About 200 singers, instrumentalists and dancers will perform Karl Jenkins' complete nine-movement “Adiemus: Songs of Sanctuary” when the Rochester Oratorio Society opens its 2026-27 season Oct. 30.
The society's event listing confirms a 7:30 p.m. Friday performance at Hochstein Performance Hall, 50 N. Plymouth Ave. in Rochester. A Sept. 28 press release called Oct. 30 a Saturday, but the organizer's listing and calendar identify the date as Friday.
The concert brings together the Rochester Oratorio Society Chorus and Orchestra, Nazareth University Percussion Ensemble, Sankofa African Dance & Drum Ensemble, Roberts Wesleyan Chorale and a children's choir from Honeoye Falls-Lima schools. The society describes it as the work's regional premiere.
Rochester Oratorio Society Artistic Director Eric Townell said the performance will have a ritual quality. Rochester Deputy Mayor Michael Burns is scheduled to make an appearance, according to the release.
Jenkins, a Welsh composer, first wrote “Adiemus” for a 1994 Delta Air Lines advertisement. He later expanded the piece into the album “Adiemus: Songs of Sanctuary.” The work uses an invented language and draws on African and Celtic musical influences, the society said.
The concert will present all nine movements, rather than the short piece heard in the original advertisement. The society's community charity partner for the performance is the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence.
Rochester Mayor Malik Evans, in a statement included with the release, described the performance as a collaboration across local arts groups. The society says its program is intended to give listeners a musical sense of sanctuary.
Advance general-admission tickets are $30; advance tickets for seniors and students are $25. General admission at the door is $35. The release also says an $80 season subscription is available through Oct. 1.
Tickets and event information are available through the society's event listing or by calling 585-473-2234.
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