Boston Conservatory at Berklee Presents Hemenway Strings: Music of the Past, Present, and Future
Boston Conservatory at Berklee’s Center Stage series continues with a free evening of works composed and inspired by Bach. Hemenway Strings, Boston Conservatory’s premier string ensemble, will present Music of the Past, Present, and Future on Saturday, September 28 at 8:00 p.m. at Seully Hall, under the direction of professor Lynn Chang.
The program will feature Bach’s chorale BWV 668, Vor deinen Thron tret’ ich hiermit, his double violin concerto, and Bach-influenced works by Jean Sibelius, Felix Mendelssohn, Samuel Coleridge Taylor, and Sofia Gubaidulina, demonstrating Bach’s far-reaching influence. In addition, the program will feature a composition inspired by Bach’s chorale by current composition student Peter Han (BM ‘25).
As Bach's music was often regarded as superhuman in its technicality and craft, the ensemble will also perform an AI-generated score based on Bach’s BWV 668, in a critical examination of both the possibilities and limitations of AI-based models. Audience members are invited to participate in a post-performance talkback with Hemenway Strings Director Lynn Chang; Chair of Composition, Contemporary Music, and Core Studies Mischa Salkind-Pearl; and Berklee College of Music Associate Professor of Electronic Production and Design Akito van Troyer to discuss the challenges and potential of AI models in the arts.
“Hemenway Strings’ latest performance is a tribute to one of the greatest composers to ever live, and we are honored to share Bach’s legacy through this special program,” said Chang. “We will also look to the future of classical music through an experimental lens. The concert will include a piece generated by AI, inspired by Bach's chorale 668, with the purpose of asking what it can tell us about Bach, and to ask critical questions about the limits and possibilities of AI models.”
Hemenway Strings: Music of the Past, Present, and Future will take place at Seully Hall, located at 8 Fenway, floor 4 in Boston, Massachusetts, at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 28. Admission is free.