Omaha Symphony expands its cathedral performances

Two Omaha Symphony concerts last year at St. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha were so popular that the series will return – this time with more performances.

The 2025 concerts, one in September and one in December, sold out. So this year, two programs will be offered, but with two performances of each, the Omaha Symphony has announced.

“Symphony Cathedral Baroque: Handel’s Water Music” will be performed Saturday, Oct. 10, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 11, at 4 p.m. and will include contributions from Dr. Michael J. Emmerich, archdiocese director of the Office of Worship, and Dr. Marie Rubis Bauer, former archdiocese director of music.

“A Festival of Christmas Brass” will be presented on Thursday, Dec. 17, at 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday, Dec. 20, at 4 p.m.

The October program – led by Omaha Symphony Concertmaster Susanna Perry Gilmore – will feature musical selections of George Frideric Handel from all three Water Music suites, with arias from “Agrippina,” “Jeptha” and “Messiah,” performed by baritone Edward Vogel.

Rubis Bauer will perform an organ concerto by Handel on a smaller organ at the cathedral, a continuo organ built by Bennet-Giuttarri.

“Bringing Omaha’s treasured baroque musicians together within the elegant architecture and sumptuous acoustics of the Cathedral will bring these classic works to life in a new way, much like Handel would have heard and directed them himself!” Marie Rubis Bauer said.

Tickets for “Symphony Cathedral Baroque: Handel’s Water Music” are $35, including fees, and can be purchased at https://www.omahasymphony.org/