Mercury Orchestra performs Perry, Schuman, and Harris—featuring the New World Chorale

SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2026 . 8:00 pm

Mercury Orchestra
Channing Yu, conductor

With the New World Chorale
Holly MacEwen Krafka, conductor

JULIA PERRY A Short Piece for Large Orchestra
WILLIAM SCHUMAN A Free Song (Secular Cantata No. 2) for mixed chorus and orchestra
ROY HARRIS Symphony No. 6 “Gettysburg”

The Mercury Orchestra, national winner of the 2010 American Prize in Orchestral Performance, examines snapshots of American history in the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, through the musical prisms of three mid-20th century American composers. African-American composer and conductor Julia Perry wrote A Short Piece for Large Orchestra, an imperious, kinetic delight. William Schuman’s secular cantata A Free Song declaims the Civil War era poetry of Walt Whitman in a reflective dialogue that expresses a desire for freedom for all mankind; this work awarded the first Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1943. Roy Harris’s stirring sixth symphony vividly brings to life the noble exhortations of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, to honor the ideal that all men were created equal.

This performance is open to all adults and to children over the age of 5. The concert will end at approximately 9:30 pm. There will be one intermission.

Sanders Theatre, Memorial Hall, Harvard University
45 Quincy St., Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

Free parking at Broadway Garage, 7 Felton St., Cambridge, Massachusetts

Advance Tickets ($5 discount)
$25 General
$20 Student / Senior (65+) / Harvard ID / MIT ID / WGBH member / WBUR member

Day of:
$30 General
$25 Student / Senior (65+) / Harvard ID / MIT ID / WGBH member / WBUR member