ROCHESTER ORATORIO SOCIETY ANNOUNCES 80th ANNIVERSARY SEASON
- Community Submission
- 2 hours ago
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ROCHESTER, NY — Success is 80 years in the making for the Rochester Oratorio Society (ROS) as the renowned organization kicks off its 2025-2026 season.
According to Artistic Director Eric Townell “Innovation and tradition are hallmarks of our 80th season. Throughout the years ROS has stayed on the cutting edge artistically, with many commissions and important first performances together with great classics. We’ve tried to maintain that legacy in our 80th season, with several Rochester premieres and music written by Jeff Tyzik for ROS alongside masterworks by Mendelssohn and Saint-Saëns.” He continues “A great chorus is a force for positive change in the community, reflecting and living out the best qualities of our city and region. Together with all the singers and leadership over the years, ROS has truly made Rochester a richer and better place to live.”
Schedule of Events
Mass in Blue
The ROS opens its 80th season in celebratory style with brilliant music by Rochester composers and a jazz-inspired mass. Jeff Tyzik’s “Psalm 150” was premiered by the ROS 20 years ago. Hear it in Jeff’s new edition along with Ron Nelson’s “Fanfare for a Festival” and the globally famous “Mass in Blue,” by Will Todd, in its local premiere. With Sarah Joyce Cooper, soprano, the ROS Orchestra and Jazz All Stars.
October 17, 2025
7:30 PM
Hochstein Performance Hall
50 N Plymouth Ave., Rochester, NY 14614
Arts Connexions presents Alicia Esmeralda Barry
Featuring the music, poetry, and spoken word of Mesoamerica with mezzo-soprano Alicia Esmeralda Barry and storyteller Stephanie Paredes.
November 14, 2025
7:30 PM
First Universalist Church of Rochester
150 S Clinton Ave., Rochester, NY 14604
A Joyful Christmas
Serenely inspiring music and a world of carols warm your soul this December. Hochstein Youth Singers join the Rochester Oratorio Society Symphonic Chorus and Orchestra as Julia Figueras narrates the beautiful Christmas Oratorio by Camille Saint-Saëns, William Grant Still’s Christmas in the Western World, and familiar choruses from Handel’s Messiah for a concert that will make the heart sing.
December 19, 2025
7:30 PM
Hochstein Performance Hall
50 N Plymouth Ave., Rochester, NY 14614
Arts Connexions presents Inventions of a Dream
A program of art song, musical theater, opera, and original poetry, exploring Isabel Randall’s journey from her birth in Spain to Broadway to now as a poet and opera singer. Featuring Ines Draskovic, piano.
February 15, 2026
3:00 PM
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
25 Westminster Rd., Rochester, NY 14607
The Cry of Jeremiah
Mendelssohn’s Christus, his answer to Handel’s Messiah, thrillingly relates the Easter story through the fragments left to us at his passing. Together with “The Cry of Jeremiah,” by Rosephanye Powell, they make for a compelling and uplifting, Gospel-inspired evening. Rev Dr. Rickey B. Harvey Sr. narrates, with Pablo Bustos-Willey, tenor, and the ROS Orchestra.
March 20, 2026
7:30 PM
Hochstein Performance Hall
50 N Plymouth Ave., Rochester, NY 14614
Rochester International Vocal CompetitionEmerging Artist Prize “Joseph Eduardo” Finals
Save the Date for the Emerging Artist Prize “Joseph Eduardo” Finals, a production of the Rochester International Vocal Competition and the Rochester Oratorio Society. Enjoy thrilling performances from rising stars live and in person. Then, feel the anticipation as our esteemed judge announces the grand prize winner during this one-of-a-kind evening of opera arias.
May 16, 2026
7:30 PM
Hochstein Performance Hall
50 N Plymouth Ave., Rochester, NY 14614
To Purchase Tickets:
Visit www.rossings.org
Call 585.473.2234
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