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Rochester Oratorio Society

@rocatorio

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ROS is a leading choral ensemble with the mission to engage and educate our community through professional singing. Visit our website to join!

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We’re bringing back our one-of-a-kind high school poetry contest for 2027. Open now until December 1, any teen (age 13-18) is welcome to send us a poem on theme of ENOUGH. The winning poet will get $100, an offer to read their poem at the 2027 Flower City Poetry Fest, and their song will be adapted for a choral ensemble and performed on stage.

Learn more about the contest on our website!

Thanks to @rocatorio and @highlandparkconservancy for partnering with us again for the 2027 Flower City Poetry Festival!

#rochesterny #rochester #teenpoet #youngpoets #studentpoet

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Come and see the wonderful Manor Singers this weekend at the Finger Lakes Choral Festival @hochsteinschool on Sunday, July 26th at 4pm for a free concert featuring Hanson’s New Land, New Covenant with @rocatorio . The Rochester Oratorio Society is one of the premier choral ensembles that has breathed life and incredible music into the Rochester community for over 80 years! Led by Maestro Eric Townell, this is going to be a beautiful collaboration. Did I mention it’s my favorite price?!?! FREE!!!!🆓 #musiceducation #chorus #choir #kidsmakemusic #hflmusic

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It’s been one month since we held our third annual celebration of poetry and music in Highland Park Bowl. What was your favorite moment from the Flower City Poetry Fest??

Writers & Books wants to thank the 500+ attendees who joined us over three nights, as well as the many performers, organizers, and supporters who made this possible!

@nyscouncilonthearts
The Flower City Poetry Fest is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

@ariesjthepoet @naninearbliss @lalaskald @sfreligh @amandaekeofficial @emanuelxavier @rocatorio @bluespoet @leosimonovis @kimiko.hahn @amackdavis

Thanks to our sponsors
@wow_werks_ Daisy Marquis Jones, Mary S Mulligan Trust, @gvcarts @courtyard_rochester_downtown

And of course a big hug to @highlandparkconservancy and @thirdchurchroc for providing beautiful venues

We will see you next June at the park!

#rochesterny #rochester #highlandpark #rochesterpoets #rochesterwriters

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Back in May I had the pleasure of singing at the lovely Hochstein Performance Hall alongside some fabulous colleagues in the finals of the @rocatorio Emerging Artist Competition! I was thrilled to be awarded first prize and it was a pleasure to be welcomed so warmly by a very generous audience 💛

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In collaboration with Rochester Oratorio Society’s 2026 Arts Connexions Festival I will be putting on a Harlem Renaissance themed solo recital accompanied by Kevin Nitsch! As we celebrate Juneteenth and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, I think it’s very important that we amplify the Black voices of America. And what better way to do that then through the land of jazz music! I hope to see you there on Thursday, June 25th @ 7pm @ the Rochester Academy of Medicine!!

#jazz #rochesternewyork #harlemrennaissance #artsconnexions #blackwomeninopera

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I had such an amazing time performing with @rocatorio and collaborating with @rocphils on Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. Oh Fortuna!!!! #vocalist #ensemble #choir #carminaburana #classicalmusic

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June 13 at Writers & Books! @amandaekeofficial and her intergenerational workshop, “The Poet Speaks” comes through #rochester after having been held in countries all around the world and featured in its own documentary tv series. Learn how to tell your own story, and how Igbo oral storytelling is at the root of what is called “spoken word poetry” today.

We are thrilled to have Amanda here for a few days. She will be reading at the FLOWER CITY POETRY FESTIVAL this Thursday (6/11) alongside @emanuelxavier, a cello and voice duo of @estherrogersbaker and Tyler Cassidy-Heacock, and an adaptation of poetry to song debuting in a performance by the @rocatorio

Join us! And remember: if there’s rain we will announce a move to the @thirdchurchroc

Special thanks to @nyscouncilonthearts for supporting our festival! Flyer for the poet speaks workshop showing Amanda eke

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Rochester's own @sfreligh has seen her viral poem "Wondrous" reach audiences all around (and outside of) the world. In 2024, the Odysseus Space Craft landed on the moon carrying a time capsule containing many works of art, including Freligh's poem.

Read more about this wondrous mix of art and science in the Democrat & Chronicle.

If you were to place a poem in a time capsule to be stored in space, what would you choose? Tell us in the comments, and don't miss Sarah Freligh's performance on the opening night of the Flower City Poetry Festival!

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The Resonanz Ensemble of the Rochester Oratorio Society (@rocatorio) will be performing at the Webster Public Library on Saturday, May 9 from 1:00 - 3:00 pm. The Resonanz Ensemble will look back on Rochester's and our region's Golden Era, the 1920s and 30s. Soprano and Rochester native, X'Zaya Ivy, explores this era through "Harlem Renaissance Revisited," a narrative program of solo vocal and choral music made famous by Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and others. Enjoy this free concert at the library! Please register through the link in our bio. #websterny #freeconcert #choralmusic #vocalperformance #concertatthelibrary

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Mark your calendar for two June events taking place at Highland Bowl:

🎤 Flower City Poetry Fest
Jun 10–12 · 6–8:30 p.m.

A three-night, open-air celebration of poetry and music presented by Writers & Books and Highland Park Conservancy. Headlined by Cornelius Eady and Kimiko Hahn, the festival brings together nationally recognized writers, regional voices, and local musicians in a relaxed amphitheater setting. Pay-what-you-can tickets; bring a blanket or lawn chair and stay after to meet the poets.

🎺 Jazz in the Bowl
Tue, Jun 16

A free summer concert featuring the Excursion Jazz Orchestra, led by Don Sherman, followed by the Mid-Century Modern Jazz Quartet. Bring a chair, settle in, and enjoy an easy evening of live jazz—plus complimentary popcorn and wine sampling from Inspire Moore Winery.

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Poetry month may be ending, but we’re just gearing up for the FLOWER CITY POETRY FESTIVAL, on June 10, 11, and 12.

Join us for three open-air evenings of live music and poetry from some of the best artists in Rochester, NYC, and across NY State. Our line-up includes Flower City’s own @bluespoet, NY State Poet Laureate @kimiko.hahn, queer icon and activist @emanuelxavier, international spoken word advocate @amandaekeofficial and local favorites @lalaskald @sfreligh @ariesjthepoet @leosimonovis. Hear music by Dead Metaphor society (@curtnehring @naninearbliss) TYES (@estherrogersbaker and Tyler Cassidy Heacock) and Adrienne Mack Davis!

We will celebrate our teen poetry contest winners with readings and a special debut performance by @rocatorio on Thursday, June 11.

The Highland Park Bowl is located off of South Ave in the beautiful Highland Park. The venue is accessible and fully ASL interpreted.

More info at wab.org (click through in our bio!)

Audio in this reel was recorded at the 2025 festival, part of the poem “Why I Will Strike If Called” by @kellajaja #mayday

Special thanks to @highlandparkconservancy

Shout out to our sponsors
@nyscouncilonthearts @gvcarts @wowwerks @courtyard_rochester_downtown Mary Mulligan Trust, and Daisy Marquis Jones

#rochesterny #poetrycommunity #highlandpark #corneliuseady

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Congratulations to @bluespoet on his forthcoming collection PROOF (@tupelopress), which centers around the poem he read on Jan 1, 2026 at the inauguration of NYC Mayor @zohrankmamdani . 👏

We're lucky to have Rochester's own Cornelius Eady joining us for the final night of our third annual poetry festival in the Highland Park Bowl (now called the FLOWER CITY POETRY FEST) alongside NY State Poet laureate, @kimiko.hahn, @leosimonovis, and @amd_inthespottobe .

Join us June 10-12 for three evenings of live poetry and music. We're proud to be partnering with @highlandparkconservancy and @rocatorio to make this another festival to remember!

In 2024, when we first launched this festival, Eady joined us for a reading and a musical performance. We're thrilled to have him back on the Highland Park Bowl stage! Photo of Cornelius Eady

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