Current concert

Highlight Rambax MIT and Gamelan Galak Tika

July 9-10 / Hear and watch the Rambax Spring 2018 concert. Listen to an audio recording of  “Ameriki” from Gamelan Spring 2018.

 

Program includes:

Concert: Rambax Spring 2018 concert

Audio recording: “Ameriki” from Gamelan Spring 2018

Concert link: Rambax Spring 2018 concert

Audio recording: “Ameriki” from Gamelan Spring 2018

Past concerts

Cellist performs with the MIT Symphony Orchestra.
Image of MITSO performance film still, videography by Paula Aguilera and Jonathan Williams.

Highlighting the MIT Symphony Orchestra

June 11-12 / Hear and watch the 2019  MIT Symphony Orchestra concert featuring Matthew Roitstein, flute, and David Deveau, piano. Listen to an audio recording of the MIT Symphony Orchestra’s 2009 performance of Massenet, Strauss, and Mendelssohn (feat. David Deveau)

Program includes:

Concert: MIT Symphony Orchestra Featuring Soloists Matthew Roitstein and David Deveau

Audio recording: MIT Symphony Orchestra’s 2009 performance of Massenet, Strauss, and Mendelssohn (feat. David Deveau)

Concert link: MIT Symphony Orchestra Featuring Soloists Matthew Roitstein and David Deveau

Audio recording: MIT Symphony Orchestra’s 2009 performance of Massenet, Strauss, and Mendelssohn (feat. David Deveau)

Concert poster
The concert on Friday, May 7 presents performances by five musicians, and a 3-hour workshop on Saturday, May 8, features conversations with the performers and in-depth explorations of their instruments. This event is presented in association with Course 21M.370 Digital Instrument Design and supported by the MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology Cross Disciplinary Class Development Fund.

Engineered Expression: digital instruments in performance

May 7- 8 / Creating and performing with new digital and electronic instruments has always been an important part of electronic and computer music. This concert and workshop features musicians for whom this is a central part of their practice. Whether it takes the form of a physical interface, motion sensor, or software system, these new instruments are shaped by the artistic and aesthetic goals of the performer. The concert on Friday, May 7 presents performances by five musicians, and a 3-hour workshop on Saturday, May 8, features conversations with the performers and in-depth explorations of their instruments. This event is presented in association with Course 21M.370 Digital Instrument Design and supported by the MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology Cross Disciplinary Class Development Fund.

May 7 / 7pm

Watch the concert livestream

May 8 / 1pm

Watch the workshop livestream

MIT Symphony Orchestra performs Haydn
MIT Symphony Orchestra performs Haydn's Symphony No. 100 in MIT's Kresge Auditorium. Credit James Addison.

Highlighting the MIT Symphony Orchestra

April 30-May 1 / Join us for the live, virtual performance of the MIT Symphony Orchestra: Re-Awaken. Listen to an audio recording of the MIT Symphony Orchestra’s 2010 concert Dvorak, Shadle and Featuring Aardvark Jazz Orchestra.

 

Program includes:

Concert: Bach, Cononcini, Palestrina, Purcell, Shadle, Schütz.

Audio recording: Dvorak, Shadle and Featuring Aardvark Jazz Orchestra

Concert link: MIT Symphony Orchestra: Re-Awaken (Live)

Audio recording link: Dvorak, Shadle and Featuring Aardvark Jazz Orchestra

A student jazz ensemble performs on stage.
MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble, Nov 4, 2008, photograph by Hayden Taylor

Highlighting the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble

April 2-3 / Hear and watch MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble’s 2018 concert En Pie De Lucha. Listen to an audio recording of the Homegrown Jazz: Celebrating Music with MIT Roots in 2018

Program includes:

Concert: En Pie De Lucha

Audio recording: Homegrown Jazz: Celebrating Music with MIT Roots

Concert link: En Pie De Lucha

Audio recording link: Homegrown Jazz: Celebrating Music with MIT Roots

Image for 2020 MIT Sounding MITSO MOVIES MACHOVER
Images (left): Tod Machover. Credit: Andy Ryan and Evan Ziporyn, MITSO, 2019. Credit: Caroline Alden. (right) Audience views in 3D IMAX. Creative Commons.

Highlighting the MIT Media Lab, MIT Symphony Orchestra, and the Kronos Quartet

March 5-6 / Hear and watch Tod Machover’s newly revised version of A Toronto Symphony – his very first City Symphony – that was scheduled for a March 13 US premiere at MIT’s Kresge Auditorium. COVID-19 nixed that plan, but not before the students of MITSO, led by Evan Ziporyn, were able to record the piece in the empty concert hall. Don’t miss this vivid performance with stunning visuals by Peter Torpey. And, listen to a recording of Tod Machover – Gammified.

 

Program includes:

Concert: A Toronto Symphony by Tod Machover, performed by the MIT Symphony Orchestra

Audio recording: Tod Machover – Gammified

Concert link: A Toronto Symphony by Tod Machover, performed by the MIT Symphony Orchestra

Audio recording link: Tod Machover – Gammified

RAMBAX MIT Senegalese Drum Ensemble directed by Lamine Touré.
RAMBAX MIT Senegalese Drum Ensemble directed by Lamine Touré.

Highlighting Gamelan Galak Tika and Rambax

February 5-6 / Hear and watch the 2017 concert MIT World Music Day featuring Gamelan Galak Tika and Rambax. Listen to an audio recording of the 2014 MIT Symphony Orchestra concert Rouse, Ziporyn, Rimsky-Korsakov featuring Gamelan Galak Tika.

 

Program includes:

Concert: MIT World Music Day featuring Gamelan Galak Tika and Rambax

Audio recording: Rouse, Ziporyn, Rimsky-Korsakov featuring Gamelan Galak Tika

Concert link: MIT World Music Day featuring Gamelan Galak Tika and Rambax

 

Audio recording link: Rouse, Ziporyn, Rimsky-Korsakov featuring Gamelan Galak Tika

Image: Ben Bloomberg SM '14. Credit Justin Knight.

Highlighting the MIT Chamber Chorus and MIT Symphony Orchestra

January 8-9 / Hear and watch the 2018 MIT Chamber Chorus concert Bits’ and Bobs. Listen to an audio recording of the 2011 concert MIT Symphony Orchestra concert The Planets.

Bits’ and Bobs program:

British choral music of the 20th century

Britten

Finzi

Quilter

Vaughan

Williams

Program includes:

Concert: Bits’ and Bobs

Audio recording: The Planets

Concert link: Bits’ and Bobs

 

Audio recording link: The Planets

MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble. Credit Jon Sachs.
MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble. Credit Jon Sachs.

Highlighting the MIT Wind Ensemble and MIT Symphony Orchestra

December 4-5 / Join us for the live, virtual performance of the MIT Wind Ensemble’s 6th Annual PRISM Concert. Listen to an audio recording of the 2016 concert MIT Symphony Orchestra presents Holiday Pops 2016. 

 

 

Program includes:

Concert: MIT Wind Ensemble’s 6th Annual PRISM Concert

Audio recording: MIT Symphony Orchestra presents Holiday Pops

Concert link: MIT Wind Ensemble’s 6th Annual PRISM Concert (Live)

 

Reserve a virtual seat

 

Audio recording link: MIT Symphony Orchestra presents Holiday Pops 2016

Luciana Souza and Guillermo Klein, joined the MIT Wind Ensemble, MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble and MIT Vocal Jazz Ensemble to create innovative new compositions and arrangements. Photo: James Addison.

Highlighting the MIT Wind Ensemble, MIT Concert Choir, and MIT Chamber Chorus

November 6-7 / Hear and watch the 2018 MIT Wind Ensemble concert Waking Winds: Innovative Music From MIT Wind Ensemble. Hear the MIT Concert Choir and MIT Chamber Chorus perform Michael (1949) and Sonja Koerner Music Composition Professor, Section Head for Music & Theater Arts Keeril Makan’s Infinite Corridor as part of the concert Song of Democracy in 2014.

 

Waking Winds: Innovative Music From MIT Wind Ensemble program: Introduction et variations sur une ronde populaire (1936) Gabriel Pierne (1863-1937)

 

Insurgence (2018 for percussion septet Kathryn Salfelder (b. 1987)

 

Sleep (1936) for saxophone ensemble Eric Whitacre (1970)

 

Concerto for Clarinet and Wind Ensemble (2013) Don Byron (b. 1958)

 

Awakening (2012) in recognition of the Arab Spring Jamshied Sharifi (1960)

 

Program includes:

Concert: Waking Winds: Innovative Music From MIT Wind Ensemble

Audio recording:  Keeril Makan’s Infinite Corridor as part of the concert Song of Democracy featuring the MIT Concert Choir and the MIT Chamber Chorus

Concert link: Waking Winds: Innovative Music From MIT Wind Ensemble 

 

Audio recording link: Keeril Makan’s Infinite Corridor as part of the concert Song of Democracy featuring the MIT Concert Choir and the MIT Chamber Chorus

A large choir performs with a chamber ensemble.
MIT Concert Choir at "Requiem" Concert (May 2005). Photograph by Thomas Maxisch

Highlighting the MIT Concert Choir and MIT Symphony Orchestra

October 2-3 / Hear and watch Dvorak’s colorful cantata, The Spectre’s Bride, performed by the MIT Concert Choir in 2018, and hear the MIT Symphony Orchestra’s 2012 performance of the Finale from Dvorak’s 9th Symphony from the concert Americana: Bernstein, Dvorak, Ives.

 

Program includes:

Concert: MIT Concert Choir: The Spectre’s Bride

Audio recording: Finale from Dvorak’s 9th Symphony

Concert link:

The Spectre’s Bride

 

Audio recording link: 

Finale from Dvorak’s 9th Symphony

MIT Symphony Orchestra performs Haydn
MIT Symphony Orchestra performs Haydn's Symphony No. 100 in MIT's Kresge Auditorium. Credit James Addison.

Highlighting the MIT Symphony Orchestra

September 4-5 / Hear and watch the 2017 MITSO concert Sibelius and Brahms featuring music by Jean Sibelius and Johannes Brahms. Listen to an audio recording of Barber, Respighi, and Sibelius as part of MITSO’s 2007 concert with special guest John Miller ’64, Principal Bassoon, Minnesota Orchestra.

 

Program includes:

Concert: MITSO: Sibelius: Symphony No. 6 in D minor, Opus 104, Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Opus 68

Audio recording: Barber, Respighi, and Sibelius

Concert link:

Sibelius and Brahms

 

Audio recording link: 

Barber, Respighi, and Sibelius

John Harbison. Credit: Tom Artin.

Highlighting Institute Professor John Harbison

Hear and watch select concerts featuring work by Institute Professor John Harbison and performances by the MIT Symphony Orchestra, MIT Jazz Ensemble, and MIT Wind Ensemble.

 

Program includes:

John Harbison Celebration Concert

All For You – John Harbison’s 80th Birthday Jazz Party

MIT Music in HD including A Rhumba for Rafael Reif by Harbison

Concert links:

John Harbison Celebration Concert

All For You – John Harbison’s 80th Birthday Jazz Party

MIT Music in HD including A Rhumba for Rafael Reif by Harbison

Cellist performs with the MIT Symphony Orchestra.
Image of MITSO performance film still, videography by Paula Aguilera and Jonathan Williams.

MITSO: The Night Before

MIT Symphony Orchestra’s tribute to the art of film music from classic Hollywood soundtracks to new works.

Program includes:

John Williams: “Devil’s Dance” from The Witches of Eastwick
Harry Manfredini: Friday the 13th Suite
Angelo Badalamenti: Theme to Twin Peaks
Don Byron: Three Pieces from the Saul Bass Project, World Premiere

The July 11 broadcast features the world premiere of renowned composer and clarinetist Don Byron’s Three Pieces from the Saul Bass Project, commissioned by MIT, which will accompany classic film noir title sequences by the legendary Saul Bass (Something Wild (1961), The Shrike (1955), and Walk On the Wild Side (1962). The program also includes music by John Williams (“Devil’s Dance” from The Witches of Eastwick), Angelo Badalamenti’s theme to Twin Peaks, and Harry Manfredini’s Friday the 13th Suite.

The performance was originally scheduled, along with the US premiere of Tod Machover’s A Toronto Symphony, for March 13 in MIT’s Kresge Auditorium, but because of COVID-19 the students of MITSO, led by Evan Ziporyn, played in the empty concert hall right before they had to leave campus. Fortunately, we are able to share this recording with you! The work by Tod Machover was presented earlier in our virtual concert series (view it on YouTube).

Concert Clips:

Harry Manfredini: Friday the 13th Suite

John Williams: “Devil’s Dance” from The Witches of Eastwick

Don Byron: Three Pieces from the Saul Bass Project, World Premiere

Tod Machover. Photo: Suzann Kreiter (Boston Globe).

A Toronto Symphony by Tod Machover, performed by the MIT Symphony Orchestra

Hear and watch Tod Machover’s newly revised version of A Toronto Symphony – his very first City Symphony – that was scheduled for a March 13 US premiere at MIT’s Kresge Auditorium. COVID-19 nixed that plan, but not before the students of MITSO, led by Evan Ziporyn, were able to record the piece in the empty concert hall. Don’t miss this vivid performance with stunning visuals by Peter Torpey.

Program includes: 

A Toronto Symphony by Tod Machover, performed by the MIT Symphony Orchestra

Concert link:

A Toronto Symphony

Students on laptops
MIT Laptop Ensemble (FaMLE)

Highlighting MIT Laptop Ensemble, MITSO, Concert Choir, Chamber Chorus, MITWE

Hear and watch select concerts from the MIT Laptop Ensemble and performances by the MIT Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Chorus, Concert Choir and the MIT Wind Ensemble.

Program includes:

Spring Virtual Ensembles Concert
FaMLE presents “360 Degrees of Separation”​
FaMLE presents Algorave

Concert links:

MIT Music and Theater Arts Spring Virtual Ensembles Concert

FaMLE presents “360 Degrees of Separation”​

FaMLE presents Algorave

Gamelan Galak Tika performing Tire Fire by Evan Ziporyn, Bang on a Can Marathon, World Financial Center, 2010. Photo: Derek Johnson.
Gamelan Galak Tika performing Tire Fire by Evan Ziporyn, Bang on a Can Marathon, World Financial Center, 2010. Credit: Derek Johnson.

Gamelan Galak Tika

Hear and watch select 2014-19 Gamelan Galak Tika concerts.

Program includes:

2014 concert
2018 concert
2019 concert

Gamelan Galak Tika has been at the forefront of innovative, cross-cultural music for Balinese gamelan since 1993. Led by composer and MIT Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor Evan Ziporyn, Galak Tika has performed groundbreaking music at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, BAM, several Bang on a Can Marathons, Southern Exposure, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and colleges throughout the northeast.

Concert links:

2014 concert
2018 concert
2019 concert

Woman in front of microphone
Tiandra Ray '15

Earth Week

Hear and watch select 2018-19 MIT concerts celebrating the environment with music from MIT Music and Theater Arts.

Program includes:

Heal! — A Battle Poem for the Climate and Its Defenders
Space for Action: Rebuilding a Sustainable World
MIT & Parley: Prevailing Winds and Whales

Space for Action was a call for all humans to convene, process, and make progress on the existential threat posed by climate change through curated collective experiences at the intersection of art, science, and culture.

Concert links:

Heal! — A Battle Poem for the Climate and Its Defenders
Space for Action: Rebuilding a Sustainable World
MIT & Parley: Prevailing Winds and Whales

Jacob Collier performs with the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble and the JC Project Orchestra. "Imagination Off the Charts," MIT, 2016. Photo: L. Barry Hetherington.
Jacob Collier performs with the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble and the JC Project Orchestra. "Imagination Off the Charts," MIT, 2016. Photo: L. Barry Hetherington.

MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble

Hear and watch select 2018-2019 concerts by the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble.

Program includes:
All For You – John Harbison’s 80th Birthday Jazz Party
13th Annual Herb Pomeroy Memorial Concert
Homegrown Jazz: Celebrating Music with MIT Roots

Concert links:

Homegrown Jazz: Celebrating Music with MIT Roots
All For You – John Harbison’s 80th Birthday Jazz Party
13th Annual Herb Pomeroy Memorial Concert