THROUGH DEC. 28 :MIDWINTER REVELS: “THE SELKIE GIRL AND THE SEAL WOMAN”

Revels returns to Harvard University’s historic Sanders Theatre at 45 Quincy Street in Cambridge with its 54th annual December production. This year they bring a Celtic and Cabo Verdean Celebration of the Solstice. It isa meld of Irish and Cabo Verdean traditions. Set in a small fishing village off the shores of Galway Bay, a community gathers in the local pub to celebrate the season. A child enters looking for a package that may have been delivered for his mother, who comes from another coastal town – in Cabo Verde. Songs and dances are shared, and the pub dissolves into a portal for fantasy with a transformative retelling of the Selkie story. It is a Celtic myth about living between two worlds. Irish songs, jigs, and reels share the stage with dance, drumming, and traditional songs from Cabo Verde. In the Revels tradition, new community is catalyzed, and with it hopes for a new year. From the Emerald Isle to the Emerald Cape, the shortest day of the year brings the performers and audiences together in song.

The show is directed by Debra Wise and was written by Debra Wise, Patrick Swanson, an  Aidan Parkinson. Music direction is by Elijah Botkin. It features Kortney Adams, David Coffin, Candida Rose Baptista, Aidan Parkinson, Mary Casey Cedric Appolon, and Athéna-Gwendolyn Baptiste. The principal musicians are Joey Abarta, Lindsay Straw, Pelé Fernades Liz Hanley, and JL Santos Spencer. Tickets include free parking at the Broadway Garage, a block from Sanders Theatre. Revels is a participant in the Mass Cultural Council’s arid to Culture  program which offers discounted tickets to EBT and WIC cardholders. Revels is also proud to offer youth ticket deals for patrons under 35. To obtained tickets visit wwwrevels.org/midwinter.

JAN. 10: AN EVENING WITH YO-YO MA (REFLECTIONS IN WORDS AND MUSIC)

Music Worcester proudly brings to the stage of the historic Mechanics Hall at 321 Main St. in Worcester. This is an Arthur M. & Martha R. Pappas Foundation Annual Concert, “Our patrons and supporters are clearly excited to experience Yo-Yo Ma’s legendary artistry back in Worcester for his first visit since 2019,” said Adrien Finlay, Music Worcester’s Executive Director. “If the pre-sale activity is any indication for this latest program of his coming in January, the remaining tickets will sell-out quickly.” Yo-Yo Ma’s name is recognized throughout the world. He has recorded more than 120 albums, is the winner of 19 Grammy Awards, and has performed for nine American presidents, most recently on the occasion of President Biden’s inauguration. He has received numerous awards, including the National Medal of the Arts, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Birgit Nilsson Prize. He has been a UN Messenger of Peace since 2006 and was recognized as one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020. His multi-faceted career is testament to his belief in culture’s power to generate trust and understanding. Whether performing new or familiar works for cello, Yo-Yo strives to foster connections that stimulate the imagination and reinforce our humanity. This special event with Yo-Yo Ma will include a repertoire from the center of his musical firmament with reflections on how it has shaped his thinking about art, human nature, and our search for meaning. Together, the cellist’s music and his words ask us to consider what music is for, and how it can guide us on a path towards hope. Yo-Yo Ma was born in 1955 to Chinese parents living in Paris, where he began studying the cello with his father at age four. When he was seven, he moved with his family to New York City, where he continued his cello studies before pursuing a liberal arts education and then his outstanding skills and popularity exploded onto the world stage. For tickets and more information for this surely to be unforgettable event, visit here at www.musicworcester.org

JAN. 24 (8pm):THE RODNEY MARSALIS PHILADELPHIA BIG BRASS IN CONCERT

          Music Worcester is presenting one of the premier concert brass ensembles in the country, The Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass in concert will perform along with Worcester’s South High Community School Band at Mechanics Hall, 321 Main Street in Worcester. The Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass (RMPBB) reflects the diverse makeup of men and women in American culture and is dedicated to the notion that music is a gift to be enjoyed by everyone. The ensemble is especially dedicated to reaching out to the world’s youth and inspiring them to reach for their dreams. As part of their time in Worcester, five members of RMPBB will conduct a master class with the 40 members of Worcester’s South Community High School band. They will talk to the students about their experiences, play for the students, and help prepare two pieces of music that the students will perform on stage at Mechanics Hall with the full Rodney Marsalis Big Brass that evening. Brian McCullock, Director of Bands at South High Community School said “Music Worcester has been such an amazing partner in supporting our student musicians. Opportunities to meet and perform with world class artists like Rodney Marsalis are truly inspirational! “It is most fitting that Rodney Marsalis and his colleagues are performing as part of our annual Stoddard Concert, which aims to create community connections” said Music Worcester’s Executive Director Adrien Finlay. “This engagement will bring world-renowned musicians into Worcester Public Schools and have the students not just attend the concert at Mechanics Hall, but also perform alongside RMPBB members. For many students, their first time entering this historic cultural facility will also serve as their first time performing in this sought-after acoustic space, an incredibly rare opportunity for aspiring musicians.” The Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass had its beginnings on the streets of New Orleans. On the advice of family patriarch Ellis Marsalis, the group created a concert format that breaks the usual barriers between genres and strives to create a connection between the audience and performers. The Philadelphia Inquirer noted that “Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass marched, polkaed, and plunked their way through more than two hours of repertoire. ”In recent years, the group has been invited to perform in performing arts centers around the world including China’s National Center for the Performing Arts, Guangzhou Opera House, Tanglewood’s Seiji Ozawa Hall, and prominent performing arts centers throughout the United States, South America, Asia, and Europe .Tickets and information for all Music Worcester events can be found at  www.musicworcester.org

JAN. 30 & FEB. 1: DIE TOTE STADT

The Boston Lyric Opera in collaboration with Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) at Symphony Hall present Erich Korngold’s Die tote Stadt (“The Dead City”). This is an incredibly tender work that embodies the twilight of the Romantic era. Korngold was a remarkable prodigy who later became one of Hollywood’s most important composers. He began this opera when he was only 19 and completed it at age 23. It premiered simultaneously in December 1920 in Cologne and in Hamburg, becoming one of the biggest operatic successes of the era. The opera’s theme surrounds struggling with the memory of a lost loved one which undoubtedly resonated with audiences still traumatized by the recent catastrophe of World War I. Soprano Christine Goerke leads a cast that includes BLO’s Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist alumnus, as well as tenor Neal Ferreira. In addition is baritone Elliot Madore. Both these performers were seen recently in BLO’s production of Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice. Andris Nelsons cnducs.t. Tickets may be obtained at www.blo.org

FEB. 15 (7:30): LYSISTRATA (THE NUDE GODDESS)

Join Odyssey Opera’s voyage to an island you might be familiar with. Mark Adamo’s second opera premiered in 2005 to high praise. Alex Rose of the The New Yorker praised it saying, “It’s shocking how deep this seemingly lighthearted opera goes.” In this a radical reinvention, an already scandalous drama of war and love blossoms into 21^st Century relevance and deepens into an exploration of the human condition. Adama remarks, “I love Lysistrata’s strut and wit and nerve, its utopian yearnings, its magical locale- an Acropolis where, by dream logic, a handful of couples can reconcile the love of the battlefield with the battlefield of love.” It is performed in collaboration with Boston Moderns Orchestra Project (BMOP). Tickets may be obtained at www.odysseyopera.org