SEASON OPENING CONCERT
Sunday, October 1 at 4 p.m.
Christ Lutheran Church, 701 S. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
This concert was part of Bach in Baltimore’s 2017-2018 Season. View the full season in our Archives.
FULL PROGRAM:
Bach’s Cantata 16: Herr Gott, dich loben wir
Handel’s Concerto Grosso, Op. 3, No. 4 in F major
FEATURED SOLOISTS:
Jeffrey Fahnestock, tenor
Christopher Edwards, bass
Bach in Baltimore opens its 2017-2018 season with Bach’s 1726 New Year’s composition, Herr Gott, dich loben wir (Lord God, we praise you). This triumphant work set to the poetry of Georg Christian Lehms is a hallmark for both sacred and secular celebrations. Tenor Jeffrey Fahnestock, praised as “an outstanding singer with a very well-produced leading tenor voice (Süddeutscher Zeitung, München), will be featured. Professor Fahnestock is on faculties at Gettysburg College and Susquehanna University.
Admission: Pay What You Can
This concert is part of Free Fall Baltimore. Free Fall Baltimore is made possible by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts, an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and the generous contributions of BGE, American Trading & Production Corporation (Atapco), and The Henry and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Foundation.
Jeffrey Fahnestock, tenor
Tenor Jeffrey Fahnestock has performed a wide range of repertoire across the United States, Great Britain, Germany, and Japan. He sings a variety of oratorio literature for lyric tenor, including Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Haydn’s Creation, Dvorak’s Stabat Mater, Britten’s Saint Nicolas, Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers, and J.S.Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Johannespassion, Matthäuspassion, and the cantatas. Fahnestock has appeared as a soloist with the Washington Bach Consort, Tulsa Oratorio Chorus, Baltimore Choral Arts Society, the Folger Consort, Rochester Bach Festival, and Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, among many others. As an operatic soloist, Mr. Fahnestock has performed works by Mozart, Britten, Ravel, Cavalli, Bononcini, Donizetti, Verdi, and Massenet in Baltimore, Harrisburg, Rochester, Washington, and at the Aspen Music Festival.
Mr. Fahnestock is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and The Peabody Institute. He was awarded Fellowships for the study of art song and opera at the Tanglewood Music Center, Ravinia Festival’s Steans Institute, and Kent/Blossom Music Festival. In addition, Fahnestock studied for two summers at the Aspen Music School and Festival.
Currently on the faculties at Susquehanna University and Gettysburg College, Mr. Fahnestock teaches applied voice, vocal literature and lyric diction. He is also the co-director of Susquehanna University’s GO-Japan (Global Opportunities) Program, a chamber music residency at Niigata University and travel to Sado Island and Tokyo. Fahnestock taught previously at Dickinson College and Bryn Mawr Conservatory. He has recorded for Albany and Guild, and been a featured soloist on radio and television broadcasts in the United States.
Christopher Edwards, bass
Christopher Edwards is a recent graduate of the Peabody Institute, where he performed the title roles in Le nozze di Figaro and Papageno! In 2016, Mr. Edwards performed Leporello as an apprentice artist at Opera NEO, which he delivered with “unusual sophistication” and a “warm, supple” voice (San Diego Story). He is a winner of the 2016 Biennial Bach Vocal Competition hosted by the Bach Choir of Bethlehem. His previous performances include Guglielmo in Così fan tutte with the Charleston Symphony as part of a special collaboration between the CSO and Peabody. A native of California, he earned his bachelor’s from UC Santa Barbara with honors. Mr. Edwards is also an alumnus of the Songfest Young Artist Program.