Prior Performing Arts Center

Gamelan Gita Sari Concert
2025-12-06 19:30 (America/New_York) | 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

Science Ball
2025-12-05 18:00 | HOLY CROSS COMMUNITY – The Beehive –, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Science Ball

TICKETS ARE SOLD OUT. Walk-up sales will not be available.
Students and faculty have been paired with designers who will elevate a lab coat to reflect their research and science identity. These lab coats will be worn by the scientists in a fashion show. Attendees are invited to decorate a lab coat and hit the runway during a special segment.
The event also features speakers from Holy Cross (Prof. Ann Marie Leshkowich), Boston University (Prof. Lucy Kim – Associate Professor of Art and Painting who received the 2022 Creative Capital Award for her project creating images with melanin produced by live, genetically-modified bacteria) and Tufts University (Prof. Dan Jay – Professor of Biology who creates art pieces from unusual chemicals and chemical reactions).

Details

December 5, 20256 p.m.

Price

Free entry, registration required.

Venue

The BeehivePrior 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

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

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

LayeRhythm | SWITCH
2025-11-21 19:00 | PRIOR PRESENTS – Boroughs Theatre –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Prior Presents 2025–26

LayeRhythm

SWITCH

Free entry, open to all.
Join us before the interactive performance at 7 p.m. for a DJ set beginning at 6 p.m. to warm up and feel the vibe for the show. Come prepared to dance!
LayeRhythm (LR) highlights freestyle dance and music voices under-recognized in the traditional performing arts landscape while providing entertainment, building community through play, educating audiences in cultural history, preserving the legacy of street & club dance forms, transforming individuals’ relationship to music & dance and supporting emotional & social well-being. LR is dedicated to risk-taking improvisation and interactive audience engagement through performances and educational events.
Commissioned by Works & Process, LR’s performances and events have engaged audiences at Jacob’s Pillow, USC Kaufman School of Dance, Harris Theater, Movement Research at Judson Church, 92NY, Abrons Arts Center, National Jazz Museum in Harlem, Spiegeltent (Bard) and Bridge Street Theatre. LR has been presented by Works & Process at the Guggenheim, Lincoln Center, SummerStage, NY Public Library for the Performing Arts, Gibney, The Church (Sag Harbor), Catskill Mountain Foundation and Manhattan West Plaza. LayeRhythm was nominated National Dance Institute’s Helen Stambler Neuberger Artist-in-Residence (22-23).
About the Program
In SWITCH, the audience is LayeRhythm’s muse. Through a series of games, audience ideas are collected and announced by the MC. Performers instantaneously draw from personal experiences and artistic knowledge to turn audience ideas into music, lyrics and movement. The evening’s events will take place in five parts:
6-7 p.m.1st DJ Set
7 p.m. until end of show1st Interactive Performance2nd DJ Set2nd Interactive Performance3rd DJ Set

Details

Nov 21, 20256 p.m. – Welcome DJ Set7 p.m. – Interactive Performances & Additional DJ Sets

Price

Free entry, open to all.

Venue

Boroughs TheatreThe Prior Performing Arts Center

“If dancing with others is an intimate act, LayeRhythm makes it communal.”
James Thomas
Contributor, The New York Times

LayeRhythm Participating Artists
Mai Lê Hồ – Founder/DancerStiggity Stackz – DancerKlassic – DancerOsyris Antham – MCSimone Acosta – Musician (keyboard)Pete Henry – Musician (bass)Rodney Harrison – Musician (drums)SC-One – DJ

About the Founder
Mai Lê Hồ is a French-Vietnamese movement artist, cultural strategist, curator, and educator based in New York City. She is the founder of LayeRhythm Productions, Inc., a nonprofit organization amplifying street/club dances and freestyle artistry. Since launching LayeRhythm in 2015—a groundbreaking performance platform layering freestyle dancers with live musicians and emcees, acclaimed by The New York Times—she has produced over 140 editions in NYC and beyond.
As a dancer, Mai Lê has performed and taught nationally and internationally for over 20 years, with past engagements at the National Dance Institute, USC Kaufman, 92NY, Lincoln Center, Harris Theater, Lehman College, FIAF, and others. She is a 2025 Simons Foundation & Gibney Open Interval Resident Artist., a 2024 Bogliasco Foundation fellow, a 2023 Dancing Futures resident artist at BAAD! through Pepatián, a 2021 virtual artist-in-residence with the Asian American Arts Alliance, and movement curator for Asian Cultural Council’s East West Fest. In 2014, she toured Europe with pioneering Detroit producer Theo Parrish and his live band.
First introduced to house dance by her late teacher Babson in France, Mai Lê has since won first place in this category at events including Ladies of Hip-Hop (NYC, 2015), Universole (Detroit, 2015), and Step Ya Game Up (NYC, 2013). She has judged competitions such as Sole Open Philly (2024), Footwork Frenzy (2022), House Dance UK (2015), Slick City (Chicago, 2015), and The Blueprint (Houston, 2013).
Mai Lê has served as a voting member of the Bessies Awards selection committee (2018-2020), and as a grant panelist for the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA), New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), Works & Process at the Guggenheim, New Music USA, and Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning (JCAL).
Currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Hunter College, she consults with institutions on integrating street and club dance cultures into programming, and reimagining artist-centered support systems.

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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

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

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

American Patchwork Quartet
2025-11-14 19:30 | PRIOR PRESENTS – Luth Concert Hall –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Prior Presents 2025–26

American Patchwork Quartet

A co-presentation with Music Worcester, Inc.

Purchase Tickets

Join us for a pre-concert talk at 6:30 p.m. in the Boroughs Theatre, free and open to all.
American Patchwork Quartet (APQ), led by multi-Grammy award-winning guitarist/vocalist Clay Ross, binds timeless American folk songs with jazz sophistication, country twang, West African hypnotics, and East Asian ornamentation. APQ’s sound is a masterful confluence of tradition and innovation, transcending culture, politics, and ideology.
A southern-born roots music aficionado, Ross is also the founder of the world-renowned Gullah group Ranky Tanky. In APQ, Ross intertwines with other Grammy-winning artists: Falu (Falguni Shah), an eleventh-generation Hindustani classical vocalist, Yasushi Nakamura, an internationally acclaimed Issei jazz bassist, and Clarence Penn, a drumming protégée of Ellis Marsalis whose fibers were honed by African American church traditions.
APQ resonates as a potent symbol of unity in diversity. It stands testament to the notion that, from a collage of varied backgrounds, a coherent and beautiful whole can be fashioned. Mirroring America’s cultural mosaic, APQ stitches together a story that’s both intricate and resilient. The fabric of their music is genuine—it neither feigns tolerance nor presents an overly-embellished image of unity. Instead, each carefully chosen piece dives deep into America’s patchwork soul and shares the joys, sorrows, and unwavering hope of a nation crafted by shared dreams and diverse histories.

Details

Nov 14, 20257:30 p.m. Performance6:30 p.m. Pre-Concert Talk

Price

$35 | $45 | $55

Venue

Luth Concert Hall
The Prior Performing Arts Center

“ . . . a breathtaking confluence of heritage roots, jazz, and world music influences . . . ”
Robyn Flans
Mix Magazine

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About Music Worcester
Celebrating More than 160 Years of Music and Culture
Music Worcester has been bringing world-renowned musicians and ensembles to Central Massachusetts since its founding in 1858. Today, the organization regularly presents world-renowned orchestras, soloists, and ensembles from the worlds of classical, jazz, folk, world music, and dance to audiences of all ages and backgrounds.
In 2024, Music Worcester launched THE COMPLETE BACH, an 11-year project to present live performances of all J.S. Bach’s known works. Music Worcester’s education and outreach initiatives include in-school workshops and masterclasses, and the availability of free and reduced-price tickets. In 2026, Dr. Everett McCorvey will serve as the Artist-in-Residence, a bi-annual program that establishes deep community relationships with an individual artist.
Learn more at MUSICWORCESTER.ORG

Working Writers Series: Ferris Jabr
2025-11-13 19:30 | CREATIVE WRITING PROGRAM – Booth Media Lab –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Creative Writing Program

Ferris Jabr

Working Writers Series

Ferris Jabr will read from and discuss his work as part of the Working Writers Series sponsored by the Creative Writing Program.
Ferris Jabr is the New York Times-bestselling author of Becoming Earth and a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine. Ferris has also written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Harper’s, National Geographic, and Scientific American, among numerous other publications. He has received fellowships from Yale, MIT, and UC Berkeley, as well as grants from the Pulitzer Center and the Whiting Foundation. His work has been anthologized in four editions of The Best American Science and Nature Writing series.

Details

November 13, 20257:30 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Booth Media LabPrior Performing Arts Center

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

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

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

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

Concert: The Odyssey–from Vietnam to America
2025-11-04 19:30 | Luth Concert Hall – Prior Performing Arts Center, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Cantor Art Gallery

Concert: The Odyssey–from Vietnam to America

Reseve Tickets

Marking the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, The Odyssey–from Vietnam to America explores the personal and spiritual journeys of the Vietnamese refugees known as “Boat People.”
The Odyssey musically contextualizes them in larger terms of human struggle for survival in the face of conflict and political upheaval. The work, created by composer-performer Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ in partnership with Yerba Buena Center for Performing Arts (YBCA), Creative Work Fund (CWF), and Asia Society Texas Center (ASTC), combines Vietnamese instruments, electronic sounds and Western instruments. Vietnamese folk songs, especially lullabies, are a key compositional element.
Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ and the Blood Moon Orchestra perform with the Arneis Quartet in a special performance at the College of the Holy Cross.

Details

November 4, 20257:30 p.m.

Price

Free entry, registration required.

Venue

Luth Concert HallPrior Performing Arts Center

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

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

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

Family Weekend: Traditional Irish Music & Flanagan Brothers Presentation
2025-11-01 19:00 | 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

Family Weekend Concert: Holy Cross College Choir & Chamber Singers
2025-11-01 14:00 | DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC – St. Joseph Memorial Chapel –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Family Weekend Concert

Holy Cross College Choir & Chamber Singers

All Saints Day, or the Feast of All Saints, is a Christian celebration of all named saints, as well as those departed saints whose names we hold in our hearts. Music traditionally associated with All Hallows’ Day can range in mood from celebratory and triumphant to introspective, mystical, and mournful.
We look forward to welcoming friends and family to a concert of music around the theme of remembrance that will take place on November 1 at 2 p.m. in stunning St. Joseph Chapel. Our selections include beloved liturgical repertoire, as well as some delightful gems: movements from the Durufle Requiem, a deeply moving setting of the text, “And I Saw a New Heaven,” an arrangement of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot by Harry T. Burleigh; Britten’s Hymn to St. Cecilia on the poetry of W.H. Auden which extols the virtues of the patron saint of music and musicians, and joyful bluegrass and folk music featuring local musicians.

Details

November 1, 20252 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

St. Joseph Memorial Chapel

Six Characters in Search of an Author
2025-10-30 - 2025-11-09 | DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE & DANCE – Boroughs Theatre –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Theatre & Dance

Six Characters in Search of an Author

By Luigi Pirandello
Translated by Edward Storer
Directed by Steve Vineberg

Buy Tickets: Oct 30 - Nov 9

In this production from the Holy Cross Department of Theatre & Dance, a theatre company preparing their latest production is disrupted by the appearance of six figures who claim to be characters abandoned by their author. They beg the director and actors to dramatize their story, with results that are comic, heartbreaking, haunting and ultimately mysterious.
Luigi Pirandello’s 1921 play challenges the assumptions of realism: can we really replicate human relationships, with all their contradictions and complexity, on the stage? Six Characters in Search of an Author is a modern classic that continues to exert a profound influence on theatre and film more than a century after it was first produced.

EVENING PRESENTATIONS

October 30 @ 7:30 p.m.October 31 @ 7:30 p.m.November 1 @ 7:30 p.m.November 6 @ 7:30 p.m.November 7 @ 7:30 p.m.November 8 @ 7:30 p.m.

MATINEE PRESENTATIONS

November 2 @ 2 p.m.November 9 @ 2 p.m.

Details

October 30-31 @ 7:30 p.m.Nov 1, 6-8 @ 7:30 p.m.November 2 and 9 @ 2 p.m.

Price

$15 Public | $10 Holy Cross Community

Venue

Boroughs TheatreThe Prior Performing Arts Center

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Rasa String Quartet | Soundtrack to a Nightmare*
2025-10-28 20:00 | DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC – Brooks Concert Hall, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Rasa String Quartet

Soundtrack to a Nightmare

*Funded by The Patrick E. Moriarty, M.D. ’57 Visiting Scholars Program
This Halloween-inspired program follows the arc of a classic horror movie – from eerie atmospheres and unsettling beauty to blood-chilling terror and otherworldly transformation.
Featuring Schubert’s feverish Death and the Maiden, Mozart’s ominous Dissonance Quartet, haunting tracks from Radiohead, and iconic Halloween hits, this spine-tingling journey blends classical drama, cinematic suspense, and supernatural flair!

Details

October 28, 20258 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Brooks Concert Hall

Rasa String Quartet: Chamber Music Masterclass*
2025-10-28 15:30 | DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC – Brooks Concert Hall, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Rasa String Quartet

Chamber Music Masterclass

*Funded by The Patrick E. Moriarty, M.D. ’57 Visiting Scholars Program
Join us for this Chamber Music Masterclass from the Rasa String Quartet during their visiting artist residency with the Holy Cross Department of Music, free and open to the public.
The Rasa String Quartet explores the musical space where classical and folk traditions intersect and influence one another. Formed in 2019, the Boston-based ensemble brings together violinists Emma Powell and Maura Shawn Scanlin, violist Kiyoshi Hayashi, and cellist Mina Kim, who are graduates of the New England Conservatory, the Shepherd School of Music, and Yale University.
The quartet has earned top prizes at competitions including Chamber Music in Yellow Springs, Plowman Chamber Music Competition, MTNA Chamber Music Competition, and the Associazione Europea di Musica e Comunicazione (Italy). They’ve also served as ensemble-in-residence at Phillips Exeter Academy. Rasa has collaborated with renowned folk artists like Celtic harpist Maeve Gilchrist, Irish fiddler Liz Carroll, and singer-songwriter Judy Collins, and have performed across the U.S. and abroad at events like the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition, Celebrity Series of Boston, Newport Classical, Rockport Music, Jordan Hall, and the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival.
Their love of teaching has led to educational residencies at Bowdoin College, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, UMass Dartmouth, and Boston Music Project, among others. By exploring the connection between music and storytelling at the heart of folk traditions, Rasa delivers fresh, engaging performances that blend classical elegance with folk charm, celebrate global musical roots, and highlight underrepresented composers. In Sanskrit, the term rasa refers to the indescribable power of art to move, inspire, and connect us—a quality Rasa String Quartet strives to embody in every performance.
Find out more at rasastringquartet.com

Details

October 28, 20253:30 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Brooks Concert Hall

A Century of Piano Music: Sofia Gubaidulina Tribute | Liudmila Georgievskaya, piano
2025-10-25 19:30 | DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC – Luth Concert Hall –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

A Century of Piano Music: Sofia Gubaidulina Tribute

Liudmila Georgievskaya, piano

This program invites listeners into a rich tapestry of twentieth-century piano music where echoes of the Baroque tradition inspire new, individual voices.
It opens with the shimmering, impressionistic landscapes of Debussy’s Préludes, whose titles are placed at the end of each piece to reflect his unique poetic approach. Bach’s enduring influence is celebrated in Busoni’s immortal piano transcription of the Chaconne from the Second Violin Partita, a work that became an instant staple of the repertoire. Gubaidulina passionately reimagines the continuous variation form in her 1962 Chaconne. Throughout her life, she felt a profound affinity with Bach, especially in their shared fascination with number, numerical symbolism, and his chorales—elements that resonate strikingly and form the very foundation of her own Chaconne. Together, these works chart a lineage of innovation—composers who, like Debussy and Gubaidulina, forged unconventional paths of timbral and structural exploration.
The journey culminates in Ralf Yusuf Gawlick’s Mysterium doloris quintae (Tropen-Kreuz), a meditation on the crucifixion that takes shape as a musical cruciform. Quotations from Bach, Mozart, and children’s songs from around the world intersect within an aural cross that binds Christ’s suffering to the pain of all innocents. Bach’s Mache dich, mein Herze, rein and the Crucifixus stand at its core, while Mozart’s K.414 Andante and Contessa perdono introduce moments of purity, mercy, and forgiveness. Suspended between recitations of the Ave Maria plainchant, the work collapses past and present, revealing Golgotha as an ever-present reality wherever innocence suffers. In this cruciform, suffering is transformed into a space where grace, mercy, and hope break through, embodying Christ’s words: “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them. For such is the kingdom of heaven.”

Details

October 25, 20257:30 p.m.

Price

Free entry

Venue

Luth Concert Hall

Holy Cross Wind Ensemble | Living Landscapes
2025-10-24 19:30 | DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC – Luth Concert Hall –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Holy Cross Wind Ensemble

Living Landscapes

Join the Holy Cross Wind Ensemble for an exploration of the relationship between global cultures and their natural environments! This program brings the listener to the radiant landscapes of the Arctic, with its varied indigenous peoples, its midnight suns and ceaseless nights. Then, experience a work inspired by Japanese folklore, blending authentic kitsune folksongs with alto and soprano recorders, unique keyboard-percussion effects, and a thrilling clash of mischievous yako and benevolent zenko spirits.
We invite you for a musical reflection on the interplay between humanity and nature: how exactly does one influence the other?

Details

October 24, 20257:30 p.m.

Price

Free entry

Venue

Luth Concert HallPrior Performing Arts Center

Living Threads: Community, Culture and the Áo Dài
2025-10-23 16:00 | Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Cantor Art Gallery

Living Threads: Community, Culture and the Áo Dài

Celebrate Culture, Creativity & Community!
Step out in style and join us for an unforgettable afternoon filled with food, art, and Polaroids — come dressed to impress!
Explore The Vietnamese Áo Dài in a Time of War through guided gallery tours, then make your mark on our Living Áo Dài with a hands-on fabric art project led by artist, community organizer, and Holy Cross alumnus John Vo.
Enjoy delicious Vietnamese bites and connect in a vibrant dialogue celebrating the Vietnamese American community of Holy Cross and Worcester, MA.
Presented in collaboration with the Division of Justice, Equity, Belonging and Identity; A.S.I.A.; and Holy Cross EMBODY Fashion Club.
Free entry, open to the public.

A Two-Part Event
4-4:30 p.m. | Guided gallery tours in the Cantor Art Gallery
4:30-6 p.m. | Community art-making event, Polaroid station, and refreshments in The Beehive in The Prior

Details

October 23, 20254 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Cantor Art Gallery3rd Floor in The Prior

Osvaldo Golijov | Creation
2025-10-20 19:30 | PRIOR PRESENTS – Luth Concert Hall –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Prior Presents 2025–26

Osvaldo Golijov

Creation

Reserve Tickets

Reservations limited to students, faculty and staff of College of the Holy Cross. Sign-in required for all reservations.
From Grammy- and MacArthur-winner Osvaldo Golijov, The Prior’s Composer-in-Residence, comes a thrilling new work-in-progress on the creation of the universe and the story of life.
At this special sneak peek, audiences will hear selections performed by three of Golijov’s closest collaborators, each of whom embody entire cosmogonies in their music-making: Iranian kamancheh player Kayhan Kalhor, who harvests endless melodies from the remote past; legendary percussionist Cyro Baptista, who channels the rhythmic universes of Africa and Brazil; and electronic artist Jeremy Flower, whose music speaks of the future.
PROGRAMPrologueElements of CreationDiscussion

Details

Oct 20, 20257:30 p.m.

Price

Free entry, reservation required.

Venue

Luth Concert HallThe Prior Performing Arts Center

“That is the magic of music. This idea of a melody that rephrases itself in the air is a high calling for a composer. It can be how you unveil that melody.”
Osvaldo Golijov
Composer-In-Residence, The Prior Performing Arts Center

Mike Monaghan & Friends
2025-10-09 20:00 | DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC – Luth Concert Hall –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Mike Monaghan & Friends

Renowned jazz musician Mike Monaghan and his friends, Ben Cook, Marshall Wood, Marty Richards, John Wilkins will perform an exciting evening of jazz improvisation.

Details

October 9, 20258 p.m.

Price

Free entry

Venue

Luth Concert HallPrior Performing Arts Center

Holy Cross Chapel Artist Series: Ezequiel Menendez
2025-10-07 19:00 | DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC – St. Joseph Memorial Chapel –, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Dr. Ezequiel Menendez

Holy Cross Chapel Artist Series

Dr. Ezequiel Menendez, Artist-in-Residence and Organ Professor at the College of the Holy Cross, will perform a captivating recital titled Passacaglias: Past and Present.
The program will center on the timeless Passacaglia in C minor by J.S. Bach, one of the most celebrated works in the organ repertoire, and will explore the evolution of the form through selections from both historical and contemporary composers.

Details

October 7, 20257 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

St. Joseph Memorial Chapel
