Prior Performing Arts Center

Painting Creation
2026-11-18 19:30 (America/New_York) | Boroughs Theatre – Prior Performing Arts Center, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Painting Creation

Osvaldo Golijov, Prior Composer-In-Residence
Alex Sopp, Prior Commissioned-Artist

Tickets On Sale Soon

Join us for an informal exhibition of commissioned art works accompanied by a panel discussion between Prior Composer-In-Residence, Osvaldo Golijov, and Prior-Commissioned Artist, Alex Sopp, on the process and eventual marriage of a new work for chorus & orchestra premiering with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in November 2026 with art-infused projection as a way of communicating a world that inspired the inception of this new work.

Details

Wed Nov 18, 20267:30 p.m.

Price

Free entry, reservation required.

Venue

Boroughs Theatre
The Prior Performing Arts Center

Holy Cross Jazz Ensemble Concert
2026-11-19 19:30 | Luth Concert Hall – Prior Performing Arts Center, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Holy Cross Jazz Ensemble

Join us for an evening of live jazz as the Holy Cross Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Combos take the stage for a dynamic night of music.
This celebration of legendary jazz artists and composers from across the decades features an eclectic program showcasing the sounds of swing, Latin rhythms, bebop, and funk.
Performed by talented Holy Cross student musicians, the concert spans classic jazz standards and contemporary grooves, promising an engaging experience.

Details

November 19, 20267:30 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Luth Concert HallPrior Performing Arts Center

Chapel Artist Series: Ezequiel Menendez, College of the Holy Cross
2026-11-22 15:00 | St. Joseph Memorial Chapel, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Ezequiel Menendez

Holy Cross Chapel Artist Series

On the Feast of Saint Cecilia, Professor Ezequiel Menéndez will present an organ recital featuring works based on the chorale Our Father, Who Art in Heaven (Vater unser im Himmelreich).
The program will explore a variety of musical settings of this beloved hymn by composers from different periods, highlighting its rich theological and musical heritage.

Details

November 22, 20263 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

St. Joseph Memorial Chapel

Forty-Eighth Annual Festival of Lessons & Carols
2026-12-03 20:00 | St. Joseph Memorial Chapel, 1 College St., Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Department of Music

Forty-Eighth Annnual Festival of Lessons & Carols

Please join us for the College’s Annual Festival of Lessons and Carols for Advent.
This year’s service will take place in St. Joseph Memorial Chapel on Thursday, December 3 at 8 p.m. — free entry, open to all.

Details

December 3, 20268 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

St. Joseph Memorial Chapel

Gamelan Gita Sari Concert
2026-12-05 19:30 | Boroughs Theatre – Prior Performing Arts Center, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Departments of Music and Theatre & Dance

Gamelan Gita Sari Concert

Under the direction of Nyoman Catra, one of Bali’s most renowned master artists of traditional dance & theatre, our Balinese Dance and Gamelan students collaborate with guest artists for this fall concerts.
Always a highlight of our season and a treat for all ages, the Balinese Dance concert provides an opportunity for the community to experience the awe and wonder of the sacred art of Bali.

Details

December 5, 2026
7:30 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

Boroughs Theatre
Prior Performing Arts Center

Working Writers Series: Erica Gies
2027-03-18 19:30 | Alden Trust Performance Studio (3rd Floor, Prior Performing Arts Center), 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
Creative Writing Program

Working Writers Series

Erica Gies

Environmental science journalist Erica Gies will read from and discuss her work as part of the Working Writers Series sponsored by the Creative Writing Program.
Erica Gies is an award-winning independent journalist who writes about water, climate change, plants and critters for Scientific American, The New York Times, Nature, The Atlantic, The Guardian, National Geographic, The Economist, Washington Post, bioGraphic, Wired, and more.
Her stories hail from North America, especially California and British Columbia, and the wider world. In a quest for commonalities that bind us and innovations that inspire, she has reported from many intriguing places: Iraq, Peru, Cambodia, India, Syria, Kenya, China, Qatar, Laos, the United Kingdom, Guyana, Vietnam, France, and Indigenous nations and territories, including those belonging to Navajo (Diné), Kwiakah, Makushi, Kitasoo/Xai’xai, ‘Namgis, Heiltsuk, and Native Hawaiian peoples.
Her book, Water Always Wins: Thriving in an Age of Drought and Deluge, is about the global “Slow Water” movement that are helping us adapt to the increasing floods and droughts brought by climate change. Published in North America, the United Kingdom, China, and as an audio book, Water Always Wins won the Rachel Carson Award for Excellence in Environmental Journalism among other awards.

Details

March 18, 20277:30 p.m.

Price

Free Entry

Venue

“The Alden” Performance Studio3rd Floor, Prior Performing Arts Center

World Premiere: From The Ashes
2027-03-18 19:30 - 2027-03-19 19:30 | Luth Concert Hall – Prior Performing Arts Center, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
From The Ashes

Daniel Weidlein, composerGwendolyn Gussman, choreographer

Purchase Tickets

Two Performances: March 18 & 19 @ 7:30 p.m.

From The Ashes is a suite of music for a 10-piece chamber ensemble that tells a narrative story of the life-cycle of a forest through compelling modern dance and visual projection.
The piece asks the following questions: what role do we as humans play in the story of a forest? Are we caretakers? Co-inhabitants? Destroyers? Forest fire has become the norm in our lives, rather than the exception, and we must face these questions head-on if we are to change this trajectory and protect our precious forests.
Performances of From The Ashes are accompanied by community engagement with local ecologists and forest-fire experts about the changing paradigm of how we approach wildland fires, as well as the intersection of art making and ecological activism. This program was piloted during the April 2024 workshop residency of the piece through a series of hikes and talkbacks with the Sonoma Ecology Center and members of the Sonoma, CA community who lived through the 2017 Tubbs Fire, thanks in part to support from the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors.

Details

March 18 & 19, 20277:30 p.m.

Price

$45 | $65Pricing includes all fees.

Venue

Luth Concert HallThe Prior Performing Arts Center

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About The Composer

Daniel Weidlein is a Los Angeles-based composer, instrumentalist, and producer whose work lives at the intersection of jazz, chamber music, and immersive performance art. Originally from Boulder, Colorado, his music weaves accessible melody and an ethos of empathy into expansive, genre-crossing works.

His concert works focus on subjects that are inherently hard to talk about. Alongside From the Ashes, his catalog includes CONE, a multi-movement piece for jazz quartet and chamber choir exploring the generational, inherited anxiety of being Jewish-American.

In 2018 he released Fire in the Sky, his first collection of contemporary jazz compositions, followed by the 2019 release of A Winter’s Lullaby. To celebrate the release of these albums, he issued a separate vinyl edition of the three-movement piece The Red Line Suite. In 2024 he released a companion album to the film Sleepwalk called Music For Your Hi-Fi, featuring original compositions in the style of 50s and 60s exotica and Brazilian jazz.

He composed the original score for independent films Sleepwalk (2024) and Mother (2026), orchestrated the Indigo Girls film musical Glitter and Doom, and served as producer and orchestrator for The Shadow (2026) premiering at La Mirada Theatre. His production and arranging credits include the Budapest Recording Orchestra, drag queens Peppermint, Monét X Change, and Sapphira Cristál, and pop artists like Blake McGrath, Kenton Chen, and Lumi Jin. As a performer, he has appeared in Whiplash, on Glee, and on NBC’s The Sing-Off.

He is also a longtime member of M•PACT, the acclaimed vocal jazz ensemble, and runs BioSoul Music, a boutique recording studio in Silver Lake, Los Angeles.

About The Choreographer

Gwendolyn Hope Gussman is a director, choreographer, creative producer, performer, movement teacher, and generative artist based between Denver, Colorado (Ancestral Lands of Ute, Cheyanne and Arapaho peoples) and New York City (Ancestral Lands of the Lenape peoples). Gussman is the Founder and Artistic Director of interdisciplinary performance company, HOLDTIGHT (HT), which was established in 2016. Her work with HT illuminates the intersection of art, environmental activism, psyche, and body through performance, education, and community events. Gussman’s work with HT has been awarded residencies and presented nationally by Denver Arts & Venues (2024), The Cell Theatre in NYC (2020-2022), The Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver (2024), Carroll Hall in NYC (2023), Presenting Denver (2024), and others.
As an independent choreographer, Gussman’s work has been presented by institutions & organizations including National Sawdust (2020 NYC), The Gallery Players (Once the Musical, 2023, NYC), The Fine Arts Center at Colorado College (2020), James Madison University (2018, VA), Seaside Dance Festival (2019, FL), Bridge for Dance Festival (2018, NY), Nimbus DanceWorks Offline Series (2018, NJ), The Wadsworth Museum (2017, CT), Nimbus DanceWorks Offline Series (2018, NJ), YourMove Festival (2017, NJ), Denver School of the Arts (2016, CO), and more. In 2021, was named a Toulmin Creator through the support of National Sawdust, Center for Ballet and the Arts, and The Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.
Gussman holds a BFA in Dance from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
In addition to her work with HOLDTIGHT, she regularly collaborates with a myriad of multidisciplinary artists. She has worked on both live and film projects with musical artists Daniel Weidlein, Lisel (Eliza Bagg), Johnny Butler, The Warp Trio, Jett Kwong, Trevor New, Hallie Spoor, and Meredith Rose. She is currently collaborating on projects with visual/textile artist Maki Teshima, and in addition, recently activated the work of artist Ronny Quevedo for his exhibition, at the line, as part of Movements Toward Freedom at Museum of Contemporary Art Denver.
Currently, Gussman is choreographing From The Ashes, a 90-min Contemporary Concert Dance meets Chamber-Jazz piece following the life-cycle of a forest fire, conceived by composer Daniel Weidlein. This work is incredibly potent for both of them, growing up and living in states that have been severely affected by increasing forest fires over the past 30 years.
As a performing artist, Gussman has extensive experience working in concert dance, music, film/tv, site-specific/installation, and experimental theater including her work with Shen Wei Dance Arts, Sean Curran Company, Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance, Vanessa Walters ‘Ripening’, Heidi Latsky, Control Group Productions, Cleo Parker Robinson, Roger C. Jeffrey, Amy Sedaris, Daniel Fish, Ashley Tata, among others. Her career has included performing at prestigious venues and festivals such as The Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, MASS MoCa, Stanislavsky Theater (Moscow), Teatro Arcimboldi (Milan), Shanghai Cultural Square Theater, Teatro Comunale Modena, American Dance Festival, Spoleto Festival, Theater Olympics Festival (Beijing), Off The Grid Festival, and many others.
Gussman has been teaching movement since 2012. She teaches movement & writing workshops through HOLDTIGHT that have recently been presented by Denver Arts & Venues (2024 workshops at The Arts Complex in Denver), Rino Arts District (monthly workshops through 2024 in Denver) and St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, NY (2023). As an independent guest teacher, Gussman has taught improv, composition, modern, and contemporary dance workshops for a range of dance and theater students at institutions such as Yale University, New York University, James Madison University, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance (CO), Denver School of the Arts, Opening Act (NYC), Steps Ahead (NYC), BOUNCE Festival (NYC), MOVE! (Denver), and others.
In addition to her dance & interdisciplinary art teaching experience, Gussman is a certified Pilates and Yoga instructor who has additional experiences studying extensively in Hanna Somatics, Exercise Science, Anatomy, and Functional Fitness. She has developed and maintained a thriving Private Practice since 2015 which focuses on blending her movement knowledge and specializes in rehab-based movement for clients navigating chronic pain, acute injury, body-part replacements, athletes, and more. Her teaching philosophy is to see & work with a person holistically, ultimately with the goal of them deepening their knowledge and understanding of their body so that they can find more awareness, ease, and freedom of movement. She has taught movement to the casts of renowned international shows such as The Jungle (when on tour at St. Ann’s Warehouse in NYC), as well as teaching at gyms and studios around NYC. Gussman is currently leading movement meets psychology workshops and retreats in collaboration with a master psychotherapist (& her mother) Virginia Poor. Throughout all of her teaching experience, she has taught students with a range of physical ability level and ages 13-85 years old.

New West Guitars: A Celebration of the Blue Guitars Project
2027-04-21 19:30 | Luth Concert Hall – Prior Performing Arts Center, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, United States
New West Guitars

A Celebration of the Blue Guitars Project

Purchase Tickets

New West Guitars (NWG) have developed a widespread reputation as one of the premier jazz guitar ensembles in the world. Featuring guitarists Perry Smith (NYC), John Storie (LA), and Will Brahm (LA), NWG performs exciting originals, jazz standards and popular covers. Their signature sound comes from an innovative style that highlights rhythm, beauty and virtuosity through using classic “archtop style” jazz guitars.
Their new project features instruments from The Blue Guitars Foundation, a legendary collection of vintage “archtop style” jazz guitars. NWG was chosen to represent the newly commissioned guitars through live performances and recordings.
The Blue Guitar Collection was displayed at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History from November 11, 1997 through October 1998. The Blue D’Aquisto Centura Deluxe was featured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the museum’s “Guitar Heroes” exhibit in 2011. After founder Scott Chinery’s passing in 2000, the guitars remained with the Chinery family until 2021, when they were acquired by the Archtop Foundation. The Foundation’s goal is to share the collection with everyone – it is too good to keep hidden!

Details

April 21, 20277:30 p.m.

Price

$45 | $65Pricing includes all fees.

Venue

Luth Concert HallThe Prior Performing Arts Center

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About The Blue Guitars Collection

The Blue Guitar Collection was displayed at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History from November 11th 1997 through October 1998. It is also worth noting that the Blue D’Aquisto Centura Deluxe, the Benedetto La Cremona Azzurra and the Monteleone Rocket Convertible were featured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the museum’s “Guitar Heroes” exhibit in 2011. After Scott Chinery’s passing in 2000, the guitars have remained with the Chinery family and in 2021 were passed along to The Archtop Foundation.
The Foundation’s goal is to share the collection with everyone – it is too good to keep hidden. We look to: 1) exhibit the guitars at shows, museums, and schools; 2) build a virtual museum here so that you can experience the collection wherever you are, with information on every guitar and luthier involved, including highest quality video recordings; 3) offer access to the collection to luthiers and scientific researchers studying how to understand and improve the art of luthiery; and 4) make these available to professional musicians looking to record on–or just experience– these wonderful instruments.

About The Artists
“Beautiful acoustic rhythms, vibrant classically infused single note lines and jazzy arpeggios cover the magnificent musical landscape these three players create.”— Metronome Magazine

New West Guitars have developed a widespread reputation as one of the premier jazz guitar ensembles in the world. Featuring guitarists Perry Smith (NYC) John Storie (LA) and Will Brahm (LA), they perform exciting originals, jazz standards and popular covers. Their signature sound comes from an innovative style that highlights rhythm, beauty and virtuosity through using classic “archtop style” jazz guitars.
Their new project features instruments from The Blue Guitars Foundation, a legendary collection of vintage “archtop style” jazz guitars. NWG was chosen to represent the newly commissioned guitars through live performances and recordings.
Starting in the Fall of 2020, John, Perry and Will started a podcast series called High Action. Interviewing a variety of legendary and influential guitar players, the trio has provided a space to build community, share experiences and learn from some of today’s leading voices on the Guitar.
Praised as “sharp and refined” by the Seattle Times, the New West Guitars have released 7 full length albums since 2005. Each project features their unique style of laid-back virtuosity and finely crafted arrangements. Their latest album “Live at Mauch Chunk Opera House” was filmed and recorded near Allentown, Pennsylvania at a legendary opera house built in the 1800s. The project features original compositions and popular covers captured in an exciting live setting for a sold out crowd.
In August of 2015, New West released a collaborative project “Send One Your Love” on Summit Records. The recording features renowned jazz vocalists: Gretchen Parlato, Sara Gazarek, Becca Stevens, Tierney Sutton and Peter Eldridge. Downbeat Magazine gave this CD the prestigious Editor’s Pick in their August 2015 issue.
Smith and Storie founded New West at USC’s Thornton School of Music. Today they continue to tour as a trio with Brahm and special guests throughout the United States and abroad. Their music is regularly featured on NPR and jazz radio stations, while their repertoire is performed throughout the country by college and high school guitar programs. New West Guitars versatility as players and composers have given them a reputation as pioneers in the realm of guitar ensemble.
