Concert Series

2024-2025 PACC Concert Series

Advance Tickets: $18 adults, $12 seniors/students
Tickets at the door: $23 adults, $15 seniors/students
concertseriestix@pacc-ucc.org, 781-643-8680

Harvest Home
Sunday, November 3, 2024, 3 PM 

Shelley Otis (Celtic harp, voice) and Karen Burciaga (fiddle, voice) of the Celtic music group, Ulster Landing, will take us on an autumnal tour including energetic Irish reels and hornpipes, trance-like Breton dances, soul-stirring Scottish laments, lilting Manx waltzes, and more. Twin voices intertwine with harp and fiddle in evocative songs of harvest and fireside, and even a spooky tune or two in honor of All Hallows Eve!

Christmas Favorites
Sunday, December 8, 2024, 3 PM  

Our 34th annual PACC Christmas Concert is offered in person this year with adult singers led by Jeffrey Brody, and young singers under the direction of Andrea Hart, as well an instrumental offering and a wide range of Christmas favorites.  These include several versions of “Ave Maria,” well-known traditional carols and a chance to sing along with the choirs. While this concert is PACC’s gift to the community, we appreciate support for our pipe organ and music program with a suggested donation of $15.

An Afternoon with the Saxyderms
Saturday May 10, 2025, 3 PM  

Beginning as a saxophone quartet at Tufts University, this group has grown to become New England’s favorite all-saxophone ensemble. In addition to enchanting audiences in the Boston area and beyond, they strive to provide a fun and warm environment for their members to make new friends while playing a very wide range of music including popular, movie themes, classical, folk, and jazz. This concert will include a wide range of musical genres, bolstered by a percussion section.

About the series

In 1989, the Music Committee of the Park Avenue Congregational Church undertook the task of restoring our historic Skinner organ. At that time, a price of $60,000 was quoted for the restoration work. Restoration work proceeded slowly due to budget constraints. In 1991 our then choir director, John Cavicchia, directed a Christmas Concert with our Choir, putting the money raised towards the restoration fund. This was the start of the PACC Concert Series.

In addition to our annual Christmas concert, we have invited a number of soloists and groups, all professionals, to perform in the acoustically vibrant Sanctuary as well as more informally in the Parish Hall. Concerts have ranged from classical, to choral, to folk coffeehouses. While the initial restoration process is nearly complete, good stewardship of our beautiful instrument means we need to establish an on-going fund for future repair and maintenance so that we will never again be faced with such a large task for restoration. As a result, the Music Committee has decided to continue its mission of promoting local musicians in the PACC Concert Series, which will raise funds for additional projects in the Music program at PACC and establishing a permanent fund for the E. M. Skinner Organ Maintenance.

Our Sanctuary seats about 300 and features a handsome brick interior with exceptional acoustics – chamber music and a capella groups particularly enjoy using our Sanctuary as a performance space.  It is large enough for a good sized concert, yet intimate enough that everyone can see the performance easily.

We have some recordings of Concert Series performances for you to hear.

If you are an artist looking for a venue or looking for information about participating in our Concert Series, contact the Concert Series Committee.

Prior seasons

Be sure to explore the names of performers from some of our prior seasons, and try to see them again this year when they perform in the New England area:

Press releases for the concert series have appeared in modified form in the Arlington Advocate and on YourArlington: