Bach Sommerfest 2010 and Bach Vespers will present three performances
and accompanying lectures at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 3 West 65th
Street in Manhattan on the following dates:
Friday, July 23 – 7:00 pm - Organ Concert: Preludes on Lutheran Chorales, preceded by a 5:30 p.m. pre-performance talk in the organ loft with Prof. Mark Bighley on the History of the Lutheran Chorale.
Saturday, July 24 - 7:00 pm – Bach Vespers, featuring Cantata 140, Wachet auf, preceded at 5:30 pm with a pre-Vespers talk by renowned Bach scholar Prof. Michael Marissen on the Cantata 140.
Sunday, July 25 - 11:00 am - Holy Eucharist, featuring Cantata 1, Wie
schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, with a 9:30 am pre-Service talk with
Prof. Marissen on Cantata 1.
The theme for Sommerfest 2010 is The King and Queen of Chorales, a
mid-summer celebration of one of the most important features of Bach’s
music—the use of the chorale in his cantatas and related works.
Performers will be the Bach Choir and Players of Holy Trinity. Vocal
soloists will be soprano Jennifer Bates, alto Jason Abrams, tenor Tony
Boutté and bass Joe Damon Chapel.
Suggested donation for the July 23 organ concert is $10 at the door. A
free-will offering will be collected during the July 24 and 25 cantata
services. For more information, call 212-877-6815 or visit
www.bachvespersnyc.org. Informal dress for Summer weather is welcome.
The Bach Choir is one of very few professional choirs in residence in a
Lutheran Church in the United States. With a distinguished 42-year
history, the choir has maintained excellence amidst the constant changes
inherent in a church setting. The Bach Choir may be heard in two CD
releases, Joining Hearts and Voices and Bach for All Seasons, both
produced with Augsburg Fortress, and each nominated for a Grammy.
The Bach Players constitute one of New York's finest early music
instrumental ensembles. In 1994 Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity implemented
the performance of Bach on historic instruments (modeled on those known
to Bach in the Baroque period) thus creating a unique and accurate
staging of Bach’s cantatas and other sacred works. Peter Kupfer was
formally named concertmaster in 2000. Individually, the renowned
ensemble members are in great demand and perform throughout the United
States and beyond.
Michael Marissen, Professor of Music at Swarthmore College in
Pennsylvania, is the author of The Social and Religious Designs of J. S.
Bach's Brandenburg Concertos (Princeton); Lutheranism, Anti-Judaism, and
Bach's St. John Passion (Oxford); and essays on "Bach and anti-Judaism"
in the Harvard Theological Review, Lutheran Quarterly, and the New York
Times. His recent article, "Rejoicing against Judaism in Handel's
Messiah," was published in the Journal of Musicology, and Oxford
University Press has published his latest book, Bach's Oratorios - The
Parallel German-English Texts, with Annotations.
For photos, press inquiries or more information about Bach Sommerfest
2010, contact Jeffrey James Arts Consulting at 516-586-3433 or
[email protected].
July 1, 2010
Jeffrey James Arts Consulting
