The Ruth Susan Westheimer Artistic Director

Chris Shepard has had a long affinity for Baroque music, as both a conductor and keyboard player. He has conducted all of Bach’s major choral works several times, in addition to founding the Sydneian Bach Choir in Sydney, Australia, which performed all of Bach’s choral cantatas from 2004 to 2013.

He has been the steward of two longstanding annual Handel Messiah traditions. Since 2009, he has conducted the Worcester Chorus in an annual performance at Mechanics Hall (begun in 1900), and from 2015 to 2023, the annual performance at Carnegie Hall by the Masterwork Chorus of New Jersey (a six-decade tradition). He also conducts CONCORA, Connecticut’s oldest professional choir.

His PhD thesis on the performance history of the Mass in B Minor received ACDA’s 2012 Julius Herford Prize for outstanding dissertation in choral music. As a guest conductor, Chris has led performances of Bach and Handel’s music in the Americas, Australia, Europe, and the Middle East. He holds degrees from the Hartt School, Yale and the University of Sydney.

MECHANICS HALL
Meghan Montaner, Executive Director
Peter Edwin Krasinski, Principal Organist

WORCESTER ART MUSEUM
Matthias Waschek, Director

WORCESTER CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY
Ariana Falk, Executive Director

THE WORCESTER CHORUS
Chris Shepard, Artistic Director and Conductor

Under the umbrella of Music Worcester, one of the nation’s oldest concert presenters, the Worcester Bach Collective brings together a wide range of musical organizations in Worcester. A city rich in choirs, the venerable Worcester Chorus, the resident choir of Music Worcester, will be joined by several of the city’s college, church, and community choirs.

COMMUNITY CHOIRS

MASTER SINGERS OF WORCESTER
Ed Tyler, Conductor

SALISBURY SINGERS
Reagan Paras, Conductor

WORCESTER CHILDREN’S CHORUS
Pamela Mindell, Conductor

CHURCH CHOIRS

ALL SAINTS EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Kevin Neel, Director of Music

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
Wesley Hall, Minister of Music & The Arts

FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH
Allegra Martin, Director of Music

TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH
Mark Mummert, Cantor

COLLEGE CHOIRS

ASSUMPTION UNIVERSITY
John Black, Director of Choral Activities

CLARK UNIVERSITY
Cailin Manson, Director of Choral Activities

WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
Joshua Rohde, Director of Choral Activities

 

Each year, during the BACHtoberfest Festival Weekend (last weekend in October), singers from around the country come together to perform some of J.S. Bach’s cantatas in Mechanics Hall. Sign-ups begin in the spring, music is distributed in late summer in preparation for the choir members coming together. Rehearsals are held on Friday and Saturday in advance of the Sunday afternoon performance.

We will regularly feature outstanding area choirs and orchestras who are particularly associated with the music of J.S. Bach.

BAROKLYN, Brooklyn, NY
Simone Dinnerstein, Artistic Director

CONCORA (Connecticut Choral Artists), Hartford, CT
Chris Shepard, Artistic Director

EMMANUEL MUSIC, Boston, MA
Ryan Turner, Artistic Director

HANDEL & HAYDN SOCIETY, Boston, MA
Jonathan Cohen, Artistic Director
Ian Watson, Associate Conductor

WINCHENDON MUSIC FESTIVAL, Winchendon, MA
Andrew Arceci, Artistic Director

Music Worcester and THE COMPLETE BACH project are grateful for contributions from our local community partners. Please consider bringing your business to them in appreciation of the support they have given to us.