WORLD PREMIERE OPERA
And did the world with devils swarm…
Sunday, November 5 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:
Thoms’s And did the world with devils swarm, all gaping to devour us…
Bach’s Cello Suite in G, Prelude
Bach’s Concerto for Oboe and Violin, Adagio
Bach’s Chorale Prelude: Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland
Thoms’ Rondo 2 for horn and marimba
FEATURED SOLOISTS:
Sarah Bleasdale, soprano
Jason Thoms, bass
Bach in Baltimore is pleased to present the World Premiere production of Maryland composer Hollis Thoms’ new one-act opera that commemorates the 500th anniversary of the nailing of the 95 theses by Martin Luther. Sung in English, this work quotes several of the most famous Luther hymns. The title of the work references Luther’s preoccupation with the forces of evil in the world (same text is found in “A Mighty Fortress.”) Jason Thoms will perform the role of Luther and Sarah Bleasdale as Katie. Playing in the chamber ensemble is Sonja (Thoms) Winkler, oboe and Jonas Thoms, horn. The world premiere is underwritten by The Christopher Foundation. The evening will conclude with several Bach pieces and Hollis Thoms’s Rondo 2 for horn and marimba.
Regular Admission: $20 in advance, $22 at the door
Hollis Thoms, composer
Composer Hollis Thoms has spent his professional career as a teacher of music and English, a school administrator, and an active composer. He has had over 40 articles published in educational journals and written about 170 compositions for a variety of ensembles: operas, oratorios, symphonies, chamber works, sacred and secular vocal and choral works.
Mr. Thoms received a BA from Concordia University-Chicago, MM in composition from Northwestern, finished the course work for the PhD in composition from the Eastman School of Music, has an EdS in educational administration from the University of Toledo, and an MALA from St. John’s College, Annapolis. He has been the recipient of a number of fellowships: Joseph Klingenstein Fellowship to Columbia University Teachers College, an Alden B. Dow Creativity Fellowship, and a Fulbright Teacher Exchange to Scotland. In addition, he was selected to participate in the summer seminar for principals at Harvard University Graduate School of Education. His major compositions are in special collections at the Maryland State Archives, Folger Shakespeare Library, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford, England and the Church Music Center-Concordia University-Chicago.
The Bach Concert Series has previously premiered four of Mr. Thoms’ works: Passion, based on the Gospel of Nicodemus, the Gospel of John and other religious poetry, on March 27, 2011; Isaac, based on the Abraham and Isaac Story, on October 7, 2012; for the 500th anniversary of the nailing of the 95 theses, a Luther opera, “And did the world with devils swarm,” on November 4 and 5, 2017; and Adam and Eve, based on John Milton’s Paradise Lost, on November 3, 2019. In 2018, a book entitled Memoirs: Through Music and Texts was published, which describes Mr. Thoms’ compositional journey.
Read Susan Brall’s interview with Hollis Thoms in the Maryland Theatre Guide.
Learn more at hollisthoms.com.
Jason Thoms, bass
Dr. Jason Thoms is the Director of Choral Activities at Bismarck State College in Bismarck, North Dakota. He is also the Founder and Artistic Director of the Dakota Pro Musica and host of Dakota Sings a radio show on North Dakota choirs, composers, and choral music. Dr. Thoms is a professional bass soloist and chorister and has sung with many of the top choral ensembles in the US usually as an octavist in Russian Orthodox music. Recently, Dr. Thoms sang as a professional chorister for three commercial recording projects of Orthodox music in Boston, MA; Wilkes Barre, PA; and Belgrade, Serbia. Dr. Thoms has been a soloist for Bach in Baltimore concerts for over a decade.
Jonas Thoms, horn
Jonas Thoms is the Assistant Professor of Horn at West Virginia University. He has served on the applied faculty at the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music, Wright State University, the University of Evansville, and the MasterWorks Festival. He has presented and performed at numerous International Horn Symposia, regional workshops, and universities throughout the United States and has been published in The Horn Call. In 2021, he hosted the virtual Northeast Horn Workshop.
Thoms has held positions in numerous regional orchestras and performed as a substitute or extra player with the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Albany Symphony Orchestra, Artosphere Festival Orchestra, Atlantic Classical Orchestra, Cincinnati Ballet Orchestra, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Concert:Nova, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, the Huang He Symphony Orchestra of Zhengzhou, China, Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra/Symphony Syracuse, Toledo Symphony Orchestra, and West Virginia Symphony Orchestra.
Thoms is a graduate from the Eastman School of Music (B.M.) and the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music (M.M), where he served as the graduate assistant to the horn studio of Randy Gardner. His primary teachers include W. Peter Kurau, Randy Gardner, Elizabeth Freimuth, Kristy Morrell, Tom Sherwood, and Roger Kaza. He currently serves as the West Virginia Representative of the International Horn Society.
Sarah Bleasdale, soprano
Sarah Marvel Bleasdale is a regular performer with Utopia Opera in New York City, where she recently appeared in Sondheim’s Assassins as Sarah Jane Moore, and the Opera at Bard Summerscape, where she has sung in productions as diverse as Schreker’s Der Ferne Klang, Taneyev’s Oresteia, and Ethel Smyth’s The Wreckers. She is pleased to be working with Hollis Thoms again. She previously appeared in the premiere of his opera Conversations. Recordings include the Israel Philharmonic’s Sacred Service by Bloch which was recorded live in Jerusalem in 2008; Trinity Choir’s recording of Handel’s Messiah for the Naxos label; and the soundtrack of the film Halo: The Fall of Reach. A graduate of Yale University and the School of Music of the University of Arizona, she apprenticed with the Sarasota Opera and played Madame Giry in the German company of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera.