BACH’S ST. MATTHEW PASSION

BACH’S ST. MATTHEW PASSION

Friday, March 20, 2026 at 7:30pm

Saturday, March 21, 2026 at 7:30pm

ALLEN-BRADLEY HALL

Ken-David Masur, conductor

Patrick Grahl, Evangelist, tenor

Tobias Berndt, Jesus, bass

Celena Shafer, soprano

Clara Osowski, mezzo-soprano

Sidney Outlaw, Pilatus, bass-baritone

Matthew Hunt, Petrus, bass

Matthew Seider, Judas, bass

Darwin J. Sanders, Pontifex I, bass

Joseph Thiel, Pontifex II, bass

Emily Bergeron, Testis I, alto

Madison Bolt, Testis II, tenor

Hannah Sheppard, Ancilla I, soprano

Kaleigh Kozak-Lichtman, Ancilla II, alto

Bridget Sampson, Uxor Pilati, soprano

Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

Cheryl Frazes Hill, director

Milwaukee Children’s Choir

John Bragle, director

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

Matthäuspassion [“St. Matthew Passion”], BWV 244 PART I

The 2025.26 Classics Series is presented by the UNITED PERFORMING ARTS FUND and ROCKWELL AUTOMATION. Additional support for Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and Bach Week provided by the WE ENERGIES FOUNDATION.

The length of this concert is approximately 3 hours and 10 minutes.

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra can be heard on the Naxos, Telarc, Koss Classics, ProArte, AVIE, and Vox/ Turnabout labels. MSO Classics recordings are available for digital streaming and download on Spotify, Apple Music, and more.

Guest Artist Biographies

PATRICK GRAHL

Patrick Grahl began his musical career as a member of Leipzig’s Thomanerchor under Georg Christoph Biller. He studied at the University of Music and Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” in Leipzig with Berthold Schmid, graduating with distinction, and furthered his studies in master classes with Peter Schreier, Gotthold Schwarz, Gerd Türk, Ileana Cotrubas, and Karl-Peter Kammerlander. On the opera stage, he has appeared as Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni at Teatro La Fenice in Venice, as Jaquino in Beethoven’s Fidelio with the Insula Orchestra under Laurence Equilbey, and in productions in Lyon, Helsinki, Budapest, and at the Marvão Festival.

Since winning first prize at the 2016 International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition, he has become a sought-after soloist, performing with leading ensembles such as the Gewandhaus Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Dresden, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, RAI National Symphony Orchestra, and the London Symphony Orchestra. Highlights of Grahl’s 2025-26 season include major works by Bach, Haydn’s The Seasons, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Mozart’s Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri, and performances at the Vienna Konzerthaus and Elbphilharmonie.

SIDNEY OUTLAW

Baritone Sidney Outlaw has been described by The Washington Post as a “generous and expressive singer,” The New York Times as a “terrific singer” with a “deep, rich timbre,” and an internationally acclaimed vocalist for his “weighty and forthright” singing (San Francisco Chronicle). Since winning the Concurso International de Canto Montserrat Caballé in 2010, he has performed widely in the U.S. and abroad.

In the 2024-25 season, Outlaw performed recitals with pianist Warren Jones at the Brooklyn Art Song Society and The Manhattan School of Music. He debuted with the California Symphony, singing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and with the Bozeman Symphony, singing Mozart’s Requiem. He also returned to the Jacksonville Symphony for Handel’s Messiah. On the operatic stage, he reprised his roles as Figaro in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni with Pensacola Opera and Opera Philadelphia.

This year, Outlaw released his album, Black Pierrot, featuring music by William Grant Still and the world premiere of Dr. B.E. Boykin’s 26 Ways of Looking at a Black Man, commissioned by the Merola Opera Program, which set text by poet Raymond Patterson and was recently nominated for a Grammy Award. His 2022 debut album, Lament, and 2024 EP of Brahms’s Zwei Gesänge were also released by Lexicon Classics. Outlaw’s recent highlights include performances with Boston Baroque, the Chattanooga Symphony, Toledo Opera, and National Symphony Orchestra, as well as appearances at Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall. Outlaw currently holds faculty positions at the Manhattan School of Music, Columbia University’s Teachers College, and the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College.

Guest Artist Biographies

CELENA SHAFER

Since her breakthrough debut, Celena Shafer has garnered acclaim for her silvery voice, fearlessly committed acting, and phenomenal technique. She spends much of her time on the concert stage working with the leading conductors and orchestras of our time. Since first appearing with the Utah Symphony and Utah Opera as a high school student, Shafer has performed several operatic roles there, including Constanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Gilda in Rigoletto. Recently, she has sung Beethoven’s ninth symphony, Mahler’s second, fourth, and eighth symphonies, and a “Mighty Five” tour through Utah’s state parks, all led by music director Thierry Fischer.

Shafer’s operatic highlights have included appearances as Johanna in Sweeney Todd for the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Nanetta in Falstaff with the Los Angeles Opera, both with Bryn Terfel, Aithra in Die ägyptische Helena with the American Symphony Orchestra, recorded for Telarc, Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Concertgebouw, and Gilda in Rigoletto with the Welsh National Opera. She has returned to the Santa Fe Opera for productions of Mozart’s Lucio Silla, Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict, and Britten’s Albert Herring. Shafer completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Utah and received a master’s degree from the University of MissouriKansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance.

CLARA OSOWSKI

In the 2025-26 season, mezzo-soprano Clara Osowski appears with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra under Ken-David Masur in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra for “Holidays at the Hotel.” She joins the Bach Society of Minnesota for Vivaldi’s cantatas and arias, the Bach Society of Saint Louis for Mozart’s Requiem, and returns to the Schubert Club for both a “Courtroom Concert” and a U.K. recital tour. Additional engagements include Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Seattle Bach Festival and songs by Lili Boulanger with the University of Washington Orchestra.

Recent highlights include collaborations with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra for songs by Charles Ives and Handel’s Messiah, the Rochester Philharmonic for Mozart’s Requiem, the South Dakota Symphony for Mozart’s Mass in C minor and Requiem, as well as Arvo Pärt’s Stabat Mater, the Kansas City Symphony for Handel’s Messiah, and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra for Mozart’s Requiem and Mendelssohn’s Elijah. She made her London debut at Wigmore Hall, appeared with Chicago’s Music of the Baroque in Handel’s Jephtha (also released on recording) and Bach’s St. John Passion, and performed Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. A frequent collaborator with the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Osowski has sung Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and Dominick Argento’s Casa Guidi and A Few Words About Chekhov

Guest Artist Biographies

TOBIAS BERNDT

Tobias Berndt began his musical training with the Dresden Choir of the Church of the Holy Cross. He studied with Hermann Christian Polster at the University of Music and Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” in Leipzig and continued his training with Rudolf Piernay at the Mannheim University of Music and Performing Arts, as well as participating in master classes with Theo Adam, Wolfram Rieger, Norman Shetler, Irwin Gage, Axel Bauni, Julia Varady, and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.

Berndt was a prizewinner at the National Song Contest in Berlin, the International Art Song Competition at the Hugo Wolf Academy in Stuttgart, the International Summer Academy of the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and the Franz Schubert and Modern Music Competition in Graz. His most recent accolades include a first prize at the International Johannes Brahms Competition in Pörtschach and at the Cantilena Song Competition in Bayreuth, as well as winning the “Das Lied” International Song Competition established by Thomas Quasthoff in Berlin. Career highlights have included concerts with L’arpe festante, The English Concert, the Gewandhaus Orchestra, Thomanerchor, Saxony Vocal Ensemble, and MDR Radio Choir. He has sung under renowned conductors such as Peter Schreier, Helmuth Rilling, Howard Arman, Ludwig Güttler, Gewandhaus organist Michael Schönheit, and Andreas Spering.

MILWAUKEE CHILDREN’S CHOIR

The Milwaukee Children’s Choir is Southeastern Wisconsin’s premier youth choir. The MCC provides young singers an opportunity to learn, grow, and perform with peers from around the greater Milwaukee area. With a focus on performance of a wide breadth of repertoire and led by an outstanding team of music educators, MCC members gain experience and skills in a supportive yet rigorous environment. Recently, they have collaborated with some of Milwaukee’s most notable arts organizations, including the Florentine Opera and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.

The Milwaukee Children’s Choir was founded in 1994 by Emily Crocker and became a program of the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in 2024 to ensure its financial stability and legacy of programmatic excellence. The conservatory’s mission is to make exceptional music education accessible to all, and it is proud to have supported growth in enrollment, expanded the number and locations of MCC rehearsal sites, and increased the amount of opportunities for financial aid. To learn more or support this mission, visit wcmusic.org.

Program notes by David Jensen

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

Born 31 March 1685; Eisenach, Germany

Died 28 July 1750; Leipzig, Germany

Matthäuspassion [“St. Matthew Passion”], BWV 244

Composed: 1727; revised 1736, 1742, and 1743 – 1746

First performance: Uncertain; possibly 11 April 1727; St. Thomas Church, Leipzig

Last MSO performance: 27 April 2002; Andreas Delfs, conductor; Virginia Boyer, alto; Christine Brandes, soprano; Paul Busselberg, bass-baritone; Rick Kieffer, bass; Wendelin Lockett, soprano; Stuart Mitchell, tenor; Gigi Mitchell-Velasco, mezzo-soprano; Steve Murphy, bass; Kurt Ollmann, baritone; Stanford Olsen, tenor; Jan Opalach, bass-baritone; Kathleen Sonnentag, alto; Paul Speiser, bass-baritone; James Taylor, tenor; Thomas Weis, baritone; Milwaukee Symphony Chorus (Lee Erickson, director); Milwaukee Children’s Chorus (Emily Holt Crocker, director)

Instrumentation: 4 flutes; 4 oboes (1st and 2nd doubling on oboe d’amore and oboe da caccia, 3rd and 4th doubling on oboe d’amore); 2 bassoons; harpsichord; 2 organs; viola da gamba; strings Approximate duration: 2 hours and 50 minutes

To love something is to suffer, for all things are transient. This inescapable fact of our mortal condition is borne out by the etymological roots of the word passion — in its earliest appearance in Middle English in the 12th century, derived from its Latinate ancestors, the word meant “to suffer” or “to endure.” Put another way, it indicated an experience one was meant to undergo, a turning point on the spiritual path, regardless of one’s personal desires. For centuries, it referred specifically to Christ’s suffering on the cross at the hands of his Roman captors, and by the late Baroque period, musico-dramatic settings of the Biblical account of his crucifixion had become one of the most sophisticated and nuanced vehicles for recounting the last days of his life.

Perhaps no one was more intimately acquainted with the reality of our earthly limitations than Johann Sebastian Bach, a deeply pious man who had lost four of his children in infancy by the time he undertook what would eventually become his lengthiest and most revered masterpiece. Much of the origins of the St. Matthew Passion are shrouded in mystery — Bach left no catalog of his works or their performances, though the modern scholarly consensus is that it was likely premiered at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, where Bach served as Thomaskantor (or director of music, one of the most distinguished positions in the city’s cultural circles), on Good Friday in 1727 as the high point of its Holy Week services. Records indicate that Bach produced at least five different adaptations of the passion in his career, though only his interpretations of the gospel according to Matthew and John have survived.

The core of the dramatic narrative is derived from chapters 26 and 27 of the Gospel of Matthew, which recounts Christ’s anointment by Mary of Bethany, the last supper, Judas Iscariot’s betrayal, the agony in the garden, and Christ’s trials, crucifixion, and burial. In addition to the language of the Gospel itself, Bach employed the civil servant and poet Christian Friedrich Henrici, who wrote under the nom de plume of “Picander” and had furnished Bach with texts for a variety of cantatas and oratorios since at least 1725, to provide additional commentary and develop the text into a full-scale libretto. Picander provided the language for the arias and recitatives interspersed throughout, as well as the weightier choral movements bookending the whole.

Continued on page 46

Continued from page 45

As for the music itself, Bach’s “great passion” is without question one of his most magnificent accomplishments. Though likely staged by only a handful of instrumentalists and singers in his own day, the performing forces are divided into two choruses and two chamber orchestras, and individual roles representing Jesus, Judas, Peter, Pontius Pilate, and other incidental characters are assigned to soloists whose harrowing reflections on Christ’s persecution drive the music to its tragic conclusion. Considered little more than a standard element of the liturgical proceedings in Bach’s day, the music (and Bach himself) could well have fallen into obscurity had it not been for an ambitious 20-year-old named Felix Mendelssohn, whose staging of the St. Matthew Passion at the Berlin Singakademie in the spring of 1829 inaugurated a revival of interest in the composer’s music which has never waned since.

Setting

the Stage for Every Home

2025.26 SEASON

KEN-DAVID MASUR

Music Director

Polly and Bill Van Dyke Music Director Chair

EDO DE WAART

Music Director Laureate

BYRON STRIPLING

Principal Pops Conductor

Stein Family Foundation Principal Pops Conductor Chair

RYAN TANI Associate Conductor

CHERYL FRAZES HILL

Chorus Director

Margaret Hawkins Chorus Director Chair

TIMOTHY J. BENSON

Assistant Chorus Director

FIRST VIOLINS

Jinwoo Lee, Concertmaster, Charles and Marie Caestecker Concertmaster Chair

Ilana Setapen, First Associate Concertmaster, Thora M. Vervoren First Associate Concertmaster Chair

Jeanyi Kim, Associate Concertmaster

Alexander Ayers

Autumn Chodorowski

Yuka Kadota

Elliot Lee

Dylana Leung

Kyung Ah Oh

Lijia Phang

Vinícius Sant’Ana**

Yuanhui Fiona Zheng

SECOND VIOLINS

Jennifer Startt, Principal, Andrea and Woodrow Leung Principal Second Violin Chair

Ji-Yeon Lee, Assistant Principal (2nd chair)

Hyewon Kim, Acting Assistant Principal (3rd chair)

Heejeon Ahn

Lisa Johnson Fuller

Clay Hancock

Paul Hauer

Sheena Lan**

Janis Sakai**

Yiran Yao

VIOLAS

Victor de Almeida, Principal, Richard O. and Judith A. Wagner Family Principal Viola Chair

Samantha Rodriguez, Acting Assistant Principal (2nd chair), Friends of Janet F. Ruggeri Assistant Principal Viola Chair

Alejandro Duque, Acting Assistant Principal (3rd chair)

Elizabeth Breslin

Georgi Dimitrov

Nathan Hackett

Michael Lieberman**

Erin H. Pipal

CELLOS

Susan Babini, Principal, Dorothea C. Mayer Principal Cello Chair

Shinae Ra, Assistant Principal (2nd chair)

Scott Tisdel, Associate Principal Emeritus

Madeleine Kabat

Peter Szczepanek

Peter J. Thomas

Adrien Zitoun

BASSES

Principal, Donald B. Abert Principal Bass Chair

Andrew Raciti, Acting Principal

Nash Tomey, Acting Assistant Principal (2nd chair)

Brittany Conrad

Broner McCoy

Paris Myers

HARP

Julia Coronelli, Principal, Walter Schroeder Principal Harp Chair

FLUTES

Sonora Slocum, Principal, Margaret and Roy Butter Principal Flute Chair

Heather Zinninger, Assistant Principal

Jennifer Bouton Schaub

PICCOLO

Jennifer Bouton Schaub

OBOES

Katherine Young Steele, Principal, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra League Principal Oboe Chair

Kevin Pearl, Assistant Principal

Margaret Butler

ENGLISH HORN

Margaret Butler, Philip and Beatrice Blank English Horn Chair in memoriam to John Martin

CLARINETS

Todd Levy, Principal, Franklyn Esenberg Principal Clarinet Chair

Jay Shankar, Assistant Principal, Donald and Ruth P. Taylor Assistant Principal Clarinet Chair

Besnik Abrashi

E-FLAT CLARINET

Jay Shankar

BASS CLARINET

Besnik Abrashi

BASSOONS

Catherine Van Handel, Principal, Muriel C. and John D. Silbar Family Principal Bassoon Chair*

Rudi Heinrich, Acting Principal

Matthew Melillo

CONTRABASSOON

Matthew Melillo

HORNS

Matthew Annin, Principal, Krause Family Principal French Horn Chair

Krystof Pipal, Associate Principal

Dietrich Hemann, Andy Nunemaker French Horn Chair

Darcy Hamlin

Dawson Hartman

TRUMPETS

Matthew Ernst, Principal, Walter L. Robb Family Principal Trumpet Chair

David Cohen, Associate Principal, Martin J. Krebs Associate Principal Trumpet Chair

Tim McCarthy, Fred Fuller Trumpet Chair

TROMBONES

Megumi Kanda, Principal, Marjorie Tiefenthaler Principal Trombone Chair

Kirk Ferguson, Assistant Principal

BASS TROMBONE

John Thevenet, Richard M. Kimball Bass Trombone Chair

TUBA

Robyn Black, Principal, John and Judith Simonitsch Principal Tuba Chair

TIMPANI

Dean Borghesani, Principal

Chris Riggs, Assistant Principal

PERCUSSION

Robert Klieger, Principal Chris Riggs

PIANO

Melitta S. Pick Endowed Piano Chair

PERSONNEL

Antonio Padilla Denis, Director of Orchestra Personnel

Paris Myers, Assistant Manager of Orchestra Personnel

LIBRARIANS

Paul Beck, Principal Librarian, James E. Van Ess Principal Librarian Chair

Matthew Geise, Assistant Librarian & Media Archivist

PRODUCTION

Tristan Wallace, Production Manager/Live Audio

Lisa Sottile, Production Stage Manager

* Leave of absence during the 2025.26 season

** Acting member of the MSO for the 2025.26 season