91st Season | Program Book 3 by Bach Festival Society of Winter Park

January 30th - March 1, 2026

PRESENTED BY THE BACH FESTIVAL SOCIETY OF WINTER PARK

AT ROLLINS COLLEGE SINCE 1935

EXTENDED PROGRAM WITH FULL CONTENT & LARGE PRINT

OFFICERS

Dr. John W. Schott, M.D., President

Mr. Richard O. Baldwin, Jr., Vice President

Mr. Michael J. Kakos, Treasurer

Mrs. Beverly J. Slaughter, Secretary

TRUSTEES

Ms. Katherine Byrne

Dr. Jefferson S. Flowers

Dr. B. Grant Hayes

Mr. Ed Kania

The Hon. Cynthia Mackinnon

Dr. William Oelfke

Ms. Jeanne Reynaud

Mr. Victor Alexander Tiedtke

TRUSTEES EMERITI

The late M. Elizabeth Brothers

J. Michael Murphy

The late Rev. Eric Ravndal, III

STAFF

Dr. John V. Sinclair, Artistic Director and Conductor

Kathy Johnson Berlinsky, Executive Director

Rhonda Burnham, Artistic Manager

Sondra Jones, Education Manager

Kelly Raia, Marketing Manager

Steven Branstetter, Business Manager

Luke Noles, Administrative Coordinator

Regunia Griggs, Choir Liaison

Lynn Peghiny, Bach Choir Accompanist

Rebecca Hammac, Youth Choir Director

Vivian Cook, Young at Heart Choral Director

Sofia Cardi Bonfil, Youth Choir and Young at Heart Choral Accompanist

Major Support Provided By

Our 91st Season is supported by many generous individual donors as well as Orange County Government through the Arts & Cultural Affairs program; United Arts of Central Florida, your local agency for the arts; Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation; Dr. Phillips Charities; Elinor & T.W. Miller Foundation; Pabst Steinmetz Foundation; Winifred Johnson Clive Foundation; AdventHealth, Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation; Florida Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture; The Joe & Sarah Galloway Foundation; and Rollins College.

DEAR FRIENDS AND MUSIC LOVERS,

Welcome to the 91st annual Bach Festival. It is a true pleasure and honor to have you join in celebrating the power, beauty, and timelessness of this remarkable art form.

The festival was created as a space where great music can be heard with fresh ears- where masterworks from the past converse with new voices of today, and where performers and audiences meet to share curiosity and joy.

Our magnificent choir and orchestra lie at the heart of this festival, and our guest artists bring not only technical brilliance, but also imagination, generosity, and deep commitment to the music. All our performers serve as a testament that classical music is not a museum piece, but a living, breathing language continuing to speak to who we are.

Whether this is your first Bach Festival or one of many, we hope you feel inspired and warmly welcomed. Enjoy the festival!

Dr. John V. Sinclar,

Artistic Director and Conductor

JOHN V. SINCLAIR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AND CONDUCTOR

John V. Sinclair has established a national reputation as one of the leading conductors of choral masterworks while locally being known as one of the hardest-working and in demand artists of the Central Florida cultural community. In his 36th season as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Bach Festival Society, he has broadened the society’s musical offerings of masterworks by both classical and contemporary composers while perpetuating his reputation as a scholarly interpreter of J.S. Bach’s music.

Dr. Sinclair, known as a master teacher, is Director of Music at Rollins College and holds the John M. Tiedtke Endowed Chair. Sinclair keeps the Society’s educational focus vital by providing a broad range of musical programs and experiences for all ages. The Bach Festival, under his leadership, has achieved international recognition by touring in Europe, producing nationally released CDs and broadcasts, performing with the London Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra during their Florida residencies.

Dr. Sinclair holds masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Conservatory of Music. Most recently he was honored as one of the “10 Most Influential People in Central Florida”, chosen from 10-years of accumulated Winter Park Magazine honorees. For more than three decades, John Sinclair has shared his talent and dedication to musical excellence with the Central Florida community and beyond.

Photo credit: David Bean

Photo credit: Mary Kent

Bach Festival Society of Winter Park Presents

AMERICANA: BARBER, BERNSTEIN, AND COPLAND

Bach Vocal Artists

John V. Sinclair, conductor

Friday, January 30, 2026 | 7:30pm | Knowles Memorial Chapel

P R O G R A M

In the Beginning (18’)

Aaron Copland (1900-1990)

Amanda Crider, mezzo-soprano

Let down the bars, O Death, Opus 8, No. 2 (2')

Samuel Barber Text by Emily Dickinson (1910-1981)

Sure on This Shining Night, (3')

Text by Emily Dickinson

Two Motets

A. Copland

1. Help Us, O Lord (3')

2. Sing Ye Praises to our King (2')

Soldier’s Song, a French Song from The Lark (2')

S. Barber

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)

Chichester Psalms (19’) L. Bernstein

1. Psalm 108, v. 2 Awake, psaltry and harp

Psalm 100 Make a joyful noise until the Lord

2. Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd

Psalm 2, v. 1-4 Why do the nations rage

3. Psalm 131 Lord, Lord, my heart is not haughty

Psalm 133 Behold how good

Morgan Peckels, mezzo-soprano

Dawn Edwards, harp; Thad Anderson, percussion; Andre Lash, organ

Please turn off cell phone and electronic devices prior to the start of this performance. The Bach Festival Society’s policies strictly prohibit photography, filming, or recording of any kind during performances without the express written permission of the Society.

BACH VOCAL ARTISTS

John V. Sinclair, conductor

John Grau and John Sinclair, Co-Artistic Directors

Jessica Beebe

Meg Dudley

Anna Eschbach

Catherine Psarakis

Margot Rood

Amanda Crider

Kerry Ginger

Thea Lobo

Morgan Peckels

Patricia Thompson

Brad Diamond

John Grau

Erik Gustafson

Steven Soph

Gregório Taniguchi

ABOUT THE BACH VOCAL ARTISTS

Thaddaeus Bourne

Brian Ming Chu

Brandon Hendrickson

Stephen Mumbert

Joseph Trumbo

The Bach Vocal Artists, a professional vocal ensemble that debuted in 2022-2023, serves as an elite chamber group within the society and is comprised of hand-picked professional singers from across the United State who specialize in intimate, high-caliber choral performances. The ensemble’s purpose is to expand is to expand the Bach Festival Society’s programming by tackling intricate works that benefit from professional precision, emphasizing emotional depth, rhythmic vitality, and lyrical beauty in their performances.

Read more about the Bach Vocal Artists at BachFestivalFlorida.org/bach-vocal-artists

BACH VOCAL ARTISTS GROUP

The Bach Vocal Artists is a professional vocal ensemble founded by John V. Sinclair, the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park. Debuting in the 2022-23 season, it serves as an elite chamber group within the society, comprising handpicked professional singers from across the United States who specialize in intimate, high-caliber choral performances. This contrasts with the society’s larger Bach Festival Choir, a volunteer-based oratorio choir of about 150 singers (many with music degrees or professional backgrounds) that focuses on grand-scale works and has a history dating back to 1935. The Bach Vocal Artists were created to handle more specialized, smaller-ensemble repertoire, often a cappella or with chamber orchestration, allowing for nuanced interpretations of sacred and secular choral music.

The ensemble’s purpose is to expand the Bach Festival Society’s programming by tackling intricate works that benefit from professional precision, such as Sergei Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil (Vespers), which draws on ancient Russian Orthodox chants and is performed in Church Slavonic for a transcendent, unaccompanied vocal experience; Americana programs featuring composers like Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, and Aaron Copland that explore themes of faith, creation, and the human spirit; and historical pieces like Moravian Lenten anthems in “Passion Music for Early America,” blending European traditions with spiritual reflection. hey frequently collaborate with the Bach Chamber Orchestra or members of the Bach Festival Choir and Orchestra for select performances, under Sinclair’s direction. The group emphasizes emotional depth, rhythmic vitality, and lyrical beauty in their interpretations, often concluding the society’s seasons with programs described as “songs for the soul” that blend beauty, elegance, and intellectual appeal.

Membership details are not exhaustively listed on the society’s website, but the ensemble draws from a national pool of elite vocalists, including sopranos like Anna Eschbach and mezzo-sopranos, with some members having ties to academic institutions (e.g., Dr. Martin, a voice instructor at the University of Tampa with a background in voice performance from the University of Michigan). Singers are selected for their expertise in chamber singing, sight-reading, and vocal artistry, aligning with the society’s mission to inspire through great music while celebrating J.S. Bach’s legacy and innovative programming. Auditions or selection processes are not publicly detailed, but given the professional nature, they likely involve rigorous evaluation by Sinclair.

In terms of performances, the Bach Vocal Artists typically appear three to four times per season as part of the Bach Festival Society’s lineup, often in standalone concerts or integrated into larger events at venues like Knowles Memorial Chapel or Tiedtke Concert Hall on the Rollins College campus in Winter Park, Florida. For the 2025-26 season, scheduled appearances include Rachmaninoff’s Vespers on November 7, 2025; an Americana program on January 30, 2026; Passion Music for Early America on March 26, 2026; and Vivaldi’s Choral Works on May 1, 2026—aligning with the society’s broader calendar of pre-festival and annual Bach Festival events. Tickets range from $20, with seating often tiered or first-come, first-served, and the society emphasizes accessibility, noting that all people deserve access to inspiring music.

Reviews and feedback highlight the ensemble’s excellence. Orlando Sentinel critic Matthew J. Palm has praised their ability to showcase talent in unusual works like Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, noting how the group “put their talent on display” with sparkling results, and in programs blending

spirituals and prayers for peace, describing the society’s overall efforts (including the Vocal Artists) as looking “to heaven” with fervor. The group contributes to the society’s high ratings, such as a four-star Charity Navigator score and positive audience feedback on platforms like Facebook, where attendees describe performances as “superb music in a lovely setting.” The Bach Festival Society, founded in 1935 as the third-oldest continuously operating Bach festival in the U.S., uses the Vocal Artists to innovate while honoring classical traditions, earning acclaim for bringing world-class music to Central Florida.

SOPRANOS

JESSICA BEEBE – SOPRANO

Soprano Jessica Beebe interprets repertoire spanning from the Renaissance to the contemporary and has a voice that “bounced like a beam of light throughout the sanctuary” (Broad Street Review). She has performed with New York City Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and Utah Symphony. Jessica’s concert and oratorio repertoire includes major works by Monteverdi, Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Brahms, and Orff. She also performs modern works such as John Adam's El Niño, Rutter's Requiem, and Richard Einhorn's Voices of Light. She is a member of many GRAMMY-nominated and winning vocal ensembles, such as Clarion Society, Seraphic Fire, The Crossing, Lorelei Ensemble, and Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia. Earning her BM from the University of Delaware, her MM in Early Music from Indiana University, and a Performance Certificate from London's Royal College of Music she currently serves on the faculty at both Muhlenberg and Franklin & Marshall Colleges.

MEG DUDLEY – SOPRANO

Meg Dudley, soprano, has established herself as a versatile vocal artist in a variety of genres. She has been a featured soloist in Carnegie Hall (Vivaldi’s Gloria, Dan Forrest’s Lux, Haydn’s Mass in the Time of War and Lord Nelson Mass); in Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall (Vaughan William’s Mass in G Minor and Leonardo Leo’s Magnificat); with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Puccini’s Suor Angelica, and Debussy’s Nocturnes); and with the Trinity Baroque Orchestra (Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Cantatas 64, 89, and 167). A highly sought-after ensemble singer, Ms. Dudley works regularly with the Lorelei Ensemble. Grammy award-winning Conspirare, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, the Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Grammy award-winning The Crossing, the New York Philharmonic, the American Classical Orchestra, Apollo’s Fire, Oregon Bach Festival’s Berwick Chorus, and the Bard Festival Singers. Some of Ms. Dudley’s recent engagements include collaborations with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, Nashville Symphony Orchestra under Giancarlo Guerrero and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop. Ms. Dudley holds a BM from the University of Denver, and a MM from Mannes School of Music.

ANNA ESCHBACH – SOPRANO

Handel’s Messiah and La resurrezione, Monteverdi’s Vespro della beata vergine, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Fauré's Requiem, Poulenc’s Gloria, Rutter’s Gloria and Magnificat, Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony, Einhorn’s Voices of Light, as well as Orff’s Carmina Burana. She premiered the role of Anne Boleyn in an original work, 6 of VIII: The Wives of King Henry VIII in 2019 – a performance which was hailed by the Orlando Sentinel as “soul-rattling.” She has toured internationally throughout her career, singing concerts in Switzerland, the UK, and Kenya. Ms. Eschbach earned her bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from Appalachian State University and a master’s degree in vocal performance from the University of Tennessee. She maintains a private voice studio in the Orlando area and serves on the voice faculty at Rollins College.

CATHERINE PSARAKIS – SOPRANO

Catherine Psarakis, soprano, is noted for her “precise and focused coloratura”, and has appeared with the Chicago Summer Opera and the New England Conservatory production of Bernstein’s Candide. As an advocate of intimate performance through art song and chamber music, Catherine has performed in New England Conservatory’s Liederabend Series and the Boston Art Song Society. Catherine made her oratorio debut in Handel’s Messiah with the Messiah Choral Society in Orlando, FL conducted by Dr. John Sinclair. She recently performed with the European Orchestral and Choral Association in Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle. She is a recipient of the Presser Award, first place winner of the Medici International Music Competition, the Toronto Mozart Vocal Competition, the London Classical Music Competition, and the Constantine the Great International Solo Singing Competition. She was a finalist in the Vienna Summer Music Festival Competition and the International Brahms Competition. Catherine received her B.A. from Rollins College on a full merit scholarship, and her M.M. from the New England Conservatory of Music.

MEZZO-SOPRANOS

AMANDA CRIDER – MEZZO-SOPRANO

Amanda Crider, mezzo-soprano, is a busy soloist and recitalist, who regularly appears with Bach Vocal Artists, Apollo’s Fire, and Seraphic Fire and has appeared with the Nashville Symphony, the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, Bach Vocal Artists, the New World Symphony, the Jacksonville Symphony and the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra.

She made her Carnegie Hall debut in the fall of 2007 singing Handel’s Messiah and returned the following season in Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and has been a featured recitalist on the Trinity Church Concerts at One Series and with Five Boroughs Music Festival and appeared on Marilyn Horne’s “...the song continues” series at Carnegie Hall. Ms. Crider’s first foray into the operatic world was at the Tanglewood Music Center Boston, New York City Opera, Castleton Festival and Glimmerglass Opera. Miss Crider has been the winner of numerous grants and international competitions. Amanda serves as the Executive Director of Roomful of Teeth and is also the founder and artistic director of IlluminArts, Miami's Art Song and Vocal Chamber Music Series.

KERRY GINGER – MEZZO-SOPRANO

Kerry Ginger, mezzo soprano, is active nationally as a performer, clinician, voice pedagogue, and scholar. Currently Assistant Professor of Voice at The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, Dr. Ginger has appeared as a soloist with the Chattanooga Symphony, Music in the Mountains, The Phoenix Symphony, Arizona Opera, Phoenix Opera, Cal Poly Bach Week, Mid-Columbia Mastersingers, and Quintessence. An avid choral artist, she performs with the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Kinnara, and True Concord Voices and Orchestra. Kerry appears on Grammy Award-winning recordings by the Phoenix Chorale and True and has written liner notes for Albany Records. She maintains an active portfolio of recitals, oratorio, and vocal music research, specializing in twentieth-century music by women. Kerry also helms a professional quartet, Element, which performs dynamic historical and contemporary vocal chamber music. Kerry earned her Doctor of Musical Arts in Voice and Master of Music in Opera Performance at Arizona State University. Originally from Portland, Oregon, she now resides in beautiful Chattanooga, Tennessee.

THEA LOBO – MEZZO-SOPRANO

Thea Lobo, a Grammy-nominated mezzo-soprano, performs with Ensemble New SRQ, DeSota Baroque, True Concord, Choral Artists of Sarasota, Opera Huntsville, Boston's Symphony Hall and more. Ms. Lobo has previously appeared under conductors Gunther Schuller, Stephen Stubbs, Joshua Rifkin, and Andris Nelsons, and has been featured by the Firebird Ensemble, Boston Baroque, Naples Philharmonic, Boston Early Music Festival, Carmel Bach Festival, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Europäisches Musikfest Stuttgart. In addition to her performing career, Thea Lobo serves as artistic and executive director of the initiative Indictus Project (www.indictus.org), which amplifies the overlooked classical art music of historically excluded composers of all eras. She is also the newest Classical Host on WSMR (Tampa, Sarasota).

MORGAN DAVIS PECKELS – MEZZO-SOPRANO

Residing in Florida, mezzo-soprano Morgan Davis Peckels has performed extensively on the east coast and is active with many ensembles in Central Florida. Featured in Richard Einhorn's Voices of Light with the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park she was praised for her "hauntingly lamenting tones" and was a soloist in Bach’s B Minor Mass with the Bach Festival Society. She has been seen on stage in Amahl & the Night Visitors and is active with music theatre repertoire, appearing in Kiss Me Kate, Into the Woods, and Fiddler on the Roof. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Elon University and then studied at the Boston Conservatory. As a concert soloist Morgan gives recitals throughout the Orlando area exploring Art Songs in regular recitals at Rollins College where she is on the voice faculty. In addition, Morgan runs a private studio out of Winter Springs, FL where she specializes in teaching classical and musical theatre and serves as an officer of the Central Florida Chapter of the National Association Teachers of Singing (NATS).

PATRICIA THOMPSON – MEZZO-SOPRANO

Patricia Thompson, mezzo-soprano, is a much sought-after adjudicator and is active as an oratorio specialist, appearing with the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, the Louisville Choral Arts Society, the Masterworks Chorale of New Jersey, the Hale Library Concert Series, and the Bloomington Early Music Festival. A dedicated professional choral artist and a member of the international Carmel Bach Festival and the Spire Chamber Ensemble of Kansas City, she is a founding member of the award-winning Luminous Voices in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. With a special interest in jazz and cabaret singing, she performs regularly with the Thundering Cats Big Band in Manhattan, KS, and in solo cabaret shows at the Manhattan Arts Center. Her debut jazz album, It’s Only Natural, is available on iTunes, Spotify, and others. Dr. Thompson holds degrees from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (DM and MM) and St. Olaf College (BM) and is currently an Associate Professor of Music at Kansas State University.

TENORS

BRAD DIAMOND – TENOR

Brad Diamond, known for his musicianship and style, has an active professional career in the United States and Canada, appearing regularly with Seraphic Fire and the Santa Fe Chorale. A specialist in oratorio repertoire, he has sung the Evangelist role in Bach’s St. John Passion and St. Matthew Passion with the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park and Trinity Wall Street. Dr. Diamond completed his Bachelor of Music Degree from Westminster Choir College and received his Master and Doctorate degrees from the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music. While attending Westminster, he soloed under the baton of the late Leonard Bernstein. He is currently Professor of Voice and Vocal Pedagogy at Samford University

JOHN GRAU – TENOR

Tenor John Grau has established himself as a renowned performer of oratorio and opera from Baroque to 20th-century music. As a soloist, he has performed at the Boston Early Music Festival, the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park Festival, Boulder Bach Festival, the Rochester Choral Arts Ensemble, the Ravinia Music Festival and the inaugural Duke University Bach Cantata Series, to name a few. John has appeared with professional vocal ensembles such as The Singers-Minnesota Choral Artists, The South Dakota Chorale, The Minnesota Beethoven Festival Chorus and is also the co-artistic director and founding member of the Bach Vocal Artists vocal ensemble based in Winter Park, Florida. Dr. Grau’s scholarly activities contribute to the vocal pedagogy field with his recent research focused on vocal and physical health and the relation to vocal function and pedagogy. As a committed performer and educator, Dr. Grau also serves as an adjudicator for the National Oratorio Competition for young American singers

specializing in oratorio repertoire. John received his BA in biology and music from St. Olaf College, his MM degree in vocal performance from Northern Arizona University, and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Grau currently teaches and is the chair of the Department of Music at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. He has previously taught at The University of Colorado-Boulder, and The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

ERIK GUSTAFSON – TENOR

Erik Gustafson, tenor, is highly active across the nation as an oratorio soloist and choral artist. A native of Portland, OR he received his education from Arizona State University, and currently resides in Sewanee, TN, where he is a voice instructor at Sewanee: The University of the South. He currently performs with Seraphic Fire (Miami), the Oregon Bach Festival, the Colorado Bach Festival, Bach Society Houston, and the Arizona Bach Festival.

STEVEN SOPH – TENOR

Steven Soph, an active Bach interpreter, appears in festivals around the country, including Seraphic Fire’s Enlightenment Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, and San Diego’s Mainly Mozart Festival. Appearances with top American vocal ensembles include Chicago Chorale, Master Chorale of South Florida, Handel Oratorio Society, Apollo Chorus of Chicago, Colorado Pro Musica, and Choral Arts Philadelphia. Steven holds degrees from the University of North Texas and Yale School of Music’s Institute of Sacred Music.

GREGÓRIO TANIGUCHI – TENOR

Gregório Taniguchi, tenor, brings linguistic gusto and vitality to performances such as the Evangelist in Bach’s St. John Passion and Christmas Oratorio and Septimius in Handel's Theodora. He was a featured soloist in a Peter Sellars-staged production of Schütz’s Musikalische Exequien with Los Angeles Master Chorale, which opened the Salzburg Musikfestpiele. He has toured Ecuador with the emerging ensemble Las Aves, presenting historically informed 17th-century Italian and Spanish sacred repertoire in the cathedrals of Quito during Holy Week.

Gregório has worked with pioneers and the next generation scholar-interpreters of early music,‬ such as John Butt, Jane Glover, Maria Guinand, Matthew Halls, and Ruben Valenzuela. He enjoys the alchemy of collaborative ensemble singing, especially with Clarion Voval Ensemble, TENET, Tesserae, Bach Collegium San Diego, and Washington Bach Consort. Gregório earned a Bachelor degree (B.M.) in Vocal Performance at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University–Long Beach, and a Master's degree (M.M.) in Early Music at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

Gregório is passionate about being an active part of the community of artists, coaching language, and teaching. As a pandemic passion project, he recorded some of his mother’s favorite fado while self-accompanying on ukulele, spurring him to learn guitarra portuguesa and he revels in being part of his ecological community.

BASS-BARITONE

THADDAEUS BOURNE – BARITONE

Thaddaeus Bourne, baritone, currently maintains an active performing schedule, having sung over forty roles in the US and abroad. Praised for his rich baritone, appearances include Fauré’s Requiem, Bach’s Cantata BWV 86, Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, and Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, as well as recitals and masterclasses with the Longy School of Music at Bard College, the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam and EIU Concert Series at the National Opera Center. An accomplished flutist, Dr. Bourne completed undergraduate and graduate degrees in flute performance embarking on his DMA in voice after training as a singer to improve his breath support. Dr. Bourne has taught on the faculties of the University of Florida, Troy University, Butler University, Earlham College, and the University of Connecticut.

BRIAN MING CHU – BARITONE

Brian Ming Chu, as a specialist in oratorio music, is a regular soloist with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia, the Washington Bach Consort, and has performed Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Haydn’s Creation, Verdi’s Requiems, the Bach Passions, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and for the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, Ludwig Meinardus’ Luther in Worms with the Bach Choir Eisenach and the Dresden Singakademie. Mr. Chu made his Kennedy Center debut in Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 with the Choral Arts Society of Washington and has been a US Embassy Cultural Artist in French West Africa and Vienna, Austria. Mr. Chu holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Cornell University and did his graduate work at the Peabody Conservatory of Music. Brian is on the voice faculties of Haverford and Swarthmore Colleges, Lehigh University, and Rowan University.

BRANDON HENDRICKSON – BARITONE

American baritone Brandon Hendrickson is an active performer on the domestic and international opera, concert, and recital stages. He received his BME from Simpson College and received his MM and DMA in Vocal Performance from Louisiana State University. While at LSU, Hendrickson came to national attention as a regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Brandon has sung with major national orchestras, including the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Charleston Symphony Orchestra, New Orleans Symphony Orchestra, Helena Symphony Orchestra, Madison Symphony Orchestra, South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, and Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra. Hendrickson has been featured in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana at Carnegie Hall with the National Philharmonic Orchestra, Cantata 212 by Bach, Mozart’s Requiem, Ein Deutsches Requiem by Brahms, Duruflé’s Requiem, and Mahler’s 8th Symphony.

Dr. Hendrickson serves on the faculty of the Louisiana State University School of Music, where he teaches Applied Voice, Vocal Pedagogy, Song Literature, and Lyric Diction. He also co-directs the national award–winning University of South Dakota USD Opera.

STEPHEN MUMBERT – BASS

Stephen Mumbert, bass, is hailed as a “Scene-stealer” by the Guardian Newspaper for his interpretation of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Stephen Mumbert is currently an Adjunct Professor of Voice at Rollins College as well as Stetson University and maintains a private voice studio in Orlando FL. He is a graduate of Stetson University where he holds a B.M. in voice performance, and an M.M. in opera from The Boston Conservatory. Performance highlights include singing Khan Kontchak from Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances in Steinmetz Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, bass soloist for the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park’s Classic Christmas Concert (which was filmed and aired on PBS this past Christmas), Mozart’s Requiem with the Dakota Valley Symphony (broadcast on Twin Cities Public Television), Handel’s Messiah with the Messiah Choral Society, Jesus in Bach’s St Matthew Passion, bass soloist in Einhorn’s Voices of Light and Faure’s Requiem with the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park. Recent local performances include Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mozart and Salieri with Musical Traditions, Lucifer in Handel’s Resurrezione with the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, and as a featured soloist in a concert titled “Leading Men of Broadway” with the Space Coast Symphony.

JOSEPH TRUMBO – BASS

Joseph Trumbo, bass, is a young, upcoming singer hailed for his “smooth, deep voice.” Recent choral work has included performances with the Rockford Music Collaborative, as a Young Artist with the Illinois Bach Academy under Dr. Andrew Megill, and as a former member of San Francisco’s elite new music ensemble, Volti. Trumbo received both a BA and BM from Oberlin College & Conservatory and a MM from the University of Illinois, where he was a recipient of the Howard A. Stotler Voice Fellowship. Joseph has been featured in the Mars Symphonic Men’s Choir as part of the Soundiron Olympus Symphonic Choral Collection and has just completed a festival in New York with dell’Arte Opera Ensemble.

IN THE BEGINNING, AARON COPLAND

The First Day

Solo

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

Chorus

And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Solo And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Chorus

And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

The Second Day

Solo

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

Chorus

And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: And it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

The Third Day

Solo

And God said,

Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear:

Chorus

And it was so.

And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: And God saw that it was good.

Solo and Chorus

And God said,

Let the earth bring forth grass,

Solo the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: And it was so.

Chorus

And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after its kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after its kind:

And God saw that it was good.

And the evening and the morning were the third day.

The Fourth Day

Solo

And God said,

Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years

And let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days, and years: And let there be lights

Chorus

Lights!

Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years

And let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night

and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years

And let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth

And it was so.

And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the day from the darkness: And God saw that it was good.

And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

The Fifth Day

And God said

Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

And God created great whales, and ev’ry living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and ev’ry winged fowl after his kind: And God saw that it was good. and God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

The Sixth Day

Solo

And God said,

Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

Chorus

Chorus

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and ev’ry thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind:

Solo and Chorus

And God saw that it was good.

Chorus

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over ev’ry creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Solo and Chorus

So God created man in his own image,

Chorus

in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over ev’ry living thing that moveth upon the earth. Behold...

Solo

And God said, Behold, I have given you ev’ry herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and ev’ry tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; To you it shall be for food. And to ev’ry beast of the earth, and to ev’ry fowl of the air,

and to ev’ry thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given ev’ry green herb for food:

Chorus

And it was so

And God saw ev’ry thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

The Seventh Day

Chorus

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the hosts of them

And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

Solo

These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, and ev’ry plant of the field before it was in the earth, and ev’ry herb of the field before it grew:

Solo and Chorus

For the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

Chorus

But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

Solo and Chorus

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, Chorus and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

LET DOWN THE BARS, O DEATH!, SAMUEL BARBER

Text by Emily Dickinson

Let down the bars, O Death! The tired flocks come in Whose bleating ceases to repeat, Whose wandering is done.

Thine is the stillest night, Thine the securest fold; Too near thou art for seeking thee, Too tender to be told.

SURE ON THIS SHINING NIGHT, SAMUEL BARBER

Text by Emily Dickinson

Sure on this shining night Of starmade shadows round, Kindness must watch for me This side the ground.

The late year lies down the north. All is healed, all is health. High summer holds the earth. Hearts all whole.

Sure on this shining night I weep for wonder Wandering far alone Of shadows on the stars.

TWO MOTETS, AARON COPLAND

1. Help Us, O Lord

Help us, help us, O Lord, for with Thee is the fount of life. In Thy light shall we see light. Let us march and try our ways, Turn to God, turn to God, turn to God. It is good that man should wait. It is good that man should hope, hope for the salvation of the Lord. Help us, help us, O Lord.

2. Sing Ye Praises to our King

Sing ye praises to our King, sing ye praises to our King and Ruler. Come here all ye men, come and hear my praises. He doth bless all the earth, bringeth peace and comfort.

Shout unto God now all ye men, O shout unto God all your praises

SOLDIER’S SONG FROM THE LARK, LEONARD BERNSTEIN

Text by Jean Anouilh Vive la Jeanne, la jolie, jolie Jeanne. Long live Joan, the pretty, pretty Joan.

CHICHESTER PSALMS, LEONARD BERNSTEIN

The Chichester Psalms were commissioned by the Very Rev Walter Hussey, Dean of Chichester, for the 1965 Southern Cathedrals Festival, in which the musicians of Chichester were joined by those of Salisbury and Winchester. The Dean, who was a noted champion of the arts, requested that the music should contain ‘a hint of West Side Story’ and Bernstein himself said he wanted the music to be ‘forthright, songful, rhythmic, youthful.’

The work was written with an all-male choir in mind, and the first performance of this version was given in Chichester Cathedral on 31 July 1965. However, the sold-out premiere had already taken place on 15 July in New York, with the composer conducting the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and a mixed choir.

The work consists of three movements, each an affirmative setting of the original Hebrew text of one complete psalm, together with one or more verses of a second psalm. The piece is always performed in Hebrew: Bernstein never sanctioned an English translation.

CHICHESTER PSALMS, LEONARD BERNSTEIN

The first movement begins with a short introduction in the form of a slow, forceful and dissonant fanfare-like setting of Psalm 108 verse 2.

Urah, hanevel, v’chinor!

Awake, psaltery and harp: A’irah shachar! I will rouse the dawn!

The main part of this movement is an exuberant and joyful setting of Psalm 100 in seven-four time. The number seven, significant in both the Jewish and Christian traditions, also features prominently in the harmonic/melodic language of the Psalms.

At the end an instrumental interlude and a short peaceful section on the words ‘Ki tov Adonai’ (For the Lord is good) lead to a resounding coda.

Hari’u l’Adonai kol ha’arets. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands.

Iv’du et Adonai b’simcha. Serve the Lord with gladness.

Bo’u l’fanav bir’nanah.

Come before His presence with singing.

D’u ki Adonai Hu Elohim. Know ye that the Lord, He is God.

Hu asanu, v’lo anachnu. It is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves. Amo v’tson mar’ito.

We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Bo’u sh’arav b’todah, Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, Chatseirotav bit’hilah, And into His courts with praise.

Hodu lo, bar’chu sh’mo.

Ki tov Adonai, l’olam chas’do,

Be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.

For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting, V’ad dor vador emunato. And His truth endureth to all generations. II.

The second movement begins with a setting of the first four verses of Psalm 23 for alto solo, with harp accompaniment, followed by the sopranos and altos of the choir in canon. The music is recognizably that of the composer of West Side Story – its ‘bluesy’ feel signals the influence of American popular music. Bernstein is careful to direct that the solo be sung ‘without sentimentality’ by a boy or male alto.

Adonai ro’i, lo echsar.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Bin’ot deshe yarbitseini, He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, Al mei m’nuchot y’nahaleini, He leadeth me beside the still waters, Naf’shi y’shovev, He restoreth my soul, Yan’cheini v’ma’aglei tsedek, He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness, L’ma’an sh’mo.

For His name’s sake.

Gam ki eilech

Yea, though I walk B’gei tsalmavet, Through the valley of the shadow of death, Lo ira ra, I will fear no evil, Ki Atah imadi.

Shiv’t’cha umishan’techa

For Thou art with me.

Thy rod and Thy staff Hemah y’nachamuni. They comfort me.

The gentle music in three-four time is suddenly interrupted by an agitated and menacing setting for tenors and basses of the first four verses of Psalm 2. This angry music, which contains material cut from the score of West Side Story, is in common time (four beats in a bar).

Lamah rag’shu goyim

Why do the nations rage, Ul’umim yeh’gu rik?

Yit’yats’vu malchei erets,

And the people imagine a vain thing?

The kings of the earth set themselves, V’roznim nos’du yachad

Al Adonai v’al m’shicho.

And the rulers take counsel together

Against the Lord and against His anointed. N’natkah et mos’roteimo, Saying, let us break their bonds asunder, V’nashlichah mimenu avoteimo.

Yoshev bashamayim

And cast away their cords from us.

He that sitteth in the heavens

Yis’chak, Adonai Shall laugh, and the Lord Yil’ag lamo!

Shall have them in derision!

Bernstein contrives to combine these two elements as the upper parts join in, ‘blissfully unaware of the threat,’ to sing the remainder of Psalm 23. At the end the sounds of conflict can still be heard in the far distance, as the organ recalls the middle section in a different key.

Ta’aroch l’fanai shulchan

Neged tsor’rai

Thou preparest a table before me

In the presence of mine enemies, Dishanta vashemen roshi Thou anointest my head with oil, Cosi r’vayah.

My cup runneth over.

Ach tov vachesed Surely goodness and mercy

Yird’funi kol y’mei chayai, Shall follow me all the days of my life, V’shav’ti b’veit Adonai

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord L’orech yamim. Forever.

III.

The final movement begins with an extended chromatic organ prelude based on the music of the opening chorale of the whole work, and on a rising motif that forms the basis of much of the subsequent setting of Psalm 131.

As in the opening movement, the rhythm of this setting uses an asymmetrical time signature (in this case bars of ten beats divided into two halves of five).

Yet the mood is quite opposite to the exuberance of Movement I, and carries the direction ‘peacefully flowing’. Much of the choral writing is in two parts, the upper voices answering the lower.

Adonai, Adonai

Lord, Lord, Lo gavah libi, My heart is not haughty, V’lo ramu einai, Nor mine eyes lofty, V’lo hilachti Neither do I exercise myself

Big’dolot uv’niflaot

In great matters or in things. Mimeni. Too wonderful for me

Im lo shiviti Surely I have calmed V’domam’ti, And quieted myself, Naf’shi k’gamul alei imo, As a child that is weaned of his mother, Kagamul alai naf’shi. My soul is even as a weaned child. Yachel Yis’rael el Adonai Let Israel hope in the Lord Me’atah v’ad olam. From henceforth and forever.

Finally, the opening chorale of the first movement returns, this time slowly and quietly, in an unaccompanied setting of the first verse of Psalm 133, which expresses the central message of the work.

Hineh mah tov,

Behold how good, Umah naim, And how pleasant it is, Shevet achim For brethren to dwell Gam yachad. Together in unity. Amen. Amen.

Bach Festival Society of Winter Park Presents

ORGAN RECITAL: COLIN MACKNIGHT

Friday, February 6, 2026 | 7:30pm | Knowles Memorial Chapel

P R O G R A M

Final from Symphonie No. 1, Op. 14 Louis Vierne (1870-1937)

Variations on ‘Vater unser im Himmelreich’

Felix Mendelssohn from Sonata No. 6 in D minor, Op. 65 (1809-1847)

Andante in F, K. 616

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Prelude and Fugue in G, BWV 550 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Choral-Improvisation on “In Dulci Jubilo,” Op. 75, No. 2

I N T E R M I S S I O N

Imperial March, Op. 32

Andante espressivo from Sonata, Op. 28

Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933)

Edward Elgar (arr. MacKnight) (1857-1934)

Edward Elgar

Phantasie über den Choral Max Reger ‘Halleluja, Gott zu loben bleibe meine Seelenfreud,’ Op. 52, No. 3 (1873-1916)

Concert Fantasy on Themes by Gershwin David Goode (b. 1971)

This recital is made possible by Rollins College through the Faith Emeny Conger “54 Visiting Organist Concert Series in Honor of John Oliver Rich ’38

Artist Exclusive Management: Karen McFarlane Artists, Inc | www.concertorganists.com

COLIN MACKNIGHT, ORGAN

Colin MacKnight, called “a stunning player of exceptional ability” by composer and conductor Bob Chilcott, is Director of Music at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Little Rock, AR. At Trinity, he oversees a vibrant music program which includes among its offerings weekly choral evensongs, a concert series, and a chorister program. Prior to Trinity, Colin was Associate Organist at Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City, Long Island; Assistant Organist and Music Theory Teacher at St. Thomas Fifth Avenue, NYC; and Assistant Organist at Church of the Resurrection, NYC.

Colin received his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from The Juilliard School, studying organ performance with Paul Jacobs. For his doctoral dissertation “Ex Uno Plures: A Proposed Completion of Bach’s Art of Fugue,” Colin received the Richard F. French Doctoral Prize.

A frequent competition prizewinner, Colin’s first prizes and scholarships include the 2019 Paris Music Competition, 2017 West Chester University International Organ Competition, 2016 Albert Schweitzer Organ Competition, 2016 Arthur Poister Scholarship Competition, M. Louise Miller Scholarship from the Greater Bridgeport Chapter of the American Guild of Organists (AGO), the 2013 Rodgers North American Classical Organ Competition, and the Ruth and Paul Manz Organ Scholarship. He also won the New York City AGO Competition and advanced to the Northeast Regional Competition and won first place, which led to a “Rising Star” recital at the 2016 AGO National Convention in Houston. Colin was also a laureate in the 2016, 2019, and 2023 Longwood Gardens International Organ Competitions. In December of 2016, Colin and composer Jon Cziner were selected for an AGO Student Commissioning Project grant, resulting in Jon’s Fantasy Chorale which Colin premiered in 2017. Colin has also received the Fellow and Choirmaster Certifications from the AGO, receiving the prize for top Choirmaster score, and was named one of the top “20 Under 30” eminent young organists by The Diapason magazine in 2019. Colin has performed at venues such as St. Patrick’s Cathedral, NYC; The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, NYC; St. Paul’s Chapel of Trinity Wall Street, NYC; The National Cathedral, Washington, DC; Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church, Montreal; Church of Saints Peter and Paul, Kingston, Jamaica; Cathedral of the Incarnation, Baltimore; and Grace Cathedral, Topeka.

Colin MacKnight is represented in North American by Karen McFarlane Artists, Inc.

Photo credit: Courtesy of the Artist

International Recognition | Rigorous Rehearsals Challenging Repertoire

Since 1935, the Bach Festival Choir has been recognized by audiences and critics alike for its exceptional musicianship, national and international collaborations, and musical versatility within the classical genre. A cornerstone of the classical music tradition in the United States, the Winter Park Bach Choir is the longest continuously performing chorus in Central Florida and the third longest-running Bach Choir in the country.

Photo credit: Scott Cook

SECOND ANNUAL

DISCOVER THE FUTURE OF ORATORIO

MASTERCLASSES:

Wednesday, February 11 & Thursday, February 12

Location TBD

FINALISTS

FINALS CONCERT: Friday, February 13, 2026 | 7:30pm Knowles Memorial Chapel

Join us for an inspiring Masterclass with the finalists of the Second Annual National Oratorio Competition, where emerging talent refines their artistry under the guidance of renowned adjudicators.

Then, experience the Finals Concert, featuring breathtaking performances of iconic Oratorio works as finalists compete for the coveted title.

WORLD CLASS JUDGES

Mary

Meg

John

Both events are free and open to the public. Learn more at bachfestivalflorida.org/oratorio-competition

Elisse Albian, soprano

Opal Clyburn-Miller, tenor

Dylan Evans, bass-baritone

Liz Lang, soprano

Cody Ryan Arthur, tenor

Rachel Doehring Jackson, soprano

Lauren Kelly, mezzo Scott Purcell, bass-baritone

Wilson, soprano

Bragle, mezzo-soprano

Grau, tenor Dashon Burton, baritone

Regina Caeli á 8

Bach Festival Society of Winter Park Presents

VOCES8

Sunday, February 15, 2026 | 7:30pm | Knowles Memorial Chapel

P R O G R A M

Tomás Luis de Victoria

All Seems Beautiful to Me Eric Whitacre

The Road Home Stephen Paulus

For Your Eyes Only and You Only Live Twice

John Barry & Bill Conti / arr. Jim Clements

London By Night Carroll Coates arr. Gene Puerling

Ubi Caritas Ola Gjeilo

Stardust Taylor Scott Davis

Ave Maris Stella Edvard Grieg

Nunc Dimittis Gustav Holst

I N T E R M I S S I O N

Give Me Your Stars Lucy Walker

Liebe Franz Schubert

Dulaman Michael McGlynn

Underneath the Stars

Kate Rusby / arr. Jim Clements

Danny Boy trad. / arr. Joshua Pacey

Homeward Bound Simon & Garfunkel / arr. Naomi Crellin

Cheek to Cheek

April in Paris

Irving Berlin / arr. Jim Clements

Vernon Duke & Yip Harburg / arr. Jim Clements

New York, New York Fred Ebb & John Kander / arr. Alexander L’Estrange

Voces8 is represented by Scott Mello, Opus 3 Artists, LLC for exclusive North American booking in collaboration with Robin Tyson, Podium Music Ltd.

VOCES8 VOCAL ENSEMBLE

The 2023 Grammy-nominated British vocal ensemble VOCES8 is the world’s top-streaming classical vocal group and proud to inspire people through music and share the joy of singing. Touring globally, the group performs an extensive repertory both in its a cappella concerts and in collaborations with leading musicians, orchestras, conductors and soloists. Versatility and a celebration of diverse musical expression are central to the ensemble’s performance and education ethos which is shared both online and in person.

“Close harmony singing doesn’t get much more flawless than this” (The Times-London)

The Singers

Savannah Porter, Soprano

Eleonora Poignant, Soprano

Katie Jeffries-Harris, Alto

Barnaby Smith, Counter-tenor

GIVE ME YOUR STARS

Blake Morgan, Tenor

Euan Williamson, Tenor

Chris Moore, Baritone

Dominic Carver, Bass

Give Me Your Stars explores the profound and diverse beauty of music inspired by the heavens, human connection, and the places we call home. At its heart is Lucy Walker’s eponymous new work, written for VOCES8, which captures the delicate balance between celestial wonder and the deep, personal connections that make us human.

The programme spans centuries of choral music, from the luminous polyphony of Tomás Luis de Victoria’s Regina Caeli to timeless jazz standards. Along the way, we encounter the reflective sentiments of Eric Whitacre’s All Seems Beautiful to Me and Ola Gjeilo’s Ubi Caritas, folk traditions in Danny Boy and Michael McGlynn’s Dúlamán, and evocative tales of cities and starlight in April in Paris and New York, New York

VOCES8 VOCAL ENSEMBLE

VOCES8 has performed at many notable venues since its inception in 2005 including Wigmore Hall, Barbican Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Berlin Philharmonie, Cité de la Musique Paris, Vienna Konzerthaus, Tokyo Opera City, NCPA Beijing, Sydney Opera House, Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall, Victoria Concert Hall Singapore, and Palacio de Bellas Artes Mexico City amongst many others. This season they perform over 120 concerts in 20 countries.

They have collaborated in concert and in the recording studio with musicians including Paul Simon, Jacob Collier, Eric Whitacre, Christopher Tin, Olafur Arnalds, Cody Fry, Rachel Podger, Jack Liebeck, Bomsori Kim, Jonathan Dove, Chanticleer, The King’s Singers, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra and others.

VOCES8 is passionate about music education and is the flagship ensemble of music charity the VOCES8 Foundation which actively promotes ‘Music Education For All’. Engaging in a broad range of in-person outreach work that reaches up to 40,000 people a year, the Foundation runs an annual programme of workshops and masterclasses at the VOCES8 Centre at St Anne & St Agnes Church, London. Dedicated to supporting promising young singers, VOCES8 awards eight annual choral scholarships through the VOCES8 Scholars initiative. These scholarships are linked to the annual Milton Abbey Summer School at which amateur singers of all ages learn and perform with VOCES8. Through the separate VOCES8 USA Foundation there is another set of twelve talented Scholars.

VOCES8’s entrepreneurial and community spirit is fostered by Co-Founders Paul and Barnaby Smith. The Covid-19 pandemic gave the impetus for VOCES8 to transform its already exceptional offerings, nurturing a new online audience community providing a chance to engage with classical music in new ways. Pioneering initiatives include the LIVE From London online festival and the VOCES8 Digital Academy.

LIVE From London was created as a specific response to the pandemic. Winning praise for its collaborative approach with artists, press and audiences around the world the team has delivered twelve digital festivals to date, broadcasting over 150 concerts and selling over 250,000 tickets around the world. This season will see Christmas, Easter and Summer online festivals. The VOCES8 Digital Academy is an online choral programme for high schools, colleges and individuals featuring live interaction with members of the ensemble, live and recorded lectures, and video resources to learn and perform music from the renaissance to today. Both LIVE From London and the Digital Academy are filmed by VOCES8 Studios, the in-house recording company.

Alongside their online work VOCES8 is heard regularly on albums, international television and radio. The ensemble is a Decca Classics artist, also releasing on its own label, VOCES8 Records. The Decca

Classics recording of Christopher Tin’s “The Lost Birds” featuring VOCES8 and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was nominated for a Grammy-Award in 2023. Their new album is “TWENTY”, a celebration of the group’s first two decades of performing. Recent releases are “Nightfall”; “A Choral Christmas”; “Home” conducted by Eric Whitacre, featuring his extraordinary work “The Sacred Veil”; and “Seven Psalms” by Paul Simon in which VOCES8 was thrilled to participate.

VOCES8 is proud to be working with Taylor Scott Davis as the group’s Composer-in-Residence and Jim Clements as Arranger-in-Residence. The ensemble has premiered commissions from Jonathan Dove, Roxanna Panufnik, Roderick Williams, Paul Smith, Jason Max Ferdinand, Jocelyn Hagen, Melissa Dunphy, Lucy Walker, Ken Burton, Taylor Scott Davis, Alec Roth, Ben Parry, Ola Gjeilo, Mårten Jansson, Philip Stopford, Owain Park and many others. They publish arrangements of its music, original compositions and educational material with the new digital VOCES8 Publishinghouse, as well as E.C. Schirmer with whom they curate the VOCES8 Foundation Choral Series, and with Edition Peters with whom they have published two anthologies and a series of single octavos. The VOCES8 Method written by Paul Smith is a renowned and unique teaching tool now available in four languages that adopts music to enhance development in numeracy, literacy and linguistics.

General Management of VOCES8 is provided by Robin Tyson at Podium Music Ltd.

Bach Festival Society of Winter Park Presents

CONCERTOS BY CANDLELIGHT: GUILMANT, PAGANINI, RACHMANINOFF

John V. Sinclair, conductor

Routa Kroumovitch-Gomez, violin

Byeol Kim, piano

Paul Jacobs, organ

February 20 & 21, 2026 | 7:30pm | Knowles Memorial Chapel

P R O G R A M

Violin Concerto No. 2, Opus 7 (27')

I. Allegro maestoso

II. Adagio

III. Rondo. “La Campanella”

Routa Kroumovitch-Gomez, violin

Piano Concerto No. 2, Opus 18 (33')

I. Moderato

II. Adagio sostenuto

III. Allegro scherzando

Niccoló Paganini (1782-1840)

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1843)

Byeol Kim, piano

I N T E R M I S S I O N

Symphony No. 1 for Orchestra and Organ, Opus 42 (26') Félix-Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911)

I. Introduction (Largo e maestoso) et Allegro

II. Pastorale. Andante quasi allegretto

III. Final. Allegro assai

Paul Jacobs, organ

FOR ADDITIONAL information about this performance, click here to view the digital program.

ROUTA KROUMOVITCH-GOMEZ, VIOLIN

Routa Kroumovitch, born in Riga, Latvia, started her music studies at a very early age at the USSR Latvian Music Academy. She was awarded a full scholarship to the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory and was accepted to study with the eminent David Oistrakh.

Routa has served as concertmaster for the Chilean Philharmonic Orchestra and Symphony Orchestra. Upon emigrating to the U.S. she was concertmaster of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. Currently, Routa is a professor at Stetson University's School of Music and for the last 25-plus years, she has been the concertmaster of the Bach Festival Orchestra in Winter Park, Florida. In addition to her teaching, she continues to be very active in music festivals such as Grand Tetons and Fairbanks Summer Festival and teaches at the Orfeo International Music Festival in Italy.

BYEOL KIM, PIANO

Byeol Kim has consistently won prizes in the Cleveland, Paderewski, Dallas, Louisiana, San Antonio, New Orleans, and Washington International Piano Competitions. With a Bachelor of Music from Seoul National University, Byeol earned her Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music and earned Artist Diplomas from the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory and also from Rice University, and her Doctor of Musical Arts at Northwestern University. Byeol's creative artistry finds expression in a diverse range of projects that encompass advocacy for social causes, the creation of multimedia concert experiences, conducting Mozart Piano Concertos from the piano, and weaving compelling narratives into her recitals. A dedicated educator, Dr. Kim serves as an Assistant Professor of Music at Rollins College in Winter Park. .

PAUL JACOBS, ORGAN

Organist Paul Jacobs is a much-lauded organist and teacher with an unusually large repertoire, both old and new. The only organist ever to have won a Grammy Award, Mr. Jacobs is an eloquent champion of his instrument and is a fierce advocate of new music. Mr. Jacobs is a pioneer in the revival of symphonic music featuring the organ and regularly appears with the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Warsaw Philharmonic, among others. Mr. Jacobs studied at the Curtis Institute of Music and Yale University. He joined the faculty of The Juilliard School in 2003 and was named chairman of the organ department in 2004, one of the youngest faculty appointees in the school’s history. He received Juilliard’s prestigious William Schuman Scholar’s Chair in 2007. In 2021 The American Guild of Organists named him recipient of the International Performer of the Year Award.

Photo credit: Courtesy of the Artist

NICCOLO PAGANINI (1782-1840)

VIOLIN CONCERTO NO. 2 IN B MINOR, OP. 7

Paganini was classical music’s first rock star. He knew the power of stage presence and possessed the mysticism of a Mephistopheles. In fact, myth paired him with the Devil in a bargain for immortality and it must have worked, because he hasn’t been forgotten.

Gaunt, with a large nose, fiery eyes and personal magnetism to spare, Paganini cut an intimidating figure who sold out concerts and entranced listeners with his pyrotechnic fiddle playing. Some historians believe he suffered from Ehler-Danlos syndrome, a genetic disorder affecting connective tissue and causing extreme flexibility of the fingers and limbs. This may have allowed him to play in a way other violinists could only imagine.

Paganini exploited techniques such as left-hand pizzicato, double harmonics and ricochet bowing, where the bow bounces off the strings. An exhibitionist, he would cut notches in three of the strings on his violin to weaken them; after they would break during the performance, he still managed impress his audience with his single-string acrobatics. Critics poo-pooed such trickery but it made him a fortune on tours throughout Europe, devoted almost exclusively his own music. By refusing to publish his original works, he ran his own monopoly, and violinists had to wait until the 1850s before his scores began to circulate.

Fame and travel eventually wore Paganini down, and he lost most of his savings investing in a Paris casino before dying at age 58 from venereal disease. Because of his refusal to recognize the church (and his alleged association with the Devil), his body was not buried in consecrated ground for another 36 years.

Paganini is best known through tribute works by Liszt and Rachmaninoff, but his set of 24 caprices and six violin concertos stand on their own as concert fare and on recordings. He wrote the Second Violin Concerto in Naples in 1826, an immediate success due to the final movement rondo, which employs a triangle to mimic the sound of a bell. Known as the campanella (“little bell’’), it became so popular that Paganini often performed it as a stand-alone concert piece. Tonight, you will hear the concerto in full, beginning with a continuously flowing allegro maestoso, followed by a pastoral adagio, and the justly famous rondo to close.

SERGEI RACHMANINOFF (1873-1943)

PIANO CONCERTO NO.

2 IN C MINOR

Rachmaninoff lived most of his life in the 20th century, but his music is a product of the romantic era, a throwback more in line with his countrymen Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov than his contemporary, Stravinsky.

For traditional listeners, he wrote music that sticks to the ribs, and he would take pride in knowing his Second Piano Concerto ranks among the most played in the repertoire, along with Beethoven’s Emperor and the Tchaikovsky B Flat. For all its popularity, however, the concerto was borne out of struggle. Rachmaninoff was seriously depressed in 1900 following the failures of his First Symphony and First Piano Concerto, which were snubbed by both audiences and critics.

“Something within me snapped,” the composer wrote. “All my self-confidence broke down. A paralyzing apathy possessed me.”

He sought treatment from Nicholas Dahl, a doctor familiar with auto-suggestion techniques. Dahl convinced his patient to compose a concerto for piano “with the greatest of ease.” So, Rachmaninoff rested, meditated, and began writing with renewed energy, combining music of palpable mood with seamless and soaring melody. He dedicated the work to Dahl, who should in some small way be credited with inspiring a 20th-century masterpiece.

The second of his four concertos – extravagant and voluptuous from start to finish – it opens with eight ominous chords that serve as a hypnotic prelude to the contrasting themes of the first movement. The impassioned piano cadenza takes the music to its peak before a sigh of resignation by the orchestra, a solo call from the horn, and a march-like finish.

The adagio introduces an aching theme at the onset, and piano, woodwinds and strings seem to be in a continuous dialog of sadness. The pop singer Eric Carmen borrowed this theme for his 1975 hit All By Myself, losing a copyright dispute in the process (a year later, he used a theme from the Second Symphony for another song, Never Gonna Fall In Love Again).

The energy of the finale perks up the ears before Rachmaninoff delivers one of his ripest melodies –shared by oboe and viola – before the orchestra brings the work to an electric, if unsettled, close.

“In the world of art and music, there are certain works that are perfect, and the Rachmaninoff Second is perfect,” the pianist Garrick Ohlsson said in an interview with the Tampa Tribune. “It has a flawless, heavenly quality to it. It’s a romantic journey from despair to triumph, full of brooding tragedy and some of the most gorgeous tunes ever written. It sounds as if this piece dropped out of heaven fully formed.”

FELIX ALEXANDRE GUILMANT (1837-1911)

ORGAN SYMPHONY NO. 1, OP. 42

The son of an organist, Guilmant was born for the instrument. He rigorously studied its literature, practiced assiduously and traveled to dedicate new organs. As a globe-hopping concert recitalist, he broadened the instrument’s repertoire by focusing on composers of his own time as well as neglected musicians of the past − evident in his involvement in the 1904 revival of Monteverdi’s Orfeo.

His best-known work, the Symphony No. 1, is a beefed-up arrangement of one of his eight organ sonatas, resulting in a massive wall-of-sound experience that exploits the sonic spectrum of the instrument. Audiences at its premiere in August 1878 were impressed − maybe even overwhelmed − by how organ and orchestra seemed to wrestle with the ear-jarring main theme that opens the work. In contrast, a softer second theme softens the blow.

The next movement, marked Pastorale, uses the organ’s flute stops in a lovely fugue that would have made Bach blush, and follows it with a dreamy melody in the “heavenly voice’’ stop enveloped by the strings. The finale explodes in an overt display of virtuosity, with rapid-fire notes countered by trumpets, cymbals and kettledrums in a rousing close.

Program notes by Kurt Loft, a journalist and arts writer who has covered classical music for the Tampa Tribune and other publications for 45 years. A member of the Music Critics Association of North America, he lives in St. Petersburg.

Bach Festival Society of Winter Park Presents

THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT: BEETHOVEN, HAYDN & MOZART

John V. Sinclair, conductor

Bach Festival Choir and Orchestra

David Bjella, cello

Anna Eschbach, soprano | Morgan Davis Peckels, mezzo-soprano

Brad Diamond, tenor | Stephen Mumbert, bass

Sunday, February 22, 2026 | 3:00pm | Knowles Memorial Chapel

P R O G R A M

Symphony No. 1, Opus 21(25’)

I. Adagio molto – Allegro con brio

II. Andante cantabile con moto

III. Menuetto: Allegro molto e vivace – Trio

IV. Finale. Adagio – Allegro molto e vivace

Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Hob VIIb:1 (24’)

I. Moderato

II. Adagio

III. Finale. Allegro molto

Mass in C Major, K. 317 (25’)

1. Kyrie eleison (Lord, have mercy)

David Bjella, cello

I N T E R M I S S I O N

2. Gloria (Glory to God in the highest…we give thanks)

3. Credo (I believe in one God…)

4. Sanctus (Holy…Hosanna in the highest)

5. Benedictus (Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord…)

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

6. Agnus Dei (Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, grant us peace)

FOR ADDITIONAL information about this performance, click here to view the digital program.

BACH FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA

John V. Sinclair, conductor

VIOLIN I

Routa KroumovitchGomez,

Alvaro Gomez, Co-concertmasters

Shelley Mathews

Mary Bos

Olga Ferroni

Julia Gessinger

Kathleen Beard

Maurius Tabacila

FLUTE

Nora Lee Garcia

Emma Koi

HORN

Kathy Thomas

The John and Linda Allen Chair

Ben Lieser

Pam Titus

Justin Gittle

VIOLIN II

Joni Roos, principal

Rhonda Burnham

Victor Ferroni

Christina Gant

Jennie Rudberg

Olivia Skaja

Thomas Todia

Aysima Anik

OBOE

Sherwood Hawkins

Lora MacPherson

TRUMPET

John Copella

Fred Green

PERCUSSION

Thad Anderson

VIOLA

Susan Gray, principal

Daniel Flick

Marla Morgan

Linda Kessler

CLARINET

Jessica Speak

Erik Cole

TROMBONE

Jeff Thomas

Aaron Lefkowitz

Will Nestler

ORGAN

Andre Lash

HARPSICHORD

Joanne Kong

CELLO

Brenda Higgins, principal

Shona Mcfadyen

Maureen May

Amie Tishkoff

STRING BASS

Rob Kennon, principal

Lee Eubank

BASSOON

Ashley Heintzen

Sasha Enegren

TUBA

Brandon Slone

TIMPANI

Kirk Gay

DAVID BJELLA, CELLO

A native of Iowa, David Bjella has a multi-faceted career as a teacher, chamber musician, orchestral player, and soloist. He is Professor of Cello at the University of Central Florida School of Performing Arts and has previously been on the faculty of Stetson University, Florida State University, and the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan. He is a member of the IRIS Orchestra in Memphis Tennessee under the direction of Michael Stern and was a member of the Inman Piano Trio for 13 years. A sought-after performer and teacher, in 2018 Bjella joined the Academia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy and the Madeline Island Chamber Music Festival in Wisconsin. He has been on the faculty of numerous festivals, including Orfeo Festival in Italy, Rocky Mountain Summer Conservatory in Colorado, Bellingham Festival in Washington State, Quartz Mountain Festival in Oklahoma, Black Hills Chamber Soloists in South Dakota, Cedar Valley Chamber Music Festival in Iowa, Bay Area Music Festival in Florida, Beaumaris Festival in Wales, and Cuerdas de Enlace in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. As soloist, Bjella has appeared with many regional and college orchestras in the Southeast and Midwest. Professionally, he has been Principal Cellist of the Florida Symphony, Orlando Philharmonic, Southwest Florida Symphony, the Annapolis Symphony, a member of the cello section in Cincinnati, Tampa (Associate Principal Florida Orchestra) as well as a substitute for the Baltimore Symphony and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. He is currently the Principal Cellist for the Winter Park Bach Festival Orchestra.

ANNA ESCHBACH, SOPRANO

Soprano Anna Eschbach is highly sought-after as a performer and private voice instructor in Central Florida. Born and raised in Orlando, Ms. Eschbach has performed with numerous companies throughout Florida, including the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, the Brevard Symphony Orchestra, the Villages Philharmonic, the Bach Vocal Artists, the all-female ensemble Helena, and Opera Orlando. Covering a vast array of repertoire, Ms. Eschbach’s solo oratorio performances include Haydn’s Creation, Bach’s Mass in b minor, Handel’s Messiah and La resurrezione, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Faur’s Requiem, Poulenc’s Gloria, Rutter’s Gloria and Magnificat, Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony, Einhorn’s Voices of Light, as well as Orff’s Carmina Burana. Ms. Eschbach earned her bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from Appalachian State University and a master’s degree in vocal performance from the University of Tennessee. She maintains a private voice studio in the Orlando area and serves on the voice faculty at Rollins College.

Photo credit: Courtesy of the Artist

MORGAN DAVIS PECKELS, MEZZO-SOPRANO

Mezzo-Soprano Morgan Peckels is an active performer and highly sought after voice teacher in the Central Florida area. She can be seen singing with numerous orchestras and performance groups in Florida, such as the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, The Orlando Philharmonic, Space Coast Symphony, Brevard Symphony Orchestra, Opera Orlando, and Orlando’s Messiah Choral Society. She is a founding member of The Bach Vocal Artists with the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, and her solo oratorio credits include Bach’s Magnificat and B Minor Mass, Handel’s Messiah, Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans, and Mozart’s Requiem as well as more modern works such as Dan Forrest’s Jubilate Deo and Richard Einhorn’s Voices of Light. Her operatic credits include Amahl and the Night Visitors and Madame Butterfly. Earning her bachelor’s degree from Elon University and her master’s from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Morgan is currently on the voice faculty at Rollins College in Winter Park and runs a thriving private studio from her home in Winter Springs.

BRADLEY DIAMOND, TENOR

Brad Diamond is Professor of Voice and Vocal Pedagogy at Samford University. He was classically trained as an operatic vocalist and has performed professionally across the United States and Canada for the past three decades. Dr. Diamond completed his Bachelor of Music Degree from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ in 1991. He received his Master and Doctorate degrees from the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music between 1993 and 2004. While attending Westminster, Diamond sang as a soloist under the baton of the late Leonard Bernstein. Diamond’s recording discography includes multiple Grammy nominations, and he can regularly be heard presenting significant performance projects on Samford’s campus in faculty recitals.

STEPHEN MUMBERT, BASS

Stephen Mumbert, bass, is hailed as a “Scene-stealer” by the Guardian Newspaper. He is currently an Adjunct Professor of Voice at Rollins College, Stetson University, and maintains a private voice studio in Orlando FL. He is a graduate of Stetson University where he holds a B.M. in voice performance, and an M.M. in opera from The Boston Conservatory. Performance highlights include Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances in Steinmetz Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, bass soloist for the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park’s Classic Christmas Concert, Mozart’s Requiem with the Dakota Valley Symphony, Handel’s Messiah with the Messiah Choral Society, Bach’s St Matthew Passion, Handel’s La Resurrezione, Einhorn’s Voices of Light and Faure’s Requiem with the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park. He was featured in “Leading Men of Broadway,” a concert with the Space Coast Symphony.

Photo credit: Courtesy of the Artist

BACH FESTIVAL CHOIR

John V. Sinclair, director | Lynn Peghiny, accompanist

Isabel Acuna, 4

Hallie Allen, 2

Katie Anderson, 2

Stewart Anderson, 5

Sue Antonition, 3

Liz Ausburn, 5

Meg Baldwin, 6

Barby Barbara, 7

Will Barbara, 7

Caleb Bartholomew*

Samantha Basso, 3

Jim Beck, 14

Lisa Benincasa

Heather Bissett, 3

Skylar Black*

Robert Blankenship, 1

Rebecca Blankenship-Vargas, 1

Victoria Blankenship-Waziri, 1

Andrew Bostrom, 1

Rossana Buchtik

Mabel Burridge

Michael Burridge, 26

Gayle Burton, 1

Chantelle Cade, 7

Laurie Calhoun, 7

Andrew Campbell

Melanie Campbell, 2

Valerie Caro

Julia Carpenter, 14

Charlie Carroll, 1

Ellen Huey Cassel, 15

Richard Chambers, 1

George Chandler, 8

Mandi Chapman

Kateryna Cherenko, 2

Anne Claiborne, 2

Maya Clausen, 5

Tom Cook, 35

Vivian Cook, 7

Michael Creighton, 4

Abigail Cribbs, 1*

Carl Davis, 23

Tim Delcavo, 10

Kollin Dembeck*

Mirjana Dimitrovska, 6

Frank DiPietro, 5

Irina Dixon, 3

Jacqueline Dixon, 2

Karen Dunscomb, 3

Lilliyan Duong, 1*

Dante Duphorne, 18

Ashley Duvé, 11

Cynthia Dybas, 10

Tabitha Dybas, 6

Dana Eagles, 15

Patti Eastwood, 2

Jolie Eichler, 18

Marjorie Emmert, 7

Mary Frances Emmons, 4

Jonathan Erick, 30

Amanda Faramelli

Raphael Arenas Fernandez, 5

Bob Fields, 7

Jay Forsythe, 2

Alice Fortunato, 6

Larry Fortunato, 11

Lindsay Fraser

Brad Gant, 4

Linda Gibson, 2

Rebekah Gibson-Cribbs, 2

Charlotte Giese, 1

Ginés Ginés, 1

Barbara Gomes Carano, 2

Maribel Gomez, 3

Faith Graves

Cheri Grayson, 2

Alison Greene, 6

Minet Gregory, 12

Regunia Griggs, 26

Gregg Gronlund, 27

James Guild, 3

Jeanné Hall, 6

Diane Hansen, 12

Grant Hayes, 6

Sarah Hibbs, 1

Richard Horn, 2

Ariel Hudak, 9

Rebecca Hull, 15

Silvia Ibañez, 9

Howard Jaffe, 6

Elisabeth Johar, 3

Heather John, 10

Dakota Johnson*

Sondra Jones, 15

Joey Jones*

Beth Kassander, 10

Megan Kenney, 2*

Amanda Kinder, 8

Savannah King*

James T. Kitchens, 4

Yen-Yen Kressel, 19

Caleb Lang, 1

Elizabeth Lang, 1

Brian Lanier, 1

Beecher Larson, 2

Rebekah Lewis, 2

Gary Li,1

Kathleen LoPresti, 23

Leyse Lowry, 11

Clara Mansilla, 1

Julie Mathews, 3

Stephanie Matthews, 1*

David Mattson, 19

Carolyn Maue, 4

Elizabeth Maupin, 8

Michael McClory, 2

Justin McGill, 6

Katelyn McInturff*

Margaret McMillen, 33

Rita Merlot, 17

Janice Meyer, 10

Susan Miller, 4

Aleitha Morgan, 13

Natalie Morgan, 4

Margaret Munro, 2

Gabriel Narvaez, 1*

Mary Nink

John Niss, 31

Nelie Noel

Luke Noles, 10

Donna O'Connor, 2

William Oelfke, 36

Digna Ojito, 1*

Camryn Ovsek

Betsy Owens, 13

Liana Pacilli, 13

Luis Padilla, 1

Meredith Parker, 3

Kirsten Paulson, 5

Isabelle Perez, 2*

Ashley Peters, 5

Cara Pfost Brown, 3

Martin Phillips, 25

Kurt Plotts, 20

Dan Preslar, 2

Veronica Prevost, 5

Bj Price, 21

Rick Ramsey

Beverly Rich, 11

Stephanie Rivera, 2

Rhonda Rodriguez

Pamela Rosario,10

Erin Rosel, 2

Sebastian Sanchez, 3*

Jane Scamehorn, 11

Chrissy Schreiber

Edward Searl, 3

Daniel Sharp, 6

Karyll Shaw, 11

Amanda Shoopman, 6

Taylor Sinclair, 11

Michael T. Sinelli, 1*

Diana Sisley, 19

Megan Skena*

Beverly Slaughter, 51

Andrew Smith, 2*

Joshua Song, 1*

Vanessa Spallone, 2

Yvette Stohler, 1

Rebecca Stracener, 1

Herbert Suarez, 1

Alona Svydenko, 2

Nataliia Svydenko, 2

Jodi Tassos, 51

Kemi Taylor

Maja Lucic Tepper, 3

Jennifer Thibodeau, 3

Alex Tiedtke, 6

Shoshanna Van Loan

Nobel Vega Bahamundi*

Jeanine Viau, 9

Cezarina Vintilla, 20

Matthew Walker, 7

Diana Webb, 10

BACH FESTIVAL CHOIR

Benjamin Webster, 1*

Sarah Webster, 1*

Jane White, 44

Patty White, 8

Susan Whritenour, 16

Wave Wildman, 3*

Gwendolyn Williams, 20

Richard Wilson, 2

Rowan Wilson, 2*

David Wrenn

Enrique Ynaty, 1*

Emma Youngblood, 1*

Mary Lou Zobel, 9

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791)

CORONATION MASS IN C MAJOR, K. 317

What can be said of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart that hasn’t been said a thousand times over? So much has been written about this precocious wonder of music − the effortless style of many of his 626 compositions; the perfection of his operas, late symphonies and piano concertos; and the ominous torso of the Requiem − that anything more seems redundant.

We can all agree, however, that Mozart was an innate musician who created art with uncanny ease and profound humanity. His vulnerability also reminds us that he was not a musical god, but a mortal. But what mortal could have composed the Coronation Mass?

Mozart wrote the work in 1779, when he was 23, and along with the Piano Concerto No. 26 is one of two pieces given the name Coronation because of their honorary nature. The request from the archbishop of Salzburg came with one restriction: The Mass had to fit neatly into a 45-minute church service, which left less than 30 minutes for music.

Unhappy with the constraint, Mozart nonetheless delivered a masterpiece built on the setting of the ordinary (rather than the proper): Kyrie eleison, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei. While he followed the conventions of Salzburg church music of his time – omitting violas, for instance − his genius is everywhere: the seamless blend of the grand and lyrical, a sound both symphonic and transparent, and the balance of textural and musical symmetries. At times, the distinction between church music and opera blur, evident in the magnificent soprano solo in the closing section that mirrors the Dove sono aria from Marriage of Figaro.

FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN (1732-1809)

CELLO

CONCERTO NO. 1

IN C MAJOR

The sheer number of orchestral works lost over the centuries no doubt would match those in publication. Neglect, fire, floods, war and theft have taken their toll on what potentially great or illuminating compositions could be with us today. So, whenever a “new” work by a major composer surfaces the news sends a wave of excitement across the globe.

This was the case in 1961, when a musicologist discovered the score of a cello concerto by Haydn at the Prague National Museum. Scholars knew of the work only through Haydn’s own reference in the catalog of his compositions, but the score itself was thought to be lost. So, when the reconstituted music came to light, it was deemed authentic and given its first modern performance in 1962 – two centuries after its composition. Although written alongside Haydn’s earliest symphonies, the concerto shows a mastery of the instrument and in the soloist-orchestra “agreement” of the concertante style of the time.

Cast in three movements, the concerto opens with a stately theme by the orchestra and a sonorous response from the soloist. The cello waxes virtuosic with plenty of electrifying notes in high registers. Haydn did not write a cadenza at the end of the opening movement, giving that assignment to whoever might be the soloist.

The centerpiece adagio is for strings alone, a comforting moment that allows the cello to bathe in

complementary textures. The feeling here is both serene and passionate. Haydn closes with a feisty finale full of quicksilver passages by the orchestra, and the cello joins in the fun with its most animated assignment in the entire concerto.

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)

SYMPHONY NO. 1 IN C MAJOR, OP. 21

Sitting in the audience in Vienna in 1800, with Beethoven’s First Symphony on the bill, listeners had no idea a flood gate was about to open on the Western music world.

Tame by the standards of his subsequent works, the symphony was Beethoven’s initial foray into the new spirit of individualism, of breaking free the chains of patronage and allowing music to speak for, and to, the inner self. No, the audience wasn’t aware of it then, but by the time the Eroica rolled off the line, they would be.

The First Symphony is modeled after Haydn and Mozart, but references end there, particularly the way Beethoven “backs” into the home key. Moments into the opening movement’s allegro con brio, a new pulse makes itself felt, a dynamic energy that must have been a shock to those early Viennese audiences.

The symphony begins as if following a slow path in the key of F Major, then abruptly stops and changes direction. Surprising listeners with a bit of harmonic tension was Beethoven’s way of having fun, but the first movement quickly falls back on traditional sonata development and concludes in the guise of classic Haydn.

After a conventional slow movement peppered with overlapping themes, Beethoven plunges into a menuetto − the only one in any of his symphonies − although hardly reminiscent of the refined and courtly models of his predecessors. By anyone’s standards, the rhythmic rush of the music suggests a full-blown scherzo hiding somewhere underneath.

Beethoven exhibits more rough humor in the finale: a slow introduction that sets listeners up in one direction, then takes them in another. The orchestra gathers momentum, lets loose with a fortissimo outburst, rides in high spirits up and down the beat, and concludes the symphony in a rustic romp to the finish line.

It’s hard to imagine such a joyful, sunny creation from a composer grappling with the realization of deafness, and whose great musical journey from that point on would be haunted by the demons of anguish and isolation.

Pour le Coucou

Bach Festival Society of Winter Park Presents

FUOCO OBBLIGATO

Saturday, February 28, 2026 | 3:00 PM | Tiedtke Concert Hall

P R O G R A M THE LABYRINTH OF LOVE

Johann Joseph Fux

Coulez, ruisseau from Idomenée (opera) André Campra

Tu te plais, enfant de Cythère from L’Impatience (cantata)

Le Rappel des Oiseaux

Barbaro, tu non credi from Clori, Tirsi e Filemo (cantata)

Jean-Philippe Rameau

Georg Frideric Handel

La farfalla intorno ai fiori from Les Fetes Venetiennes (opera-ballet) A. Campra

Sinfonia pour la tempête Georg Caspar Schürmann

Sovente il sole from Andromeda liberate (opera)

Come in ciel from Apollo e Dafne (cantata)

Pour le Rossignol

You spotted snakes from The Fairies (opera)

Sweetest of Birds from The Seasons (oratorio)

Antonio Vivaldi

G. F. Handel

J. J. Fux

John Christopher Smith

Pour la Caille J. J. Fux

Schafe können sicher weiden from Cantata BWV 208 (The Hunt)

Vergnügte ruh from Cantata BWV 17

Johann Sebastian Bach

Gigue J. J. Fux

Zeffiretti che sussurrate from (a lost opera) A. Vivaldi

Sorge il di from Acis, Galatea e Polifemo (opera)

FOR ADDITIONAL information about this performance, click here to view the digital program.

G. F. Handel

FUOCO OBBLIGATO

The Paris-based opera company, Opera Fuoco, is dedicated to the lyric repertoire from Monteverdi to the present. Founded by American conductor David Stern and violinist Katharina Wolff in 2003, Opera Fuoco combines an ambitious young artists program and international performance season with one of the most versatile instrumental ensembles in Paris. Its growing world-wide reputation as a launchpad for young singers has made it one of the most sought-after young artists programs in France. Opera Fuoco’s activities are largely Paris-area based, with a residence at the Opéra de Massy for large orchestral and staged productions, regular concerts at the Paris Philharmonie, as well as chamber and recital series in collaboration with several city museums. The company has developed its international reputation with regular performances in partnership with renowned festivals and ensembles in Germany, Austria, Sweden and China. Opera Fuoco, a non-for-profit organization, receives funding from the French cultural ministry as well as other public institutions and is supported by several private American and European foundations and its generous Friends Circle.

Fuoco Obbligato, founded by violinist Katharina Wolff in 2020, is a chamber ensemble combining Opera Fuoco’s young singers and its instrumental soloists. Whether interpreting arias from baroque opera, oratorio, the passions or cantatas, the ensemble explores the subtle discourse between singer and instruments. The intertwining of vocal and instrumental “obbligato” lines, often representing a musical ego and alter-ego, is an expressive medium used by composers from the early 18th century onward. Fuoco Obbligato gives the company’s Young Artists Program an intimate performance platform to complement

the masterclasses and full-scale opera productions. The ensemble is currently in residence at the Château d’Ecouen - National Renaissance Museum of France and plays regularly at the Marmottan Monet Museum in Paris and in numerous festivals in France. It is returning to Southern Florida this year after a tour in 2024.

Members of the Opera Fuoco Young Artists Program

David Stern, Artistic Director

Katharina Wolff, Co-Artistic Director / Violin

Jean Bregnac, Flute

Jennifer Hardy, Cello

Kenneth Weiss, Harpsichord

Juliette Tacchino, Soprano

Sophia Stern, Mezzo-soprano

DAVID STERN, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

DAVID STERN is an international conductor, creator of original projects, champion of rare works and mentor to tomorrow’s singers. Newly appointed Music Director of the Palm Beach Opera after 11 years of serving as Chief Conductor, he has also been Music Director of the Israel Opera in Tel Aviv, the Opera St Gallen in Switzerland, and previously led the Philharmonie Südwestfalen in Germany. In 2003 he founded Opera Fuoco, the independent, Paris-based opera company, adding to its much-lauded Young Artists program in 2008. The program has since nurtured some of the most important voices in Europe today. The company is in the middle of a three-year residency at the Paris area Opéra de Massy for bi-annual productions which serve as a platform for young artists to collaborate with renowned or emerging stage directors, choreographers, choruses, and ensembles.

David Stern has been regularly invited to the Paris Philharmonie, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysees, as well as the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Luzern and Gstaad Festivals, the Theater an der Wien, Vienna Konzerthaus, and the Beijing Music Festival. David Stern spent recent seasons with the Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Zuid in the Netherlands and the Juilliard School and Curtis Institute of Music opera programs.

He has regular engagements with young artists’ programs in Sweden, China and the United States, notably for productions with the Palm Beach Opera Young Artists Program, the Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute and the CNSM National Conservatory in Paris. Aware of the need to communicate, educate and transmit to a young and ever more diverse audience, he was a guest conductor of the Démos project (France’s version of the “Sistema” program) in the 24-25 season.

Future projects also include Monteverdi’s The Return of Ulysses with celebrated hip-hop choreographer Anne Nguyen at the Opéra de Massy and Felix Mendelssohn’s version of Bach’s St Matthew Passion in the spring of 2027 at the Bachfest in Leipzig as part of the celebration of the work’s 300th anniversary.

As an orchestral conductor, Stern has led recent performances with the Royal Danish Opera Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Handel & Haydn Society Orchestra, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra Basel and the Lübeck Philharmonic Orchestra.

Stern has played a significant role in the development of the classical music scene in China for over 20 years. A regular guest of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, the China Philharmonic in Beijing and the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, he also created the Shanghai Baroque Festival from 20132019 and since 2016 has been the co-chair of the jury of the Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition. His performance of Bach’s b-minor Mass in 2019 was the first in 100 years, and his performances of Handel’s Serse and Alcina, and Bloch’s Sacred Service were premieres for the Chinese public.

KATHARINA WOLFF, CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTOR / VIOLIN

Katharina Wolff is concertmaster and founding member of the Paris-based opera company, Opera Fuoco. Born in Germany, she grew up in New York and Bodton, receiving a BA from Yale University and a MM from the New England Conservatory of Music. Her interest in the baroque aesthetic led her to return to Europe to study with Reinhard Goebel and join the renowned period-instrument ensemble Musica Antiqua Köln. After having played under Bernstein and Ozawa at Tanglewood, Wolff enjoyed professional orchestral experiences with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, Les Arts Florissants, as well as Concerto Melante, led by members of the Berlin Philharmonic, recording for the Deutsche Grammophone and Harmonia Mundi labels. In 2020, Katharina founded the chamber ensemble, Fuoco Obbligato, in order to explore the rich repertoire, both well-known and rare, written for solo instruments and voice. It is also a versatile configuration which allows her and David Stern to showcase members of the Opera Fuoco Young Artists Program and the Opera Fuoco Orchestra in a more intimate setting. Wolff plays a Ferdinando Alberti violin from 1743.

JEAN BREGNAC, FLUTE

An eclectic musician and committed teacher, Jean Brégnac performs on French and international stages with ensembles specializing in period instruments such as Le Concert Spirituel, Les Siècles, Opera Fuoco, and Les Musiciens du Louvre. To date, his discography includes more than forty records, ranging from the 17th to the 21st centuries. A sought-after chamber music partner and soloist, he is driven by a desire to showcase unpublished repertoires and create unique projects. He recently recorded the disc “Liebe Amalia” dedicated to Princess Anna-Amalia of Prussia for the Harmonia Mundi label.

Jean Brégnac is regularly invited to give masterclasses in France and abroad. He teaches flute at two Paris Conservatories and Early Music Performance at the University of Poitiers and the Paris Sorbonne. He was trained in Lyon, Geneva, Brussels and Paris National Conservatories and holds two Master’s degrees in performance and a Master's degree in pedagogy.

JENNIFER HARDY, CELLO

Jennifer Hardy is one of the most versatile cellists of her generation. Her concert activities with the Orchestre des Siècles, Le Concert d'Astrée (E. Haïm), Le Concert de la Loge (J. Chauvin), and Opera Fuoco (D. Stern) have taken her all over the world: Amsterdam, Berlin, London, Paris, Geneva, Tokyo, Beijing, New York, Miami, and Mexico.To date, she has recorded more than thirty albums with personalities such as Philippe Jaroussky, Sabine Devielhe, and Cecilia Bartoli.

Jennifer teaches cello at the Académie Jaroussky, has been leading educational workshops for twenty years and is part of the teaching team at the Philharmonie de Paris. She has designed and created

various shows for children. The most recent, based on the story of Peer Gynt, was performed as part of the Atelier Lyrique de Tourcoing in France. Jennifer Hardy studied cello at the University of Leeds, the Janáček Academy in Brno, the Royal College of Music in London, and trained in classical and romantic performance practice at the Abbaye aux Dames in Saintes, France.

KENNETH WEISS, HARPSICHORD

Kenneth Weiss was born in New York City where he attended the High School of Performing Arts. After studying at the Oberlin Conservatory he continued at the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam.

Kenneth is a regular performer with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He also performs in the Berkshire Bach Ensemble's 'Bach at New Year's' concerts with Eugene Drucker, the summer Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival and the prestigious Music@Menlo chamber music festival in San Francisco. He performs in recital with the violinists Fabio Biondi, Daniel Hope, and Lina Tur Bonet (with whom he has recorded the violin sonatas of Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre), the cellist Marc Coppey and mandolinist Avi Avital. He has also conducted The English Concert, Concerto Copenhagen, Orquesta de Salamanca, Divino Sospiro, and the Orchestre de Rouen.

After numerous award-winning solo harpsichord recordings, this season sees the release of a new Bach Trio Sonata transcriptions recording with flutist Sooyun Kim and the debut of a new recital program “A Handful of Keys”, celebrating keyboard ingenuity with works spanning the Baroque Sonata to Ragtime. Mr. Weiss has held teaching positions at the Juilliard School in New York and the Geneva Haute école de musique. He currently teaches at the Paris Conservatory where he is professor of chamber music.

JULIETTE TACCHINO, SOPRANO

Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2024 Sumi Jo International Singing Competition and laureate of the 2024 French Riviera Masters Competition at the Opéra de Nice, Juliette Tacchino is rapidly establishing a flourishing international career. This season, she is performing in Les Demoiselles de Rochefort at the prestigious Théâtre Lido in Paris and embarks on a U.S. tour featuring solo recitals and chamber music concerts.

During the 2024–2025 season, she appeared at the Opéra de Massy in William Boyce’s Solomon with Opera Fuoco under conductor David Stern. She made role debuts in Nozze di Figaro under Nicholas McGegan and in Candide conducted by David Charles Abell with the Curtis Opera Theatre. Juliette made her debut at the Chorégies d’Orange, one of Europe’s most prestigious opera festivals and joined world-renowned soprano Sumi Joon tour in China and South Korea. Highlights from recent seasons include concert performances of Pelléas et Mélisande and Der Rosenkavalier with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. She is a twotime First Prize winner at the Concours d’Opéra Bouffe de Québec.

Born into a family of musicians, Juliette began her vocal journey with the Children's Chorus of the Opéra de Nice. Juliette holds a Master of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and a

Bachelor of Music from the Université de Montréal. She is currently a member of the Opera Fuoco Young Artists Program in Paris.

SOPHIA STERN, MEZZO-SOPRANO

Sophia Stern finds her artistic home interpreting and performing music and words from the renaissance to the contemporary, exploring a mix of opera, Lied, musical comedy, folk, chanson, jazz and spoken word.

Having received her classical training at the Royal Academy of Music in London and the University of the Arts in Berlin, she also holds a degree in comparative literature from Kings College London. As a classical singer, she has performed on stages in Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Israel and China. She is currently interpreting the role of Solange Garnier in Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, a nine-month-long production of the iconic French musical at the prestigious Theatre du Lido in Paris. As former member of the Opera Fuoco Young Artists Program, she has been re-invited to interpret the role of Annio in their 2025-26 production of La Clemenza di Tito at the Opéra de Massy as well as the theaters of Compiègne and Saint Quentin-en-Yvelines.

Deeply committed to the collaboration between performers and creators, she participated in the 2025 Voix Nouvelles Academy, a new program for emerging singers and composers at the Royaumont Abbey near Paris to create new and collaborative works. As a jazz singer, She has performed several times at the renowned Bal Blomet jazz club in Paris, collaborating with percussionist Phelan Burgoyne and pianists Alain Jean-Marie and Chris Culpo. Sophia is co-artistic director of Bellied, an innovative and interdisciplinary festival for Art Song in Berlin. They will present their 5th edition in October 2026.

LABYRINTH

Since its origins in Greek mythology, the labyrinth has taken many forms and has found many settings. Originally conceived as an ingenious maze commissioned by King Minos and designed by the architect Daedalus, it was as revered as it was feared, and we can say that it represented Framed by Fux’s charming dance movements evoking birdcalls, the arias in this program take the listener through the maze of human emotions related to love, curated from the rich trove of mythological stories set to music by composers of the 18th century.

As befitting of its title, the program begins with Venus and Aphrodite and ends with Vivaldi‘s Zefiretti, an aria sung by Hippolyta to her lover Theseus, the Greek hero who found his way out of the Minotaur’s maze. Early on in the program, the hauntingly beautiful Rappel des oiseaux by Rameau is a preamble to two arias by Handel and Campra about fickle love. A storm scene (in good baroque opera tradition) is followed by the chiaroscuro of Vivaldi’s Sovente il sole in which Perseus sings to Andromeda whom he saved from the sea-monster. Come in ciel has the nymph Dafne invoking Neptune and the stars - in other words heaven and earth - to save her from Apollo’s advances. Le Rossignol lends a night-time ambiance to the labyrinth as a fairy casts a spell to protect her sleeping queen from creatures of the night and the nightingale (the transformed Philomela) in Sweetest of Birds, enchants the forest with her lascivious trill. Luckily the quail’s quirky, lilting rhythm brings back the light of day and ushers in Pales, goddess of Shepards who sings of a ruler’s love for his flock followed by Bach’s Vergnügte Ruh, which, in this secular context, flows with ever more delight. To conclude, the lovers Acis and Galatea step out of the labyrinth into a sunny meadow, their musical lines intertwined with the violin and flute representing their faithful hearts.

Bach Festival Society of Winter Park Presents

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

THE PASSION ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN

John V. Sinclair, conductor

Bach Festival Choir and Orchestra

Laura Choi Stuart, soprano | Amanda Crider, mezzo soprano

Jacob Perry, tenor | Kevin Deas, bass

John Grau, Evangelist | Thaddaeus Bourne, Jesus

Joanne Kong, harpsichord | David Bjella, continuo

Brady Lanier, viola da gamba

Sunday, March 1, 2026 | 3:00pm | Knowles Memorial Chapel

PROGRAM

The Passion According to St. John, BWV 245 (120’)

Part 1

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Coro Lord, Our Lord, whose glory is magnificent, in all the earth

Evangelist, Jesus Jesus went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron

Coro Jesus of Nazareth

Evangelist, Jesus Jesus says to them

Coro Jesus of Nazareth

Evangelist, Jesus Jesus answered, I have told you that I am Chorale O great love, o love beyond all measure

Evangelist, Jesus That the saying might be fulfilled

Chorale Thy will be done, Lord God, at the same time

Evangelist Then the band and the captain

Aria (alto) From the bonds of my sins

Evangelist And Simon Peter followed Jesus

FOR ADDITIONAL information about this performance, click here to view the digital program.

Aria (soprano) I will follow you likewise with joyful steps

Evangelist, Maid, Peter, Jesus, Servant That disciple was known to the high priest

Chorale Who hit you so

Evangelist Now Annas had sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest

Coro Are you not one of his disciples?

Evangelist, Peter, Servant He denied it

Aria (tenor) O, my sense

Chorale Peter, who does not think back I

Part 2

Chorale Christ, who makes us blessed

Evangelist, Pilate Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas into the hall of judgement

Coro If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him to you.

Evangelist, Pilate Then said Pilate to them

Coro We must not put any man to death

Evangelist, Pilate,

Jesus That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled

Chorale Oh great king, great at all times

Evangelist, Pilate,

Jesus Pilate therefore said to him

Coro Not this man, but Barabbas!

Evangelist, Pilate, Jesus Now Barabbas was a murdere.

Arioso (bass) Look, my soul, with anxious pleasure

Aria (tenor) Consider how his blood-stained back

Evangelist And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns

Coro Hail, King of the Jews!

Evangelist, Pilate And they smote him with their hands, Coro Crucify him, crucify him!

Evangelist, Pilate Pilate said to them

Chorale We have a law, and by our law he ought to die

Evangelist When Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid

Coro Through thy captivity, Son of God, has come to us the freedom

Evangelist, Pilate But the Jews cried out, and said

Coro If you let this man go, you are not Caesar’s friend

Evangelist, Pilate When Pilate heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth

Coro Away, away with him, crucify him!

Evangelist Pilate says to them

Coro We have no king but Caesar

Evangelist Then he delivered him to them to be crucified.

Aria (bass) Hurry, you souls

Evangelist There they crucified him

Coro Write not, The King of the Jews

Evangelist, Pilate Pilate answered

Chorale In the bottom of my heart

Evangelist Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments

Coro Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be

Evangelist, Jesus That the scripture might be fulfilled

Chorale He was careful of everything

Evangelist, Jesus And from that hour that disciple took her to his home.

Aria (alto) It is finished!

Evangelist He bowed his head, and departed.

Aria (bass) My precious Savior, let ask you

Evangelist And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two Arioso (tenor) My heart, in which the whole world in Jesus’ suffering likewise suffers

Aria (soprano) Melt, my heart, in floods of tears

Evangelist The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation day

Chorale O help, Christ, Son of God

Evangelist And after this Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate

Coro Rest well, holy bones

Chorale O Lord, let your dear little angels

LAURA CHOI STUART, SOPRANO

Laura Choi Stuart appears regularly with the Washington Bach Consort and the Washington Master Chorale in addition to solo appearances with many area ensembles. She was honored for art song performances at the National Association of Teachers Singing Artist Awards and as one of the Art Song Discovery Series winners for the Vocal Arts Society. Solo highlights include Messiah and St. Matthew Passion at the Washington National Cathedral. Laura received her training at The New England Conservatory and Dartmouth College. Laura is Head of Vocal Studies at the Washington National Cathedral and shares resources for adult recreational choral singers at The Weekly Warm-Up

AMANDA CRIDER, MEZZO-SOPRANO

Amanda Crider, mezzo-soprano, regularly appears with Apollo’s Fire, Seraphic Fire Bach Vocal Artists. She also has appeared with many nationally known symphonies, such as the Nashville Symphony, the New World Symphony, the Jacksonville Symphony and the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in the fall of 2007 and has been a featured recitalist on the Trinity Church Concerts at One Series and appeared on Marilyn Horne’s “...the song continues” series at Carnegie Hall. Amanda serves as the Executive Director of Roomful of Teeth and is the founder and artistic director of IlluminArts, Miami's Art Song and Vocal Chamber Music Series.

JACOB PERRY, TENOR

Jacob Perry, tenor, is an avid chamber and solo musician based in Washington, DC and has had solo engagements with American Classical Orchestra, Apollo's Fire, Bach Collegium San Diego, Jacksonville Symphony, Philharmonia Baroque, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Tafelmusik, Tempesta di Mare, Washington Bach Consort, Carmel Bach Festival, and the Washington National Cathedral. He has taught and performed in Beijing, China, and in Rome, Italy, at the Kennedy. Jacob is a cantor and chorister at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and teaches private voice lessons in his home in downtown Silver Springs, MD.

KEVIN DEAS, BASS-BARITONE

Kevin Deas is one of America’s leading bass-baritones, having performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia and Minnesota Orchestras, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Highlighted performances include Haydn’s The Creation, Mozart’s Requiem, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, Mozart’s and Verdi’s Requiems, Bach’s St. John Passion and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Oratorio Society of New York. Kevin has been featured at Italy’s Spoleto Festival and his twenty-year collaboration with the late jazz legend Dave Brubeck has taken him to Salzburg, Vienna and Moscow.

Photo credit: Courtesy of the Artist

THADDAEUS BOURNE, BARITONE

2022 Latin GRAMMY® Award winning album vocalist Thaddaeus Bourne has been praised for his rich baritone (Brooklyn Discovery), his lyrical and touching singing (Parterre Box) and his suave stage presence (Opera News). Originally training as a flutist, he began voice lessons as a means of studying breath support and quickly discovered the joy of making loud noises in foreign languages while playing with swords. Dr. Bourne has sung over forty roles performing in the USA, Europe, Africa, and Latin America. His previous faculty appointments include the University of Florida, Troy University, Butler University, Earlham College, and the University of Connecticut.

JOHN GRAU, TENOR

John Grau performs Baroque to 20th-century oratorio and has performed at many of the Early Music and Bach Festivals around the country. John has appeared with many vocal ensembles and is the co-artistic director and a founding member of the Bach Vocal Artists based in Winter Park, Florida. Dr. Grau’s scholarly activities contribute to the vocal pedagogy, and he is an adjudicator for the National Oratorio Competition for young American singers. John received his BA from St. Olaf College, his MM degree Northern Arizona University, and his Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Grau is currently the chair of the Department of Music at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida.

DAVID BJELLA, CONTINUO See page 16

BRADY LANIER, VIOLA DA GAMBA

Brady Lanier brings expressive interpretations and technical finesse to the viola da gamba repertoire. He currently performs with the Colonial Williamsburg’s resident Baroque chamber ensemble but what sets Brady apart is his ability to connect with modern listeners. An experienced teacher, Mr. Lanier has taught cello and viol for over 30 years. He is currently researching historical viol pedagogy in preparation for his Doctoral thesis. Mr. Lanier is an arranger and composer, with works performed by the Houston Symphony, the United States Air Force Orchestra, the Grand Teton Music Festival, and at Carnegie Hall. Mr. Lanier holds a BA from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and a MM from Indiana University.

JOANNE KONG, HARPSICHORD

Joanne Kong has performed with the Los Angeles and Oregon Bach Festivals, National Gallery of Art Concert Series in Washington, D. C., and the Melk Abbey Summer Concert Series. She was the Grand Prize Winner in the 1985 International Piano Recording Competition and premiered Side by Side, the first concerto to feature a soloist in a dual role as pianist and harpsichordist. Dr. Kong, a gifted collaborator, is in frequent demand with chamber, instrumental and vocal performers and is a coach and guest teacher at numerous universities and is currently the director of the accompanying and chamber music programs at the University of Richmond.

Photo credit: Courtesy of the Artist

ST. JOHN PASSION, JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

J.S. Bach assumed his Leipzig post in the summer of 1723 under inauspicious circumstances, and related to a friend from early days, Georg Erdmann, Imperial Russian Resident Agent in Danzig, that he realized from the outset he was exchanging the company of sympathetic, highly educated aristocrats for a set of wrangling town officials, and the mistrust was mutual.

He was the third choice, and only when his famous colleagues Georg Philipp Telemann and Christoph Graupner had proved unavailable did the town council come to grips with the issue that its minutes have so historically recorded: "Since best man could not be obtained, mediocre ones would have to be considered..." Bach's wish to concentrate on his musical duties and to be relieved of academic teaching assignments was all the more readily deemed "somewhat questionable".

As always in the story of this extraordinary professional career, Bach's character proved immeasurably stronger than the obstacles placed in his way. A period of intense creativity followed; as we know, Bach began to produce a cantata for every week. The greatest musical challenge of the church year, however, did not arise until the Lenten season: the gospel text relating the Passion of Our Lord called for a musical setting different from all others in that the postulates of church music clearly met with the preeminent musical genre of Bach's time: music drama.

In the Passion according to St John, performed on Good Friday, 1724, Bach's work reached totally new dimensions. Bach had never before written a chorus of such magnitude as the opening movement in the St John Passion. It may, in fact, have proved too taxing for the choir boys at St Thomas's, and this may have been the reason why for a second performance of the work, on Good Friday of the following year, Bach substituted a new introductory chorus for the original one. The new opening movement - - O Menche bewein dein Sunde gross, one of the most beautiful Passion choruses Bach has written--measured up to the large new dimension. These and other changes show Bach's ever vigilant working attitude, his constant concern for the perfection of form and style.

The dramatic style of Passion settings was not unknown in Leipzig. The operatic forms of aria, recitative, and ensemble had long invaded the Protestant church cantata, and Bach's predecessor had presented a "theatrical" Passion setting at St Thomas's in 1721. The origin of this style was indeed the theater. The city of Hamburg opened a first German public opera house in 1687 and its early repertoire contained both sacred and secular subjects. Several of the composers who wrote for the Hamburg stage presented settings of the Passion according to St John with the most eminent among these being George Frederic Handel, who composed a St John Passion in 1704.

Throughout his life, Bach was an ardent student of different musical styles, absorbed all that past and present had to offer and turned it into his own incomparable music style. Handel's St John Passion of 1716 has come down to us in a copy make by Bach and his wife, Anna Magdalena. The work may have guided Bach in his composition of the same gospel text, and he used portions of the same poetic paraphrase.

Bach's Passion according to St John stands as a unique creation. The fervor of its language is unmatched in his later works. The perfection of polyphonic texture in its choruses is blended with a lyric quality that shows the composer still as the youthful master. The passionate quality of the quaint picturesque poetry influences the climactic points of the Evangelist's role. But the contours are stark--the part of Jesus is supported by simple continuo accompaniment, and plain chorale settings conclude the First Part, open the Second Part, and form the end of the work.

The structure is drawn with overwhelming clarity. The drama of the First Part is the personal drama, it is Peter's denial; in the Second Part it becomes impersonal. Jesus, forsaken, faces the crowd. In the breathtaking unfolding of choral movements, the hymn verse of chorale No 40, interpreting Christ's imprisonment as mankind's liberation, emerges as the central point of a design from which the same musical settings of different choruses radiate, encircling the divine captive until the crucifixion is completed. The placement of identical hymn tunes parallels this symmetry. The huge structural arch which thus dominates the form of the St John Passion corresponds to the grandeur of the opening chorus and sets a standard that henceforth remained characteristic of Bach's work.

Bach's life work forms ever new cycles. When after an interval of almost two decades he resumed the Missa in B Minor he was artistically commitment to the central portion of the Credo text--Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection. The mighty trilogy of choruses that present the drama of the Christian creed was the last section that Bach completed, shortly before his death. It forms the conclusion of the immense chapter in Bach's work begun with the composition of the St John Passion of 1724.

"This is real Passion music that words cannot describe."

--ALFRED MANN*

*Copyright by the American Choral Foundation, Inc

Reprinted by permission from; Alfred Mann, Bach Studies, a special issue of the American Choral Review, Vol. XXVII, No 1, 985, pp. 31-34.

OUR 2025-2026 SEASON DONORS

The Bach Festival Society of Winter Park would like to thank the individuals and community partners below who have generously made a pledge or contribution in support of the dynamic artistic and educational programming and community engagement for the 91st Season.

BACH FESTIVAL SOCIETY VISIONARIES

$100,000 AND ABOVE

Bach Festival Choir

Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation

Orange County Government through the Arts and Cultural Affairs Program

State of Florida, Department of State Division of Arts and Culture

Rollins College

United Arts of Central Florida

J. S. BACH LEADERSHIP COUNCIL

$50,000 - $99,999

Anonymous

Elinor & T.W. Miller Foundation

Beth and Jack Nagle

Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation

CONDUCTOR'S CIRCLE

$25,000 - $49,999

AdventHealth

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Mr. Alex and The Hon. Cynthia Mackinnon

Pabst-Steinmetz Foundation

Sally and Jack Schott

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COMPOSERS CIRCLE

$10,000 - $24,999

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Dr. Phillips Charities

Florida Charities Foundation

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Anonymous

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Mrs. Sarah Ravndal, in loving memory of my Husband, The Reverend Eric Ravndall III

Wayne and Robin Roberts

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Anonymous (5)

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BENEFACTORS

$1,000 - $2,499

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In Memory of John M. Tiedtke

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James Burrell

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Anonymous (4)

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Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany in Orlando

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Donna and Keith Van Allen

Harold Ward

Katy Moss Warner

Mrs. Gwendolyn B. and Mr. Wilford J. Williams

Betty Jane and Cecil B. Wilson, MD

We are so grateful for all of these generous donors as well as an additional 204 donors who gave up to $999, whose support makes everything we do possible. Each gift, no matter the size, strengthens our mission and allows us to inspire the human spirit through great music. Thank you!

WE EXTEND OUR DEEPEST GRATITUDE TO THE DONORS OF THE UNITED ARTS CAMPAIGN.

Your continued support uplifts not only Bach but also the entire Central Florida arts community. Together, you help ensure that the arts remain a vibrant, inspiring, and essential part of our shared cultural life.

The Continuo Society honors patrons who include the Bach Festival Society in their estate plans. These legacy gifts ensure our mission thrives for generations to come. To learn more about major and planned giving, please contact Executive Director Kathy Berlinsky at 407.691.1056 or kberlinsky@ bachfestivalflorida.org.

CONTINUO SOCIETY MEMBERS

Anonymous (2)

John W* and Linda Cane Allen

P. Andrew and Autumn Ames in honor of John M. Tiedtke

M. Elizabeth Brothers*

Dana and Diana Eagles

Paul M. Harmon

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Rob and Wendy Landry

Bonnie B. and Robert M. Larsen

Leyse Lowery in honor of John V.

Sinclair

Pat McKechnie

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IN HONOR OF JOHN V. SINCLAIR ON HIS 25TH ANNIVERSARY

Anonymous (5)

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THE JOHN V. SINCLAIR ENDOWED CHAIR FOR ARTISTIC DIRECTION

Created in honor of Dr. John V. Sinclair’s 30th anniversary as Artistic Director, this fund supports future Artistic Directors in sustaining the highest artistic standards. For more information, contact Executive Director Kathy Berlinsky at 407.691.1056 or kberlinsky@bachfestivalflorida.org.

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Anonymous (2)

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Crawford

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*deceased

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The Bach Festival Society of Winter Park is an independent nonprofit organization that brings classical music experiences to delight, inform, and inspire audiences of all ages. Your investment in the power of music will support the Society’s ongoing efforts on stage, in classrooms, and across Central Florida.

As we proudly present our historic 91st Annual Bach Festival, we give thanks for the robust financial support that has sustained our long tradition of providing world-class music to Central Floria. Bach’s primary source of donations from patrons takes place through the United Arts Collaborative Campaign, which is currently underway and accounts for nearly 20% of our annual budget.

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HEALING POWER

ARTS

Americana: Barber, Bernstein, Copland

January 30, 2026 • 7:30 PM

91st Annual Bach Festival

Organ Recital: Colin MacKnight

National Oratorio Competition

Finals Concert

Voces8

Concertos by Candlelight: Guilmant, Paganini, Rachmaninoff

Age of Enlightenment: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven

Fuoco Obbligato

J.S. Bach: St. John Passion

Lysander Piano Trio

Passion Music for Early America with Bach Vocal Artists

Duke Ellington: Sacred Service

Silver Screen Classics

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February 6, 2026 • 7:30 PM

February 13, 2026 • 7:30 PM

February 15, 2026 • 7:30 PM

February 20, 2026 • 7:30 PM

February 21, 2026 • 7:30 PM

February 22, 2026 • 3:00 PM

February 28, 2026 • 3:00 PM

March 01, 2026 • 3:00 PM

March 15, 2026 • 3:00 PM

March 26, 2026 • 7:30 PM

April 10, 2026 • 7:30 PM

April 25, 2026 • 7:30 PM

April 26, 2026 • 3:00 PM

Monday-Friday, 10:00am - 4:00pm DON’T MISS A PERFORMANCE

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