BACH IN BALTIMORE ANNOUNCES ITS 2018-2019 SEASON OF FIRST SUNDAY CONCERTS

August 21, 2018

(Baltimore)—Bach in Baltimore announced today a bold line up of concerts for its 2018-2019 Season of First Sunday Concerts. This year, Bach in Baltimore, lauded for over thirty years of high-quality Baroque community performances and engaging music education, will perform 11 concerts from October 7, 2017 through June 2, 2019, across a wide-variety of gorgeous and historic sacred spaces in the Baltimore Metro Region.

The Bach in Baltimore Season of First Sunday Concerts includes beloved Baroque instrumental classics including Handel’s dazzling Concerto Grossi at the Season Opening Concert on October 7 at 4 p.m. at Christ Lutheran Church; Bach’s brilliant Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 at the Fall Bach Concert on November 4 at 4 p.m. also at Christ Lutheran Church; and Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 at the Baroque Masters Medley Concert on February 3 at 4 p.m. at First English Lutheran Church. Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos are considered the finest compositions of the Baroque era. Orchestra works will also be showcased at the Celebration of Venice Concert on June 2 at 4 p.m. at the Church of the Redeemer that will feature familiar Vivaldi works—Concerto for Strings and Four Seasons. In addition to treasured favorites by Bach and Vivaldi, Bach in Baltimore will perform two large-scale pieces by Handel in the 2018-2019 Season, including Music for the Royal Fireworks at the Winter Fireworks Concert on January 6 at 4 p.m. at Towson United Methodist Church and Water Music at the Baroque Masters Medley Concert on February 3 at 4 p.m. at First English Lutheran Church.

In Season 31, Bach in Baltimore will perform one free concert generously sponsored by Free Fall Baltimore, a program of the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts. The Free Bach-appella Concert on October 20 at 4 p.m. at Zion Lutheran Church will include a rich mix of a cappella music through the eras. Another very special concert is our Baroque Christmas Concert on December 2 at 4 p.m. at Emmanuel Episcopal Church. The festive program pairs Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Cantata 1 with Corelli’s Christmas Concerto, and concludes with Vivaldi’s exuberant Gloria. In March the Celebration of the Psalms Concert on March 3 at 4 p.m. at Church of the Redeemer promises to be an inspiring event, showcasing Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and other sacred works with the beloved Hazzan Emmanuel Perlman. The Bach in Baltimore choir will be joined by one of America’s great children’s choir–The Children’s Chorus of Carroll County—in a concert of Cherished Music of John Rutter on May 5 at 4 p.m. at First Evangelical Lutheran Church, Ellicott City.

In addition to The Children’s Chorus of Carroll County, Bach in Baltimore will highlight some of the finest youth choirs in the area as part of our Student Voice Exchange Program, including the Calvert Hall High School College Choir, Glenelg Upper School Choir, Howard High School Choir, Bella Voce from John Carroll High School, Archbishop Curley High School Choir, and the Montgomery Madrigal Choir. The Bach in Baltimore Student Voice Exchange Program has grown to become one of the largest musical education programs in Maryland, providing students with an opportunity to deepen their musical literature and language knowledge by working directly with Maestro T. Herbert Dimmock and gives students the chance to sing for a large, appreciative audience—both alongside the Bach Choir & Orchestra and alone.

Bach in Baltimore will also host three special fundraising events this season to help raise funds to continue to provide FREE outreach concerts to area retirement communities and for the Student Voice Exchange Program. The first fundraising event is on January 1. After enjoying an orchestral feast by the Bach in Baltimore orchestra, patrons are encouraged to continue the festivities with a delicious three-course meal at Germano’s Piattini. On March 21, Celebrate Bach’s Birthday with a special dinner at Gertrude’s Chesapeake Kitchen. Up to 20% of the proceeds will be given directly to Bach in Baltimore. And the annual Bachfest Silent Auction will immediately follow the March 3 concert at 6 p.m. Information about these events can be found online at BachinBaltimore.org.

Season subscriptions and individual tickets are now available for purchase for each performance at BachinBaltimore.org or by calling 410-941-9262. Individual tickets are also available at the door 30 minutes prior to a performance. Please note that Bach in Baltimore’s performance venues vary—we perform across greater Baltimore metropolitan area. Please consult the full schedule listed below for performance locations.

BACH IN BALTIMORE 2018-2019 SEASON
Our Boldest Season Yet!

Season Opening Concert
October 7 at 4 p.m.
Christ Lutheran Church, 701 S. Charles St. Baltimore

Bach’s Cantata 72: Alles nur nach Gottes Willen
Handel’s Concerto Grosso in B flat major, Op. 3, No. 2
Wir eilen mit schwachen from Cantata 78

Jessica Beebe, Soprano
Kristen Dubenion-Smith, Alto
Calvert Hall High School College Choir, Student Voice Exchange Choir

Bach in Baltimore opens its new season with three stirring Baroque favorites, showcasing its own choir and orchestra. Bach’s Cantata 72: Alles nur nach Gottes Willen (Everything according to God’s will alone) may feel familiar. The opening chorus is also transcribed into Bach’s beloved “Gloria” of his Mass in G minor, considered one of the greatest works in musical history. Handel’s Concerto Grosso in B flat major will also dazzle with oboes, bassoon, strings, and continuo. The evening will conclude with a rousing soprano and alto duet from Bach’s Cantata 78, Wir eilen mit schwachen.

Admission: $25 Advance/$27 Door

Bach-appella!
October 20 at 4 p.m.
Zion Lutheran Church, 400 E. Lexington St., Baltimore

Bach in Baltimore’s annual FREE Community Concert, generously sponsored by Free Fall Baltimore, a program of the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts features a rich mix of a cappella music from ancient through Baroque eras. Also featured will be great American choral classics including spirituals and whimsical arrangements of beloved classics.

Admission: FREE

Fall Bach Concert
November 4 at 4 p.m.
Christ Lutheran Church, 701 S. Charles St., Baltimore

Missa Brevis (Lutheran Mass) in A major
Brandenburg Concerto No. 4

Kate Vetter Cain, Soprano
Jennifer Mayer, Alto
David Dimmock, Bass
Glenelg Upper School Choir, Student Voice Exchange Choir

Bach in Baltimore’s Fall Bach Concert will wake you up as you adjust to the annual “Daylight 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 to 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

A Baroque Christmas
December 2 at 4 p.m.
Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 811 Cathedral St., Baltimore

Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Cantata 1: Jauchzet, frohlocket, auf, preiset die Tage
Corelli’s Christmas Concerto, Op. 68
Vivaldi’s Gloria

Sarah Hayashi, Soprano
Monica Reinagel, Alto
YoonSoo Shin, Tenor
Phil Collister, Bass
Howard High School Choir, Student Voice Exchange

Bring the whole family to experience Bach in Baltimore’s A Baroque Christmas, featuring three magnificent and highly celebrated works. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Cantata 1, composed in Leipzig for Christmas Day, narrates the epic story of the birth of Jesus. Here Bach is at his creative best–opening the work with great fanfares in the brass and timpani followed by a picture in music of God coming down to earth. If that doesn’t fill you with Christmas spirit, Corelli’s Christmas Concerto and Vivaldi’s exuberant Gloria certainly will. (The “Gloria” text is the song that the angels first sang to welcome the birth of Jesus.) The full Bach in Baltimore Choir will be joined by a joyous orchestra replete with oboes, trumpets, timpani, strings, and continuo to triumphantly exult in celebration of Christmas.

Admission: $40 Advance/$42 Door

A New Year’s Day Baroque Celebration
January 1 at 4 p.m.
Zion Lutheran Church, 400 E. Lexington St., Baltimore

Kim Valerio, Flute
Sandra Lisicky, Oboe
Gretchen Gettes, Cello
Bozena Brown, Harpsichord
Herbert Dimmock, Organ

Ring in 2019 with Bach in Baltimore’s annual New Year’s Day Baroque Celebration. The concert showcases the beloved first-chair instrumentalists of the Bach in Baltimore Orchestra playing their favorite Baroque works. Our New Year’s Day Baroque Celebration has become a cherished tradition, and we hope it will become yours too! Maestro Dimmock will also join in the fun as a soloist. The ensemble features violin, oboe, flute, cello, harpsichord, and organ. There is no better way to start the New Year!

After the concert, continue the festivities by attending a three-course dinner at Germano’s Piattini, located at 300 S. High St., Little Italy, Baltimore. The evening will include cabaret musical entertainment. Alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase.

Concert Only: $25 Advance/ $27 Door
Dinner Only: $85 (includes tax and gratuity)
Concert and Dinner Package (includes tax and gratuity): $100

Winter Fireworks
January 6 at 4 p.m.
Towson United Methodist Church, 501 Hampton Lane, Towson

Bah’s Cantata 171: Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm
Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks
Gott, dem der Erden kreis zu klein from Bach’s Cantata 91

Janna Critz, Alto
Min Jin, Tenor
Bella Voce from John Carroll High School, Student Voice Exchange Choir

Our Winter Fireworks concert features three grand works. Bach’s bold and lively Cantata 171 is a grandiose cantata that opens with a full chorus and vibrant orchestra of oboes and trumpets. It is most well known as the first version of the second chorus in the Credo of the Mass in B minor. The equally impressive Music for the Royal Fireworks is a band suite composed by Handel to celebrate the end of the War of the Austrian Succession and the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. It premiered with fireworks in London’s Green Park for an audience of over 12,000 in 1749. Closing the program is the tenor aria from Bach’s Cantata 91: Gott, dem der Erden kreis zu klein (God, for whom the orbit of the earth is too small).

Admission: $25 Advance/$27 Door

A Baroque Masters Medley
February 3 at 4 p.m.
First English Lutheran Church, 3807 N. Charles St., Baltimore

Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 1
Handel’s Water Music
Vivaldi’s Concerto for Violin, Bassoon, Oboe and Horn

Baltimore City High School College Choir, Student Voice Exchange Choir

Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi changed the world with their virtuosic and life-affirming compositions. Over three hundred years later, we still cannot get enough of their sublime music. We open this concert with the best of the best—Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 1, which continues to stir the soul and is the benchmark of Baroque music. Handel’s ebullient Water Music will enchant and have you dreaming of a picnic in the park, having been composed for a concert on the River Thames for King George I. We close the program with Vivaldi’s jolly Concerto for Violin, Bassoon, Oboe and Horn. This invigorating piece will warm your core as winter rages on outside.

Admission: $25 Advance/$27 Door

Celebration of the Psalms & BachFest Silent Auction
March 3 at 4 p.m.
Church of the Redeemer, 5603 N. Charles St., Baltimore

Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms
Gabrieli: In Ecclesiis (Psalm 26); Jubilate Deo (Psalm 100); Canzon Septimi Toni & Canzon Primi Toni
Antonin Dvořák: Psalm 23
Works for multiple choirs of brass instruments

KeeSun Kwon, Soprano
Hazzan Emmanuel Perlman, Lyric Tenor
Archbishop Curley High School, Student Voice Exchange Choir

The Psalms of the Old Testament evoke beauty, contemplation, and affirmation. For our Celebration of the Psalms program, the Bach in Baltimore Choir and Orchestra will perform sacred choral works celebrating selected psalms by three distinguished composers: the beloved American composer Leonard Bernstein in celebration of his 100^th birthday; the Baroque and early Renaissance Italian composer Giovanni Gabrieli; and the 19^th century Czech composer Antonín Dvořák. Hazzan “Manny” Perlman from Chizuk Amuno Congregation will perform Dvořák’ s Psalm 23 in Hebrew. Our brass ensemble will also perform antiphonal works that will amaze and astound.

The Annual BachFest Silent Auction will commence after the concert. Drinks and hors d’oeuvres will be served throughout the evening while music and entertainment will be provided by the talented musicians of Bach in Baltimore.

Admission: $60 (Concert & BachFest Silent Auction)

A Spring Fête
April 7 at 4 p.m.
Grace United Methodist Church, 5407 N. Charles St., Baltimore

Bach’s Cantata 49: Ich geh und suche mit Verlangen
Bach’s Cantata 84: Ich bin vergnügt mit meinem Glücke
Hier in meines Vaters Statte from Bach’s Cantata 32
Handel’s Organ Concerto Op. 4, No. 4

Sara MacKimmie, Soprano
John Scherch, Bass
Christopher Schroeder, Organ
Montgomery Madrigal Choir, Student Voice Exchange Choir

Welcome spring with a concert featuring four fresh works from Bach and Handel. Bach’s Cantata 49 is notable for its sumptuous aria for soprano, considered one of Bach’s best. Cantata 84 is a Lenten work, fit for the season, with a dialogue of soprano and bass. The beautiful arioso from Cantata 32 pairs soprano and bass voices with string accompaniment. Handel’s Organ Concerto Op. 4, No. 4 will delightfully conclude the program with Christopher Schroeder on organ.

Admission: $25 Advance/$27 Door

Cherished Music of John Rutter
May 5 at 4 p.m.
First Lutheran Church, Ellicott City

Mass of the Children, Gloria, Psalm 150, and The Lord is My Shepherd

Kerry Holahan, Soprano
Ross Tomaccio, Baritone
Children’s Chorus of Carroll County, Student Voice Exchange Choir

Bach in Baltimore is thrilled to present a special concert of treasured choral music from the popular contemporary English music composer and conductor, John Rutter. Not only will the Bach in Baltimore Choir perform Rutter’s Gloria and Psalm 150, but the renowned Children’s Chorus of Carroll County will join their voices in a performance of the Mass of the Children. This concert is perfect for introducing youngsters to choral music and will delight the whole family! The music ranges from exhilarating brass explosions in the Gloria to gentle, thoughtful melodies for choir in The Lord is My Shepherd.

 Admission: $40 Advance /$42 Door

Celebration of Venice
June 2 at 4 p.m.
Church of the Redeemer, 5603 N. Charles St., Baltimore

Vivaldi’s Cello Concerto in B minor, Concerto for Strings “alla Rustica” and “Spring, Summer, and Autumn” from Four Seasons
Johann Roman’s Concerto for Oboe D’Amore in D minor

Gretchen Gettes, Cello
Sandra Lisicky, Oboe d’amore

Enjoy our send-off to summer with a Celebration of Venice, including Vivaldi’s energetic and playful Cello Concerto in B minor, featuring Bach in Baltimore’s first-chair cellist Gretchen Gettes, plus “Spring, Summer, and Autumn” from Vivaldi’s Magnum Opus, Four Seasons. We will conclude the afternoon and our season with Johann Roman’s Concerto for Oboe D’Amore in D minor, featuring Sandra Lisicky. The oboe d’amore, or oboe of love, is a Baroque era instrument very similar to the oboe of today, but lower in range and more tranquil in tone quality.

Admission: $25 Advance/$27 Door

ABOUT BACH IN BALTIMORE

Bach in Baltimore’s mission is to perform the choral and instrumental works of Johann Sebastian Bach (and his contemporaries) and to educate the concert-going public about the musical language of Bach and the texts he chose to set to music.

We strive each month to present these works in a historically informed way that will enrich the lives of our audience members and inspire creativity. We wish to foster an appreciation for the arts, particularly for Baroque music, within the entire community. We are committed to providing educational experiences for people of all ages in order to instill a lifelong connection Bach’s music.

For more information, please visit Bach in Baltimore.

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