Enlarge image The Dessoff Choirs (© The Dessoff Choirs) The German Consulate General Recommends:

Johann Sebastian Bach and the generations of musicians influenced by him will be the focus of Refracted Bach, a five-part festival, culminating in a performance of Bach’s towering masterpiece the Mass in B Minor. The Festival will be presented by The Dessoff Choirs in venues around New York City from January 31 to March 3, 2012. “In this festival, we view all music through the prism of Bach, exploring repertoire from ‘Palestrina’ to the cutting edge of today’s music,” says Dessoff’s Music Director Christopher Shepard, a leading Bach interpreter and scholar of Bach performance in America.

In addition to the full performance of the Mass by The Dessoff Choirs and the period-instrument ensemble Arcadia Players on March 3, the festival kicks-off with a lecture on January 31 by renowned Bach scholar George B. Stauffer, followed by performances by Stile Antico; the New York premiere of contemporary English composer Robin Holloway’s Gilded Goldbergs for two pianos; and a participatory reading open to all choral singers, of movements from Bach cantatas.

The Midwinter Festival- the first of its kind for Dessoff, which is now in its 87th season- was inspired by the group’s unique history. The Festival will feature several contemporary works, including the American premiere of William Hawley’s Tota Pulchra Es Maria and the New York premiere of Robin Holloway’s Gilded Goldbergs.

About the Dessoff Choirs

Tracing its roots back to 1924, when Margarete Dessoff and Angela Diller founded the Adesdi Chorus of women’s voices and, soon after, a mixed chorus called the A Cappella Singers of New York, The Dessoff Choirs continues to make its home in New York City. An independent chorus not affiliated with any religious or community group, Dessoff has established a reputation for pioneering performances of choral works from the Renaissance era through the 21st century. The “s” in Choirs connotes the group’s various ensembles, ranging from the large Symphonic Choir that appears with major orchestras, to the smaller Chamber Choir featured in more intimate works.

With Kent Tritle, Dessoff released its first CD, Reflections, which featured the world premiere of Paul Moravec’s “Songs of Love and War” and works by Robert Convery, John Corigliano, and Ned Rorem, an effort that helped earn the group the 1999 ASCAP/Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming. In December 2009, Dessoff released its second CD, Glories on Glories, under the direction of James Bagwell, also available as digital download from multiple online retailers.

Tickets:

$5-55, children under 12 free.
For discounted festival packages and individual tickets,
please visit official website or call (212) 831-8224.

For press tickets, artist bios or images,
please contact Danielle Green: 917.339.7188, dgreen[at]cohndutcher[dot]com

Refracted Bach: The Dessoff Choirs’ 2012 Midwinter Festival is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Festival schedule:

Tuesday, January 31: Why Bach Matters
The festival’s opening lecture, entitled Why Bach Matters, will be given by George B. Stauffer, Dean of the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and author of numerous books on Bach, including J. S. Bach: The Mass in B Minor (Yale University Press). The lecture, sponsored, in part, by the Thiemann-Wicker Foundation, is intended to place Bach in an historical context and to frame the festival’s centerpiece, the Mass in B Minor.

The lecture will be held at
Liederkranz Concert Hall, 6 East 87th Street at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, February 3: “Stile Antico”
Led by Christopher Shepard, “Stile Antico” is a concert of choral and instrumental works that explores how composers of many periods- including Bach himself- have been inspired by earlier styles of music. Bach arranged Palestrina’s Missa Sine Nomine a 6, two movements of which will be presented in this concert, alongside music by another Baroque master, Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki. Also on the program are works by Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Reger, all of whom drew inspiration from Bach. The concert also features contemporary pieces: the American premiere of Tota Pulchra Es Maria by William Hawley (b. 1950); two works by Ingram Marshall (b. 1942): September Canons, a piece for solo violin inspired by the events of September 11, 2001, performed by Todd Reynolds, for whom the work was written, and Holy Ghosts for solo oboe d’amore, written for and performed by Libby Van Cleve; and Komm Jesu, Komm by Sven-David Sandström (b. 1942).

The concert takes place at the
Church of St. Paul the Apostle, Ninth Avenue & 59th Street at 8 p.m.

Tuesday, February 7: Gilded Goldbergs
Performed by pianists Steven Ryan and Catherine Venable, Robin Holloway’s Gilded Goldbergs receives its New York premiere. The work was initially written so that the composer could play Bach’s virtuosic Goldberg Variations on two pianos with friends, but it eventually grew into a concert-hall piece.

The premiere takes place at
Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall at 7:30 p.m

Saturday, February 11: Cantatas Reflected In The Mass In B Minor
All singers are invited to the festival’s penultimate event: a Bach Cantata Sing-In at which Christopher Shepard will conduct Bach cantata movements that the composer refashioned for the Mass in B Minor. The inspiration for this event underscores Dessoff’s commitment to provide opportunities for choral singers who wish to explore the musical canon in depth. “I think many of the thousands of singers who live in New York will enjoy this day tremendously,” says Shepard. “It’s a chance to sing great music, and also to learn and be amazed at Bach’s endless inventiveness and genius.”

The Sing-In will take place at
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Lexington Avenue & 88th Street at 2 p.m.

Saturday, March 3: Mass in B Minor
The festival concludes with Bach’s crowning masterpiece, the Mass in B Minor, BWV 232. The performance, led by Christopher Shepard, will feature The Dessoff Choirs and soprano soloists Susan Consoli and Sabrina Learman, mezzo-soprano Sarah Rose Taylor, tenor Matthew Anderson, and baritone Thomas Jones. They will be joined by the period-instrument group Arcadia Players, led by artistic director Ian Watson. This performance will mark Arcadia’s New York City debut.

The concert takes place at the
Church of St. Mary the Virgin, 145 West 46th Street at 8 p.m.