starting as a memorial to his father, Andrew Arceci’s Winchendon Music Competition has grown right into a neighborhood enterprise

The Murdock-Whitney Home, Winchendon Historical past & Cultural Centre

Andrew Arceci is an American viola da gamba, violone, and bass participant who studied on the Peabody Conservatory, The Juilliard Faculty, and at Oxford. His UK performances have included the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Oxford Baroque, and Brighton Early Music Competition. Andrew can also be the inventive director and founding father of the Winchendon Music Competition. 

Andrew Arceci (Photograph: Jeffrey Hornstein)

Winchendon is a small New England city with a inhabitants of round 10,000, situated roughly two hours by automotive from Boston. Andrew’s household is from the world, and although his household moved round so much when he was a toddler, Winchendon was the one fixed. Ten years in the past, Andrew’s father, a paediatric oncologist, was killed in an accident whereas using his bike and was buried in Winchendon. Andrew organised a memorial weekend of live shows, together with one that includes his mom’s cousin, a jazz musician. There was ample curiosity for them to repeat the weekend the next yr. Since then, the pageant has developed and is now celebrating its tenth anniversary.

The live shows are very a lot a neighborhood enterprise; they’re free to the neighborhood and depend on help. Andrew feedback that every yr, they need to show themselves to draw help for the subsequent season. Audiences come not solely from Winchendon but additionally from the encircling areas, together with Worcester. As Andrew works as an expert musician, he tries to coordinate with colleagues and pull them to Winchendon, and performers benefit from the intimate nature of the pageant’s live shows. Coordinating schedules could be difficult, however he finds it thrilling when issues pull collectively. 

Andrew encourages performers to debate each the items they’re performing and their travels, sharing details about themselves and their devices. He feels that the communal side of the pageant’s efficiency wouldn’t work in an enormous metropolis. In Winchendon, the venues are all intimate, so it’s straightforward for performers to talk to the viewers.

Through the years, they’ve reached most of the individuals within the space fascinated with classical music and jazz, and these programmes do effectively. Additionally they embody World Music programmes, and Andrew feels that this selection provides individuals an opportunity to discover completely different genres. World Music provides them an opportunity to current different languages, different approaches to music making which are usually not out there in small cities. 

The Arpeggione Ensemble on the Murdock-Whitney Home at Winchendon Music Competition 2025

After I chatted to Andrew, they’d simply introduced three live shows throughout June 2025, Beethoven’s Septet on interval devices, together with Andrew himself, the jazz vocalist John Arcaro and his quintet, and a cello and piano duo performing Spanish and Latin American music from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. 

In October, they’re presenting additional live shows. One is a double invoice that includes singer songwriter Chris Moyse, and the people collective Floyds Row [as part of a New England tour]. And one other pageant date in October options the Worcester Jazz Orchestra, a 17-piece massive band taking part in music by Glen Miller, Buddy Wealthy and others.

Floyds Row options a mixture of Early Music, Classical, people and Blue Grass performed by a mixture of performers, together with Andrew, all fascinated with previous tunes which are usually nonetheless round as we speak. The ensemble originated when Andrew was in Oxford (UK) in 2012, and their first collaborations led to their debut recording The Oxford Classes (2018). The group additional developed after Andrew moved again to the USA, and the ensemble continues to tour with a line-up that varies in response to every challenge’s repertoire. 

Additional forward, the pageant has a joint challenge with the Worcester Refrain, director Chris Sheppard. The refrain has a grant which is enabling them to programme Bach’s music over ten years, and they’re partnering with numerous organisations, together with the Handel & Haydn Society in Boston. They are going to be bringing the choir to Winchendon in January 2026, performing three cantatas from the Christmas Oratorio with interval instrument Winchendon Gamers, and taking the efficiency to Worcester as effectively. Such initiatives are thrilling, however a problem to coordinate prematurely.

The pageant doesn’t at present have an internet site, although that is at present on the checklist. They rely very a lot on their mailing checklist, press protection and social media, however phrase of mouth continues to be very helpful. Andrew admits that the pageant advanced a sure manner; there was no plan. They’ve managed to carry on for ten years, and Andrew is happy that it’s profitable.