Boston Festival Orchestra

06/16/2026

This Thursday, join Alyssa Wang, Nicholas Brown, and Ruoting Li for The Sound of Revolution—an evening exploring how music can challenge convention, inspire change, and give voice to new ideas. Inspired by the Boston Public Library’s Revolutionary Ideas theme, we’ll journey through music that dared to break the mold.

(And yes, our rehearsal was briefly supervised by a very good dog, who turned 6 years old today, the same age as BFO! 🐶)

📍 Boston Public Library, Rabb Hall
📅 Thursday, June 18, 2026
🕕 6:00 PM
🎟️ Free admission, registration required.

Register: link in bio or at bforchestra.org/soundofrevolution

06/15/2026

We're honored to be featured in The Sampan! 🎉

As the Boston Festival Orchestra continues to grow, our mission remains the same: to make classical music accessible and deeply connected to our community. This summer, we're scaling up with two unforgettable Summer Stage concerts at Jordan Hall, featuring Grammy-winning composer Christopher Tin's The Drop That Contained the Sea, a celebration of global cultures and languages, and a Mozart/Bruckner program showcasing extraordinary young artists from around the world.

Thank you to Sampan for highlighting our journey and our commitment to creating musical experiences that bring people together.

🎟️ Pay What You Can tickets are on sale now: bforchestra.org/summer-stage

https://www.sampan.org/post/bfo-scales-up-summer-series

As Boston Festival Orchestra is in the middle of its sixth season of chamber concerts and gearing up for its summer season of performances, Sampan caught up with Alyssa Wang, BFO’s artistic director and principal conductor. We asked Wang about upcoming shows and their significance.

06/11/2026

Join us for The Sound of Revolution, the final Chamber Series concert of the season, just one week from today!

Featuring works by Ervín Schulhoff, Reza Vali, Augusta Holmes, and Quinn Mason, this program honors artists who used music as a tool of resistance, truth, and moral courage. From composers silenced by oppression to those who challenged injustice through their art, these works remind us that music can preserve memory, inspire change, and give voice to ideas that refuse to be silenced.

Presented in partnership with the Boston Public Library as part of its Revolutionary Ideas initiative, this intimate evening of performance and conversation explores the powerful relationship between music, freedom, and social change.

📅 June 18, 2026
🕕 6:00 PM
📍 Boston Public Library
🎟 Free admission (registration required)

Nick Brown clarinet
Alyssa Wang violin
Ruoting Li piano

Register today at bforchestra.org/soundofrevolution or at the link in our bio!

06/09/2026

Big news! 🎉 The Boston Festival Orchestra has been awarded a grant from the Boston Cultural Council. This support will help us continue creating free and accessible performances, educational programs, and community events throughout Boston. Thank you to the Boston Cultural Council and the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture for investing in a vibrant and inclusive arts community!

This organization is supported in part by a grant from the Boston Cultural Council, administered by the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture.

06/08/2026

We had such a fun time marching in Boston’s Pride for the People Parade! The city was buzzing and the energy was incredible! We can’t wait for next year’s parade.

06/04/2026

🏳️‍🌈 We’re marching in Boston Pride—and you’re invited! This Pride Month, we’re celebrating the LGBTQ+ community by continuing our tradition of participating in the parade, and we’d love for you to walk with us. Bring your friends, family, pride, and joy. Let’s celebrate a community where everyone belongs!

📅 June 6
🔗 Sign up via the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScLaMwfoVAKpOprtnZGMsXDfFnwZIeyvExuzGf1XQ4lK3v0xA/viewform

🌈 All are welcome.

06/02/2026

March with us at Boston Pride! 🎻🏳️‍🌈 The Boston Festival Orchestra is proud to continue our tradition of participating in Boston’s Pride for the People Parade, and we’d love for you to join us. Whether you’re a musician, volunteer, audience member, friend, family member, or ally, come celebrate community, inclusion, and the joy of being together!

📅 June 6, 2026
🔗 Sign up at the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScLaMwfoVAKpOprtnZGMsXDfFnwZIeyvExuzGf1XQ4lK3v0xA/viewform

06/01/2026

Thanks to WBZ / CBS News Boston for this feature about what we're doing to make classical music more accessible to our community! Our final Chamber Series of the season is on June 18 at the Boston Public Library--and it's completely free! Plus, on June 7, Pay-What-You-Can tickets go on sale for our two Summer Stage concerts in Jordan Hall. Check out bforchestra.org for information on our upcoming concerts, and click the link below to read the article and listen to the interview.

https://wbznewsradio.iheart.com/content/boston-festival-orchestra-launches-pay-what-you-can-for-summer-concerts/

WBZ NewsRadio is the home of Traffic and Weather Together on the 3s. Breaking news when it happens. Boston's source for local news. Listen on your radio at 1030AM in Boston or take us anywhere with the free iHeart app.

05/28/2026

What an incredible afternoon celebrating AAPI Heritage Month with our community at the Cambridge Public Library!

Thank you to everyone who joined the Boston Festival Orchestra for this special program of music, storytelling, and cultural reflection. We were especially honored to collaborate with playwright Hortense Gerardo, whose original spoken word works brought a powerful contemporary voice and emotional resonance to each musical selection.

This concert was a reminder of how art can create space for identity, memory, dialogue, and connection across communities and generations. We’re deeply grateful to our artists, collaborators, audience members, and supporters for making this event so meaningful.

More music, more storytelling, and more community to come. ❤️ Catch us at our next Chamber Series concert at the Boston Public Library on June 18!

05/18/2026

The Boston Festival Orchestra is thrilled to welcome playwright and multidisciplinary artist ✨ Hortense Gerardo ✨ to our upcoming AAPI Heritage Month Concert at the Cambridge Public Library on May 23 at 1PM. Hortense Gerardo is an award-nominated playwright, screenwriter, and Director of the Anthropology, Performance, and Technology Program at UC San Diego. Her work has been presented internationally at venues including La MaMa Experimental Theatre, the Venice Biennale, ICA Boston, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

For this special program, Hortense will present original spoken word responses inspired by each musical selection, creating a powerful dialogue between music, storytelling, and contemporary AAPI voices. Her original work explores identity, power, and human connection, bringing a deeply thoughtful and imaginative layer to this concert experience. We can’t wait to share this collaboration with you!

🎟️ Admission is free, but registration is required. bforchestra.org/aapiheritagemonth
📍 Cambridge Public Library
🗓️ May 23, 1PM