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Can't make it to Leipzig June 2024? Join us for our San Diego Bachfest debut preview. In his second year as Thomaskantor, J.S. Bach composed a new cantata for every Sunday; a total of 52 works! Join us for three of them written for Advent and Christmas 1724.

EPSG:4326

Bound for Bachfest

St. James by-the-Sea Episcopal Church

All Souls' Episcopal Church

Handel's beloved oratorio Messiah, with performances both in English and Spanish featuring BCSD's commissioned Spanish libretto by Mario Montenegro, and delivered with BCSD's customary virtuosity and vibrancy. The final performance on December 12 at Centro Cultural Tijuana will form part of a joint celebration marking the bicentennial of diplomatic relations between the United States and Mexico.

Messiah Vis À Vis El Mesías

Tijuana Cultural Center

Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church

**Fallen Angels: A Baroque Exploration of the Paranormal**

Join Ars Lyrica Houston for an enchanting evening of Baroque music that delves into the mystical and paranormal, titled "Fallen Angels." This captivating concert took place on Friday, September 22, 2023, at 7:30 PM in the exquisite Zilkha Hall at The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts.

"Fallen Angels" showcased an otherworldly program that spanned the harrowing "Judgement of Solomon" by Giacomo Carissimi to the spirited masques from Henry Purcell’s "Fairy Queen." The performance featured a stellar lineup of five extraordinary singers accompanied by a colorful Baroque orchestra, complete with period strings and winds, setting the stage for a season devoted to the magical aspects of music.

The concert highlighted the talents of Nola Richardson and Eliza Masewicz, sopranos; Jay Carter, countertenor; Thomas O’Neill, tenor; and Enrico Lagasca, bass-baritone, marking an Ars Lyrica debut for some. The program included a rich selection of works, such as Carissimi's "Judicium Salomonis," Alessandro Scarlatti's "Cello Sonata in C minor," and excerpts from Purcell's "The Fairy Queen," among others. The performance ran for approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes, including an intermission, with all texts projected in English surtitles for the audience's understanding.

Audience members were treated to a night of sublime artistry, with the celestial voices of the singers and the elegant performance of the orchestra creating an entrancing experience. The concert was not only a showcase of musical excellence but also an exploration of themes like love, mystery, and the supernatural, as reflected in the Baroque era's rich tapestry of sounds and stories.

For those who missed the live performance, digital replay passes are available, offering a chance to experience the magic of "Fallen Angels" from the comfort of home. This concert set the tone for Ars Lyrica Houston's 2023/24 season, promising more mesmerizing performances that explore the awe and wonder of Baroque music.

Fallen Angels

Hobby Center for the Performing Arts

J.S. Bach’s vivid musical account of Christ's passion combines a striking drama and devotion forming a pinnacle of the vocal works composed for the Leipzig churches.

Bach's St. Matthew Passion was written for the Good Friday Vespers service of 1727 at the St Thomas' Church Leipzig and brings together relevant themes of betrayal, judgement, death, and love as expressed through St. Matthew's Gospel and Bach's librettist Picander.

St. Matthew Passion

This program of soulful and moving compositions by four of the German Baroque’s most masterful composers begins with a 10-part setting of “Christ lag in Todesbanden” by Johann Pachelbel. Its seven movements unfold the deep richness of the composer’s reflections on the Easter text that Bach would later use for one of his earliest cantatas. And from the pen of one of Bach’s favorite composers, Dieterich Buxtehude, comes a bittersweet setting of the famous Eastertide chorale, “Jesu, meine Freude,” that would have been a great inspiration to Bach when he composed his own motet setting of the same verses several decades later. One of Bach’s earliest surviving cantatas, “Der Herr denket an uns” (Psalm 115: “The Lord is mindful of us”) is a joyful celebration of gratitude and blessedness that was probably composed to celebrate the wedding of the minister who had married Bach and his wife, Maria Barbara, about a year earlier. The Passion-themed orbit of this program finds its greatest resonance in a truly hypnotic and almost trance-inducing setting of the Saint Matthew Passion by Johann Theile. From its first movement to its last, Theile’s music mesmerizes the listener and grippingly captivates that attention until the final note.

Jay Carter

Countertenor

Events

Past events

3 - 4 May, 2024

Bound for Bachfest · Bach Collegium San Diego

9 - 12 Dec, 2023

Messiah Vis À Vis El Mesías · Bach Collegium San Diego

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