Calendar

Edward MacDowell Lamia

Amy Beach Jephthah’s Daughter

George Whitefield Chadwick The Padrone

Odyssey Opera presents works by three Second New England School composers: Edward MacDowell’s Lamia, a dramatic tone poem inspired by Greek mythology; Amy Beach’s Jephthah’s Daughter, a concert aria drawn from a biblical character; and George W. Chadwick’s The Padrone, a portrait of immigrant life in turn‑of‑the‑century Boston. Heard together, these works illuminate the range and ambition of the composers who helped define Boston’s musical identity at the beginning of the 20th century.

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Available on SACD and all streaming services

The Celestial Circus by Richard Danielpour is a testament to the colors afforded to adventurous orchestrators and daring performers. Lisa Pegher returns to the BMOP catalog, bringing her characteristic intensity and precision to "The Wounded Healer" with an array of percussion instruments, some more familiar than others. The serene, sparkling character of Danielpour’s "Lacrimae Angeli" gives way to the biblical din of destruction, as the cycle of death and rebirth is explored across cultures.

Paul Moravec - Miami Variations (2025)

Avner Dorman - Inner Fire (2025), Kristina Cooper, cello

John Aylward - History of the World (2025)

Bernard Rogers - Symphony No. 5 "Africa" (1959)

Gil Rose, conductor

Available to stream in Dolby Atmos®

Few composers are featured by BMOP more often than Evan Ziporyn. Hard Drive brings movement and expression to a device that's both ubiquitous and rarely noticed. This angular, perpetually spinning piece arrives at a rock-flavored climax, enhanced by electric guitar and unyielding rhythmic interest.

Available on SACD and all streamingservices

The second installment in the As Told By series, Ulysses Kay’s Frederick Douglass captures a segment of the life of one of the United States’ most read yet least understood figures. A man of mythic proportions, Douglass is given the treatment of a complex and conflicted individual, subverting the uncomplicated two-dimensional narrative. Among the first Black composers to leave his mark in the United States classical tradition, Kay’s sprawling musical language is animated today by BMOP and a cast of today and tomorrow’s most talented voices. Among them are Kenneth Kellogg as Frederick Douglass, Melody Moore as Helen Douglass, Leroy Davis as Howard Davis, and Neal Ferreira as Aubrey, a Young Officer.

Available to stream in Dolby Atmos®

Gian Carlo Menotti composed Errand into the Maze for visionary dancer Martha Graham's ballet, refocusing the infamous tale of the Minotaur through a feminist lens. This work maintains its lasting power through its subversive narrative and expertly crafted score. Menotti joins such composers as Carlos Surinach and William Schuman in the BMOP catalog, whose collaborations with Graham are never lacking imagination, direction, and dance.

By Gian Carlo Menotti

Phillip Lopez - Abdul
Sharleen Joynt - Kitty
Anya Matanovič - Sardula
Omar Najmi - Prince Kodanda
Gabriel Preisser - Scattergood
Michelle Trainor - The Maharani
Matthew Burns - Maharajah
Music and Libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti
Gil Rose, Conductor

Available on SACD and all streamingservices

Eric Moe returns to BMOP/sound with No Time Like the Present, demonstrating the refinement of his compositional voice as well as the changing world in which he creates. Moe’s ability to weave angularity and lyricism within the orchestra in "Repeat Offender" is matched by his deftness as concerto soloist in "The Sweetness of Despair, the Necessity of Hope," creating a palette overflowing with color.

William Bolcom: Medusa - Julia Mintzer, soprano

Ronald Perera: The White Whale - Michael Chioldi, baritone

Carlisle Floyd: Flower and Hawk - Sarah Coburn, soprano

Gil Rose, conductor

Available to stream in Dolby Atmos®

Shelley Washington makes her BMOP/sound debut with Both, an exploration of the multitudes contained within the composer. By examining the dualities in her life and the tension created by them, Washington is able to cultivate unique and exciting textures. As these develop across the four movements, a constant sense of reflection and recollection stokes nostalgia, finally giving way to unbridled optimism.

Available on SACD and all streamingservices

Civil Disobedience is Eric Sawyer’s second BMOP/sound album, once again revisiting the lives and legacies of American icons. By setting Thoreau’s infamous essay Civil Disobedience, Sawyer recontextualizes the writer’s most prescient work as it fits into the 21st century. This release also features the Claremont Trio in Sawyer's transcendentalist-inspired "Fantasy Concerto" and his foray into the world of singer-songwriter, "Ways of Being," featuring Krista River and Kristen Watson.

Jessie Montgomery Study No. 1 for percussion quartet (2023)
Richard Danielpour Celestial Circus (2013)
Gunther Schuller Grand Concerto for Percussion (2005)
Gil Rose, conductor

By Richard Wagner

an opera by Ulysses Kay

By Tobias Picker

Christopher Theofanidis — Rainbow Body (2000)
Christopher Theofanidis — As Dancing is to Architecture (1996)
Han Lash — Zero Turning Radius Concerto for Orchestra (2024)*
Jeremy Gill — Four Legends from the Silmarillion (2024)*

*BMOP commission/World Premiere

By Mark Adamo

Wang Lu — Surge (2022)
Wang Lu — Voices of the Orchard (2024)
Joseph Butch Rovan — Scattering (2022)
Anthony Cheung — Volta (2022/2024)
Eric Nathan — In Between II (2023)

A double bill of Gershwin Brothers musicals presented in concert by Odyssey Opera in partnership with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP)

Celebrating its 50th season, Artpark will present  one of the world's favorite operas, Giacomo Puccini's TOSCA, in the Artpark Mainstage Theater

Odyssey Opera, in partnership with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) present Dominick Argento’s opera, The Voyage of Edgar Allan Poe

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The first of two evenings of innovative, genre-bending music by improvisational singer, avant-garde composer and bestselling author Tanya Tagaq (Ikaluktutiak, Cambridge Bay, Nunavut).

John Aylward – Eternal Return (2022) WORLD PREMIERE
Eric Moe – The Sweetness of Despair, the Necessity of Hope (2021) WORLD PREMIERE
Richard Cornell – Time Rift (2020) WORLD PREMIERE
Shelley Washington – Both (2022) EAST COAST PREMIERE

La Fura dels Baus’ production of Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana”

Now, for one-night only, this groundbreaking performance makes its North American premiere at Artpark.

220 artists lead you into an immersive world of striking imagery and special effects. An international cast of vocalists takes to the air and water. And the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Gil Rose and Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus perform the powerful, breathtaking score.

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Program:

Play by Andrew Norman (New York premiere)
A Thousand Mountains, A Million Streams by Lei Liang (New York premiere)
In Medias Res by Lisa Bielawa (New York premiere)

By Tobias Picker
(East Coast Premiere)

By John Corigliano

By Anthony Davis
(Midwest Premiere)

By Anthony Davis
(Midwest Premiere)

THREE ONE-ACT OPERAS by Sergei Rachmaninoff
ALEKO, THE MISERLY KNIGHT, FRANCESCA DA RIMINI

By Anthony Davis

A BOSTON CONNECTION CONCERT

presented in partnership with New England Conservatory

Pulling Out All the Stops, BMOP's first live concert since 2020, showcases the power and glory of the Symphony Hall organ as it is seldom presented: as a vital element of contemporary expression.

By Arnold Rosner Libretto by Florence Stevenson World Premiere Semi-staged, Sung in English