Who We Are

Our mission

Emmanuel Music engages with audiences and musicians to explore the enduring questions of our shared human experience, building on our core commitment to the music of J.S. Bach.

our vision

Through its performing, teaching, mentoring, and scholarly activities, Emmanuel Music occupies a unique niche: a living laboratory for the music of J. S. Bach. Emmanuel Music finds new and creative ways for audiences and musicians to engage with the artistic, spiritual, and humanistic aspects of the music of J. S. Bach, the cornerstone of our musical output for our first fifty years.

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Our History

50 years

The History of Emmanuel Music

Emmanuel Music, founded in 1970 by Craig Smith, has served as the ensemble-in-residence forBoston’s Emmanuel Church for fifty years. The two organizations maintain a close, symbioticrelationship that is crucial to each entity’s individual success. The primary activity of theensemble is the weekly presentation of the sacred cantatas of J.S. Bach in the liturgical contextfor which they were written.

Learn about our history

10 years

Celebrating Ryan Turner

Having just completed 13 years as Artistic Director of Emmanuel Music and Music Director of Emmanuel Church, Ryan Turner conducted his 200th Bach Cantata at Emmanuel on May 14th, 2023. An astounding achievement for any conductor, we are honored to celebrate Ryan in his work with our community.

Ryan Turner's first 10 years

in memoriam

Remembering Craig Smith

For 37 years Emmanuel Church and Emmanuel Music stood at the center of Craig Smith’s musical and spiritual life. Craig arrived at this church on Newbury Street as choirmaster in 1970. A visionary even then, he probably could not have imagined how the organization he created would grow in reach and in expertise; he could not have imagined some of the obstacles it would have to overcome, or the exemplary role in the community and indeed the world that it would eventually come to play. Like Bach, he was doing his job.

Craig Smith's legacy

Partnership

Cantata

Bach Cantata Series at Emmanuel Church

September – May  at 10.00am

Continuing our 50-year old tradition, Emmanuel Music presents Bach's astounding human document, in the liturgical setting for which it was intended, as well as other sacred works. Sundays at 10.00 am September - May .

Learn & Engage

Bach for You

Spring 2023

Bach wrote some of the most sublime music, but that doesn't mean you should only observe it from a distance, on a pedestal. Here are some opportunities for self reflection and personal connection through the music of our favorite composer and those he inspired.

Learn More

PERFORMANCE

This Love Unbound

April 29, 2023 at 7.30pm | April 30, 2023 at 3.00pm

Emmanuel Music partners with Urbanity Dance, and critically acclaimed choreographer, Shura Baryshnikov, for an exploration on the wilder boundaries of the theme of love.