NEMPAC Artist Series
ARTIST SERIES LINEUP FOR 2026/2027 SEASON!
NEMPAC will present our third season of our Artist Series in 2026/2027. This series creates a platform for artists across Boston to elevate the voices and musical cultures of our city’s diverse peoples. Artists were chosen through a public Request for Proposals process, introducing NEMPAC to many talented local professionals. We selected this season’s lineup to represent a diverse range of perspectives, genres, and program design. To enhance cultural dialogue, our Artist Series programs will also include interaction between the performers and audience members, to learn more about their repertoire and artistic experiences.
The purpose of the series is a collaboration between NEMPAC and each artist, fostering meaningful connections between our local communities in Boston and the arts, while promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, and providing space for dialogue and reflection.
We will be returning to two of our favorite venues for the new Artist Series this season kicking-off the series at City Winery Boston next February, and our final two concerts in March and April 2027 at the stunning Bijou de la Vida Gallery in the North End.
Season Sponsorships: $500 – includes 2 tickets, priority seating, and recognition in the program and from the stage
Season Pass Subscription: $125/person – includes priority seating at each concert
Single Tickets City Winery: Stage Premiere $42; General Admission $30
Singlet Tickets Bijou de la Vida Gallery: Suggested Ticket $35; Pay-What-You-Can – $5, $10, $15, $20, or $25
ATELIER BELT’S THE MILLENNIAL BALL
A Celebration of 90s TV and Film, Musical Theatre, & a Costume Contest
JOSHUA DIXON BELT (creator/vocalist), JESSICA GRAVES (vocalist), ABIGAIL WHITNEY SMITH (vocalist), EHI OMIGIE (vocalist), DAVID THOMAS MATHER (vocalist), BRAN FRAN (drums), & NICK FRANCESE (bass)
DATE: Thursday, February 4th 2027 at 7:30 PM | Doors open at 6 PM
VENUE: City Winery Boston | Haymarket Lounge
ADDRESS: 80 Beverly St, Boston, MA 02114 | North End
Single tickets go on sale 11/16
FROM GRAIN TO AVALANCHE: PIANO MINIATURES IN CONTRAST
Classical piano through the ages
CHRISTINA WRIGHT-IVANOVA (pianist)
DATE: Thursday, March 11th 2027 at 7:30 PM | Doors open at 6:45 PM
VENUE: Bijou de la Vida Gallery
ADDRESS: 390 Commercial Street, Boston, MA 02113 | North End
Single tickets go on sale 1/11
THE IMPOSSIBLE QUEST OF THE UNLIKELY HERO: A MUSICAL TAPESTRY OF DON QUIXOTE
Diverse musical selections inspired by Cervantes’s epic story
ALEXANDRA DIETRICH (creator)
DATE: Friday, April 30th 2027 at 7:30 PM | Doors open at 6:45 PM
VENUE: Bijou de la Vida Gallery
ADDRESS: 390 Commercial Street, Boston, MA 02113 | North End
Single tickets go on sale 2/8
LEARN ABOUT THE ARTIST SERIES RFP PROCESS
Starting in our 2024/2025 Season, NEMPAC launched the Artist Series, a concert series inclusive of all genres of music, through an RFP process. The goal of this RFP and performance program is to give the chance for individual artists, groups, and ensembles to curate concerts from their own voices and perspectives. We welcome all professional artists to apply to this new concert program, now for our 2026/2027 Season.
Key features of the Artist Series program and application are below:
Open to individual artists, groups, and ensembles
Open to all genres of music
The chance to perform in unique, intimate performance spaces in the North End, Charlestown, and surrounding neighborhoods
A conversation component to create dialogue with our audiences
Potential collaboration with NEMPAC educational team to incorporate an educational component
2026/2027 Artist Series Submission Instructions:
- Review the 2026/2027 Artist Series RFP document
- Proposals should be submitted electronically through the NEMPAC Artist Series RFP 26/27 Season Application
- Timeline:
– RFP Opens: May 7, 2026
– Deadline for Submission: May 31, 2026
– Proposal Evaluation Period: June 6 – June 17, 2026
– Notification of Selection: June 22, 2026
– Series Planning and Execution: January 1, 2027 – May 31, 2027
In our 2024/2025 season we programmed the following concerts:
The Bosquejo en Riesgo’s Quartet and The Costa Rican Sonic Landscape
Persian Songs Old + New
Sink into Me with Pearl Scott
COMMITMENT TO ACCESS
NEMPAC is working towards ensuring all members of our communities are included and have equal access. We pledge to ensure all have access to our facilities and programs.
HISTORY OF THE NEMPAC CONCERT SERIES
The NEMPAC Winter Concert Series (what has been replaced by our current Artist Sries) began in 2015 with a special Italian Heritage Month concert featuring Italian cellist Francesco Mastromatteo and Pianist, Dr. Christina Wright-Ivanova that was hosted at St. Stephen’s Church in the North End. After receiving a strong feedback and interest from the community and Ms. Ivanova’s expertise in classical music, this first concert sprung into a regular music series featuring some of Boston’s most highly prestigious classical musicians. With a goal to eliminate barriers between audience members and the artists, and to make classical music more approachable, the programs were brought to comfortable, intimate venues seating between 30 to 60 guests. These venue locations in Boston have included Bijou de la Vida private art gallery; North Bennet Street School, Steinert Hall on the Steinway Building; Tresca; Lucia Ristorante; La Galleria 33 Ristorante.
LIST OF PREVIOUS ARTIST & CONCERT SERIES PERFORMANCES
Flower & Ash: A Post-American Concert – 2026
An evening of original, folk-inspired song. No ordinary setlist, the night marks the full band debut performance of songs from a new musical still in progress (“Flower & Ash”)
Hey It’s O.K (Opera & Kundiman) – 2026
A concert featuring traditional Filipino art song with western classical music. This concert will amplify the voices of the Phillipines, bringing awareness, understanding, and the celebration of different cultures.
The Reign of Her: An Exploration of the Feminine Sound 2026
A transformative concert that redefines what classical guitar can be. Led by a groundbreaking woman in the field, these concerts spotlight authentic music from a woman’s perspective, inviting audiences to experience the guitar as a powerful vessel for feminine artistry.
Sink into Me 2025
A concert is inspired by Social Justice Movements with music influences of Nina Simone, Esperanza Spalding, and India Arie.
Persian Songs Old + New 2025
A concert featuring well-known Persian songs as well as new and contemporary songs by Persian composers
The Bosquejo en Riesgo’s Quartet and The Costa Rican Sonic Landscape 2024
An immersive musical experience celebrating Costa Rica’s rich cultural tapestry and core social values.
Two Homes, One Heart: A Chinese New Year Celebration 2022
This evening provided an immersion into Chinese heritage and classical music with Zhantao Lin, an erhu (Chinese violin) performer, a Boston-based piano trio (Ariel Mo, Yiliang Jiang and Yunwen Chen), and an on-site Calligraphy demonstration with Liz Roessler and North End’s own ‘Lettering by Liz’.
Voices of the Resilient: The Kurganov-Finehouse Duo 2021
‘New Music from New England’ with HUB New Music 2021
Virtual Performance, recorded in Boston’s Athenaeum
Michael Avitabile, flute; Alyssa Wang, violin; Nicholas Brown, clarinet; Jesse Christeson, cello
‘Amore’ Valentine’s Day Concert & Dinner – Lucia’s Restaurant 2020
Standard and New vocal and operatic works with a soprano, mezzo-soprano Heather Gallagher, and Fran Rogers.
Seeking Sanctuary: A Viola and Piano Recital celebrating Black Artistry through Music 2020
At North Bennet Street School, a program devoted to diversity in music showcases works by Hailstork, Florence Price and more, with celebrated artists Ashleigh Gordon and Joy Cline Phinney.
LIST OF PREVIOUS ARTIST & CONCERT SERIES PERFORMANCES
Through the Lens: Jewish Classics, Unknown and Celebrated 2019
With cellist Aron Zelkowicz and mezzo-soprano Lynn Torgove:- performance of important Jewish works by Stutschewsky, Joan Szymko, Gerald Cohen and Julius Chajes.
‘Amore’ Valentine’s Day Concert & Dinner – Lucia’s Restaurant 2019
Standard Operatic works with Jessica Toupin, soprano, Fran Rogers, tenor and Junhan Choi, baritone
Bijou presents the ‘Neave Piano Trio’ 2019
The Longy School of Music’s Faculty Trio-in-Residence performed as guest artists, with a program featuring Debussy, Roussel and Fauré Piano Trios.
‘Boston Composers: Then and Now, Number Two!’ Recital 2018
Following a highly successful Boston Composers Feature concert last season, music includes works by Tom Cipullo, Irving Fine, David Sisco, Leonard Bernstein, Gabriel Kahane and more.
Italian-Spanish Cello & Piano Fundraising Concert 2018
Works including Piazzola’s Grand Tango, Piatti’s Rimembranze del Trovatore di Verdi and Chopin’s passionate Sonata for Piano and Cello with Guest Cellist Francesco Mastromatteo
Cabaret & Jazz-Inspired Evening 2018
Paul Schoenfield’s Trio, Bolcom’s Cabaret Song selections, works by Kenji Bunch, Kurt Weill and more: clarinetist Ryan Yuré, mezzo-soprano Alexandra Dietrich, flutist Dominique Kim, violinist Aija Reke & soprano Kathryn McKellar
‘100 Years After the War’ Recital 2018
Janáçek’s Violin Sonata, Stravinsky L’histoire du soldat, Messiaen selections from Quartour pour la fin du temps and de Falla’s Siete Canciones Populaires: soprano Katrina Holden, violinist Klaudia Szlachta, & Ryan Yuré
‘Boston Composers: Then and Now’ Recital 2017
Bernstein’s I Hate Music!, Horatio Parker’s Suite for Piano Trio, Amy Beach’s Dreaming, Arthur Foote’s Ballade, Vartan Aghababian’s If, Matthewn Aucoin’s The Sleepers, and Heather Gilligan’s Living in Light.
Portrait of a Power Couple Recital 2017
Select Schubert songs & Fantasy for four hands; select Beethoven songs & An die Ferne Geliebte with John Nevergall, tenor and Andrei Baumann, piano
Music, Food & Dance: Steinert Hall at Steinway & Sons 2016
With guest artists Ines Andrade and Edoardo Campenedo, pianists, and Karen Luttik, clarinet – works by Portuguese, Spanish & Italian composers
Love, Loss & Transformation: Steinert Hall at Steinway & Sons 2015
Musical Reflections on Czech and Russian Masters: Smetana’s Trio in g minor, Janacek’s Violin Sonata and Shostakovich’s Cello Sonata with Andrea Segar, violin & Francesco Mastromatteo, cello
Celebration of Martin Luther King Day 2015
Barber’s Cello Sonata, Carter’s Cello Sonata, R. Pearson Thomas’ Race to the Sky, Leslie Adams songs and Jean Berger songs: Kristin Young, soprano, Jessica Nicolet, soprano, and Stephen Marotto, cello
Italian Heritage Month Recital, St. Stephen’s Church 2014
Stravinsky’s Suite Italienne & Prokofiev’s Sonata for cello & piano with Francesco Mastromatteo, cello







