The Back Bay Chorale at Fifty
Honoring Five Decades of Song, Community, and Purpose
SATURDAY OCTOBER 18, 2025 | 4pm
Old South Church, 645 Boylston Street, Boston (map)
MBTA: Copley Green Line
Parking: Back Bay Garage www.backbaygarage.com
Excerpts from past great works
Opera scenes for chorus, with solos by Karen Slack
Margaret BONDS unpublished works
2025 Grammy® Award Winner Karen Slack, Soprano
Chamber Orchestra of the Back Bay Chorale
Stephen Spinelli, Conducting
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About the Concert
We open our 50th anniversary season with a program celebrating the Chorale’s musical, communal, and civic legacy. From its earliest days under the leadership of Rev. Larry Hill, the Back Bay Chorale has stood at the intersection of music and social purpose. This program reflects that vision, spotlighting repertoire that speaks not only to our artistic evolution but also to our enduring commitment to community and justice.
We’re thrilled to welcome GRAMMY Award–winning soprano Karen Slack, this year’s Best Classical Solo Vocal Album winner, as a returning guest artist. Joined by chamber orchestra, the Chorale launches the season with a celebration rooted in history and lifted in song.
About the Soloist
Praised as "one of opera’s strongest voices at present – both as a singer and a shaper of its culture” (The Washington Post), GRAMMY® Award-winning soprano Karen Slack is celebrated as both an extraordinary performer and a change-maker in classical music.
Recently, Slack has been on a nationwide tour for her critically-acclaimed African Queens, which continues into her 25-26 season, including an orchestral version presented by the Naples Philharmonic in Naples, Florida. Slack’s Beyond the Years: Unpublished Songs of Florence Price with pianist Michelle Cann in collaboration with ONEcomposer on Azica Records won the 2025 GRAMMY® Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. In 2025, Slack was featured on Shawn Okpebholo’s album Songs in Flight, released with Cedille Records.
Slack has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera, Scottish Opera and many others.
Learn more atwww.karenslack.com.
We are proud to participate in Mass Cultural Council's Card to Culture program in collaboration with the Department of Transitional Assistance, the Department of Public Health's WIC Nutrition Program, the Massachusetts Health Connector, and hundreds of cultural organizations across Massachusetts by expanding cultural access for low-income and working families.
EBT cardholders receive $5 admission to concerts for up to four people per card. Please leave your name and phone number at 617-648-3885 to reserve. See the complete list of participating organizations offering EBT discounts.
COVID-19 Policy: At this time, there is no vaccine checking or masking requirement at Back Bay Chorale events.