Bach Cantatas!

We are thrilled to return to the beautiful and newly renovated sanctuary of Christ Church Rochester to perform a wonderful program of (mostly) Bach cantatas! There we will have the privilege of performing with the glorious Craighead-Saunders organ, one of the few examples in the Western Hemisphere of a full-size organ in the style of 18th-century Germany. The organ will be featured in Bach's cantata Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenslust (BWV 170), for alto solo, obbligato organ, oboe d'amore, and strings, for which we are excited to welcome back Nicholas Garza as alto soloist. We will also welcome Rochester favorite Laura Heimes as the soprano soloist in Bach's dramatic cantata Mein Herze schwimmt in Blut (BWV 199), which also features expressive solos for the oboe. Rounding out the program will be a cheerful duo cantata by Christoph Graupner, an extremely prolific contemporary of Bach's who turned down the job offer to be Thomaskantor in Leipzig before it was offered to Bach.

Laura Heimes, soprano 

Nicholas Garza, countertenor 

Caroline Giassi, baroque oboe 

Michael Unger, organ 

Boel Gidholm, Patricia Ahern, Lydia Becker, Mary Riccardi, Aika Ito, James Marshall, baroque violin 

Alissa Smith, Joshua Newburger, baroque viola 

Christopher Haritatos, baroque violoncello 

Beiliang Zhu, baroque violoncello and violoncello piccolo  

Michelle Wenderlich, violone