FALL BACH CONCERT
Sunday, November 4 at 4 p.m.
Christ Lutheran Church, 701 S. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
This concert was part of Bach in Baltimore’s 2018-2019 Season. View the full season in our Archives.
FULL PROGRAM:
Missa Brevis (Lutheran Mass) in A major
Brandenburg Concerto No. 4
FEATURED SOLOISTS:
Kate Vetter Cain, Soprano
Jennifer Mayer, Alto
David Dimmock, Bass *
Sara Nichols, Flute
Anita Thesen, Flute
Ronald Mutchnik, Violin
STUDENT EXCHANGE CHOIR
Glenelg Upper School Choir, Donna Peeler, director
* The bass soloist for this concert is endowed in perpetuity in honor of Dr. Phillip Sticha
Learn more about our Permanent Endowment Fund HERE
Bach in Baltimore’s Fall Bach Concert will wake you up as you adjust to the annual “Day Light Savings” time tradition. Bach’s Missa Brevis in A major is a resounding Lutheran Mass with a full choir plus flutes, strings, and basso continuo. It was one of a very few of Bach’s compositions for voices and orchestra to appear in print prior the Bach-Gesellschaft complete edition in the second half of the 19th century. We conclude the program with the spectacular Brandenburg Concerto No. 4. The six Brandenburg Concertos are considered the finest compositions of the Baroque era, and the fourth Concerto for violin, two flutes, strings, and continuo is especially unique, as all instruments are used in all movements.
Admission: $25 Advance/ $27 Door
$5 parking with validation in Arrow Garage on Lee Street
Soprano Kate Vetter Cain’s “sweetness of timbre and vocal power” (The Washington Post) has allowed her to collaborate with some of our region’s most renowned ensembles. She is pleased to return for her third season as a soloist with Bach in Baltimore. She has sung a soloist and ensemble member for many seasons with the Washington Bach Consort, and has especially enjoyed both soprano solo parts in the Mass in B-minor and many cantata solos with the late and much beloved J. Reilly Lewis. Kate has also been a soloist for Leonard Slatkin with the National Chamber Players in Mahler’s 4th Symphony, for Kenneth Slowik in BWV 51 “Jauchzet Gott,” and also with the Cathedral Choral Society, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra with conductor Marin Alsop, Folger Consort, Chantry, Cathedra, Washington Concert Opera with conductor Antony Walker, Orchestra of St. Luke’s with conductor Will Crutchfield, Washington Ballet, DC’s In Series, Ash-Lawn Highland Festival, Caramoor Festival Opera, Tanglewood Music Center, and Off-Broadway with The New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players. Kate earned a B.A. in History from Yale University, as well as a Master in Voice from Manhattan School of Music and a DMA from the University of Maryland, and served for ten years as music teacher at a bilingual DC public charter school. Kate currently maintains a private voice studio in Washington, DC. Violinist Ronald Mutchnik graduated from the University of Maryland Baltimore County summa cum laude, where he studied with Robert Gerle. While there, he won the Baltimore Music Club and Baltimore Musicians’ competitions. He earned his Master’s degree from the New England Conservatory, studying with Joseph Gingold and continued post-graduate studies at Tel Aviv University in Israel. with Yair Kless. He is active as an orchestral violinist, chamber musician, recitalist, and soloist and has served as Concertmaster of the Columbia Pro Cantare for over 30 years and with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra for 36 years. He has performed as soloist with numerous orchestras in Maryland, including the Columbia Orchestra and the Frederick Symphony and appeared in the film Washington Square, performing his own composition, and in concerts with Smokey Robinson, Dionne Warwick, and was the concertmaster at Pat Sajack’s wedding in Annapolis. As a chamber musician he has appeared on many local series including Music in the Great Hall and An Die Musik. As a teacher he has taught privately in Howard County for 40 years and taught at Towson University. He was a past president of the American String Teachers associations MD/DC Chapter, produced a music education video, “Posture and Balance: The Dynamic Duo” toured Korea coaching and performing chamber music, and is a founder of and performer with the Sundays At Three” Chamber Music Series and the founder and music director of the HCCO, the professional chamber orchestra of Howard County, Maryland. He is the 2009 winner of the MD/DC Chapter of ASTA’s String Teacher of the Year award and the Outstanding Artist Award, the “Howie” for Howard County, Maryland. Recent performances with the Bach In Baltimore Orchestra have included the Bach Double Violin Concerto with Tamara Seymour and the Violin & Oboe Concerto with Sandra Lisicky. “Bach in Baltimore is a perfect organization to feature the music of what is arguably history’s most important composer. Without Bach, there is no Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms or so many other wonderful composers who studied and played his music and benefited immeasurably from this great master’s unique ability to communicate humanity’s deepest and most personal thoughts into sound. Bach was able to create music that unfolds logically and that creates interest in every voice in the musical texture, but at the same time, is suffused with emotion and humility in his honest and sincere search to express the perfection of the Divine. Few can equal this level of inspiration, and none have surpassed it.” Ronald Mutchnik, Violin In 2016, Ms. Mayer began studying with Dr. Steven Rainbolt and Dr. Robert Muckenfuss at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, where she earned her Master of Music degree in both in Vocal Performance and Vocal Pedagogy. Jennifer also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Communication Studies from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. During her time at Peabody, Jennifer received the Outstanding Student Devoted to Peabody and the Community Award, as well as the Metropolitan Opera National Council Encouragement Award. Bass-Baritone David Dimmock is a graduate of Oberlin College. He has performed extensively the works of J. S. Bach, including the St. John and St. Matthew Passions, Magnificat, Easter Oratorio, Christmas Oratorio and over 30 of Bach’s cantatas. Local solo concert appearances have included the Handel Choir of Baltimore, the Harford Choral Society, and the Bach Concert Series. Additionally, he has appeared as soloist in San Francisco, New York, and Washington D.C. He is featured as soloist on three CD’s of the Handel Choir of Baltimore, and has performed in over 75 operas with the Baltimore Opera Company, Baltimore Concert Opera and Washington Concert Opera. Now retired from a career as project manager at Northrop Grumman, David enjoys playing saxophone, flute and clarinet in local jazz big bands and in community theater pit orchestras. Anita Thesen, flute, received her Masters and Doctoral degrees from the Peabody Conservatory, where she was awarded the Britten Johnson Memorial Flute Prize. An active musician in the Baltimore area, she performed on flute and piccolo with the Concert Artists of Baltimore for over twenty years. She has also performed with many other ensembles including the Baltimore Symphony, Baltimore Opera Orchestra, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Baltimore Choral Arts Society, Maryland Symphony, Mid-Atlantic Symphony, Lancaster Symphony, the Chesapeake Orchestra, the Bach Concert Series and the Moscow Ballet. She won first place in the National Flute Association Orchestral Competition, and was a top prize winner in the Flute Society of Washington Young Artist Competition. Dr. Thesen teaches flute and music history full-time at Morgan State University; she also teaches flute and chamber music through the Peabody Preparatory.Kate Vetter Cain, soprano
Sara Nichols, flute
Sara Nichols enjoys a diverse career as an educator, soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral flutist. She performed as Principal Flute of the Baltimore Opera for twenty two seasons. She has also appeared as a soloist and orchestra musician for numerous ensembles including the National Gallery Orchestra, Wolf Trap Orchestra, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Baltimore Choral Arts Society, Bach Society of Baltimore, Concert Artists of Baltimore, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Pro Musica Rara, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and the New York Opera Society. She has performed with national touring shows and productions at the Hippodrome, Lyric, and Morris Mechanic Theaters in Baltimore, Merriweather Post Pavilion, and the National Theater in Washington, D.C. She is on the faculties of Towson University and the Baltimore School for the Arts. Many of Ms. Nichols’ high school students were awarded music scholarships at prestigious universities and conservatories, and are now prominent music educators–including public and private schools, private studios, and universities— arts administrators, and professional musicians across the country. Numerous additional students also excelled in subjects outside of the music industry, and now hold a multitude of highly successful careers while continuing to play their flutes in a wide array of settings. Every single student has been a source of immense pride on this journey! Ms. Nichols has been published in Flute Talk Magazine; hosted Flute Spa master classes for esteemed flute pedagogue and award winning author, Patricia George; and is Director of the Baltimore Flute Choir, a dedicated group of avid adult enthusiasts who enjoy an active performance schedule in the Baltimore-Washington region.Ronald Mutchnik, violin
Jennifer Ann Mayer, mezzo soprano
Mezzo soprano Jennifer Mayer is an emerging artist based in San Diego, California and is known for her rich vocal timbre and unique theatrical flair. Recent roles include Ragonde in Rossini’s Le Comte Ory, Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro,Dorothée in Cendrillon, and both Mago and Eustazio in Rinaldo. She also enjoyed exploring many partial roles, including Gertrude Stein (27), the Secretary (The Consul), Presendia (Dark Sisters), and the Third Lady (Die Zauberflöte), among others. In February 2018, Jennifer premiered the role of Edka in Jake Heggie’s chamber opera Out of Darkness: Two Remain, under the direction of Eileen Cornett, Garnett Bruce, and Mr. Jake Heggie himself.David Dimmock, Bass-Baritone
Anita Thesen, flute
