Sunday, June 7, 2026, 4:00pm, First Parish Church

Directed by Christina Kennedy, this program is a lively and evocative journey across the sea—featuring folk traditions, sea chanteys, and choral works that capture the motion, mystery, and spirit of life on and in the water. The Sounds of Stow Chorus will be joined by The Artemis Circle Choral Project for a shared program of rich and varied repertoire.

We are also delighted to welcome guest musicians Keith Murphy and Becky Tracy, who will offer their own sets of traditional music and lead the audience in a spirited sea chantey singalong.

This concert will support the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the world’s leading independent non-profit dedicated to ocean science, technology, education, and communication.

November 23, 2025, 2:00pm

The chorus and orchestra will perform John Rutter’s Gloria!,  in celebration of Rutter’s 80th birthday, as well as additional works by Vaughan Williams, Finzi, Bernstein, and Britten.  Rutter’s Gloria!, with its rousing rhythms, was his first big “hit” for chorus and orchestra. We will have an excellent brass section to do full justice to this irresistible music. Also on the program are works by three other British composers – Gerald Finzi’s In Terra Pax, full of rich and striking harmonies. Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Christmas Carols and selected movements of Benjamin Britten’s Ceremony of Carols. The final movement of Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms concludes with this fervent hope: “Behold how good, and how pleasant it is, for brethren to dwell together in unity.” Such a timely and moving message.

Sunday, April 19, 2026, 2:00 pm

Sounds of Stow will present the area premiere of To Shiver the Sky by popular composer Christopher Tin. This oratorio for chorus and large orchestra, written in 2020, is an inspiring exploration of the human desire to reach for the stars! The opening movement – “Sogno di Volare” (also the theme tune of video game Civilization VI) – sets the stage for this thrilling work.