7 Best Performing Arts in Boston, Massachusetts

With an aim to "inspire change, build community, and celebrate difference," the Boston Gay Men's Chorus has a repertoire that ranges from holiday favorites to show tunes to chamber selections to pop hits. With more than 300 members, the group performs at the New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall.

The charismatic Benjamin Zander—whose signature preconcert chats help audiences better understand the blockbuster symphonies they're about to hear—heads up the Boston Philharmonic. Performances at Harvard's Sanders Theatre, the New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall, Symphony Hall, and a variety of other locales often encompass symphonies by Beethoven, Mahler, Shostakovich, and Brahms, plus lots of concertos.

Under the agile baton of Keith Lockhart, Boston Pops (largely Boston Symphony musicians) perform a bracing blend of American standards, movie themes, and contemporary vocal numbers (with top-tier guests) during May and June at Symphony Hall, plus 40 festive holiday-season concerts. Outdoor concerts on July 3 and 4 at the Hatch Memorial Shell are followed by concerts at the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home, Tanglewood, in Lenox, Massachusetts, in July and August. The free outdoor concerts are packed; be sure to arrive early with blankets, folding chairs, and a picnic.

Founded in 1881, the Boston Symphony is one of America's oldest and most venerable orchestras, with dynamic Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons at the helm. Its home season at Symphony Hall runs from September through April. In July and August the music migrates to Tanglewood, the orchestra's bucolic summer home in the Berkshire Mountains in Lenox, Massachusetts. Including tours to Carnegie Hall and China, and the Boston Pops concerts, the BSO performs more than 250 concerts annually.

This group has presented early-music performances since 1980 and deserves much credit for early music's prominence in Boston's musical scene.

Acclaimed for performances of baroque and classical music, the Handel & Haydn Society is one of the country's oldest performing arts organizations in America. The annual performances of Handel's Messiah have been a holiday favorite since 1854, and all concerts feature antique or replica instruments so the music is performed as it was the day it was written. Performances are held at Symphony Hall and other Boston venues.

One of the few self-governing ensembles playing today, Pro Arte performs under the batons of Kevin Rhodes, Gisèle Ben-Dor, and additional colleagues. It presents adventurous programs of classical and modern works at Sanders Theatre, All Saints Brookline, or First Church in Cambridge.