lunchtime Concert: Enrique Quezada Llanes, Sergio Muñoz Leiva and Mia Beviglia
2026-03-18 12:00 | The Beehive in The Prior, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Enrique Quezada Llanes, Sergio Muñoz Leiva and Mia Beviglia

Lunchtime Concert Series

Three different instrument families. Three different countries. Three different Holy Cross departments and offices. One common goal.
This lunchtime concert showcases the musical talents of members of the Holy Cross community from across campus. Enrique Quezada Llanes (Political Science), Sergio Muñoz Leiva (Music), and Mia Beviglia (’23, J.D. Power Center for Liberal Arts in the World) come together to present some of the pioneering works for clarinet, viola, and piano trio by Bruch and Mozart, because our diversity is our strength!
Max BruchAndante and Andante con moto from Eight Pieces for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano, op. 83
Wolfgang Amadeus MozartKegelstatt Trio, K. 498
Enrique Quezada Llanes, clarinetSergio Muñoz Leiva, violaMia Beviglia, piano

Details

March 18, 202612 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

The BeehivePrior Performing Arts Center

Faculty Recital: Rhythms of Spring
2026-03-21 19:00 | Luth Concert Hall, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Departments of Music and Theatre & Dance

Rhythms of Spring

The Music and Dance Departments at Holy Cross are joining forces for an unforgettable evening of two pianos and dance. Faculty pianists Sonya Ovrutsky Fensome, Matthew Jaskot, and Ulysses Loken share the stage with The Diamonds, a faculty dance group featuring some of the most beloved people on campus.
This performance features André Isaacs (yes, that André Isaacs, Professor of Chemistry who also loves to dance), Carmen Jarrin (Chair of Sociology), Karen Guth (Professor of Religious Studie), and Mary Ebbott (Professor of Classics), plus the Registrar, a medievalist, a psychologist, a mathematician, a biologist and more!
The program features Darius Milhaud’s Scaramouche, Chen Yi’s China West Suite, and Igor Stravinsky’s iconic Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring), all pieces that abound with folk melodies, complex textures, and energetic rhythms.
Come and join us for this exciting program! Free entry, open to all.

Details

March 21, 20267 p.m.

Price

Free entry

Venue

Luth Concert HallPrior Performing Arts Center

Traditional Irish Music Pop-Up Concert
2026-03-25 12:00 | Dinand Library, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Traditional Irish Music Pop-Up Concert

Come as you are and drop by Dinand Library for a pop-up concert of fun traditional Irish music featuring Diarmuid Ó Meachair, accordion and Peadar Giles, Uilleann Pipes.

Details

March 25, 202612 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Dinand Library

Traditional Irish Music Pop-Up Concert
2026-03-25 14:00 | Fenwick Music Library, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Traditional Irish Music Pop-Up Concert

Come as you are and drop by the Fenwick Music Library for a pop-up concert of traditional Irish music featuring Diarmuid Ó Meachair, accordion and Peadar Giles, Uilleann Pipes.

Details

March 25, 20262 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Fenwick Music Library
