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Buy your season subscriptions and individual tickets for the 2023–2024 Back Bay Chorale Season

Stephen Spinelli leads the audience in a carol sing-along at the 2024 "A Boston Christmas"

A Boston Christmas

Friday, December 20, 2024 • 7:30 pm
Saturday, December 21, 2024 • 4:00 pm

Old South Church, 645 Boylston St., Boston  02116

Back Bay Chorale
Brass Ensemble
Justin Blackwell, organ
Michael Sparhuber, timpani
Stephen Spinelli, conducting

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Boston Christmas 2024 composers vertical.jpgDon't miss this annual highlight of the holiday season, featuring the mighty Back Bay Chorale, brass, organ, and Boston's favorite carol sing-along.

The Back Bay Chorale’s “A Boston Christmas” returns, bringing the warmth and cheer of the holidays to our audiences through choral music. The grand but inviting, historic space provided by Old South Church, the sounds of brass and organ, and the invitation to sing carols that many of us have known since infancy all signal that this is a time of year for reflection, connection, and hope.

This year’s concerts, in addition to featuring a number of well-known classics, will shine a light on some interesting facets of American history.  Alfred Burt, best known for his contributions to early 20th-century Hollywood film scores, made a habit of writing a Christmas carol each year, and sending it as a Christmas greeting to his loved ones. Burt’s granddaughter, Abbie Betinis, is a celebrated composer living in Minnesota. She has picked up the mantle of her grandfather’s Christmas Carol tradition, and the Burt family carols are alive and well. We will celebrate Abbie and Alfred by performing their music. 

Last year’s concerts featured a little-known carol by the great  Margaret Bonds, and this year we will continue to spotlight her underrepresented contributions to the field of choral music. A yet unpublished choral version of her spiritual “Sing Aho!”, arranged by the composer herself, will take center stage. We will also celebrate the centennial of the great Julia Perry, an historically underrepresented composer known best for her significant contributions to the modernist movement. Her first published work, however, was a charming Christmas carol “Carillon Heigh-ho”, composed while she was still a student at Westminster Choir College. Happy 100th, Julia Perry!

The warmth and longevity of holiday choral music traditions will shine through with performances of well-known works like  Benjamin Britten’s Hymn to the Virgin and Morton Lauridsen’s timeless O Magnum Mysterium. We hope to welcome you, to inspire you, and to guide you towards the welcome respite provided by the holiday season.

FEATURING

Gabriel JACKSON: To Morning
Jonathan DOVE: The Three Kings
John RUTTER : The Wexford Carol
Benjamin BRITTEN: Hymn to the Virgin
Morton LAURIDSEN    O Magnum Mysterium
Abbie BETINIS: Behind the Clouds 

Alfred BURT: Set 1 of Christmas Carols
Will TODD: My Lord Has Come
Margaret BONDS: Sing Aho
Julia PERRY: Carillon Heigh Ho
Daniel PINKHAM: Christmas Cantata

VENUE INFO

Old South Church
645 Boylston St.
Boston, MA 02116


Old South Church Seating Plan

Click the image to view/download a PDF of the Old South Church seating plan with indicated ticket levels.OSC BBC Seating Chart Sat Dec 20-21 2024 - Seating Plan.jpg


Old South Church Panorama

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Upcoming This Season
 

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A Boston Christmas

Friday, December 20, 2024 • 7:30 pm
Saturday, December 21, 2024 • 4:00 pm

Old South Church
645 Boylston St., Boston  02116

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Of Hope and Destiny

Saturday, March 8, 2025 • 5:00 pm

Old South Church
645 Boylston St., Boston  02116

Featuring Florence Price's Song of Hope  and Johannes Brahms's  Schicksalslied.

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The Waking Sun

Saturday, May 17, 2025 • 7:30 pm

Sanders Theatre
45 Quincy St., Cambridge 02138

Featuring Kile Smith's The Waking Sun and Giacomo Carissimi's Jephte.

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