DESCRIPTION
Fall in love with the surreal and sublime when musical innovation meets enduring classical elegance! Brazilian-born composer Clarice Assad‘s works, Bohemian Queen and “Suite for Lower Strings”, draw inspiration from the surrealist artistry of Gertrude Abercrombie and the timeless compositions of J.S. Bach. Paired with Bach’s Baroque-era brilliance of his Magnificat, an extraordinary evening unlike any other is guaranteed!
FEATURED GUESTS
Mary Bowden, trumpet
Southwest Michigan’s Chorllennium.
TICKET DETAILS
Adult – $32 General Admission
Youth* – $16 General Admission
Processing fees included in price.
*Youth – ages 6-17 years
Eligible Discounts
4UR Schools | Senior | Group
SAT. FEBRUARY 22, 2025
First Congregational Church
2001 Niles Ave | St. Joseph, MI 49085
EVENT SCHEDULE
6:00 PM – Doors open
6:30 PM – FREE Pre-Concert Conversation with Maestro Aubin (30 min)
7:30 PM – Concert (90 min)
Program Schedule
This concerto makes use of a popular chamber music ensemble of the time (flute, violin, and harpsichord), which Bach used on its own for the middle movement. It is believed that it was written in 1719, to show off a new harpsichord by Michael Mietke which Bach had brought back from Berlin for the Köthen court. It is also thought that Bach wrote it for a competition at Dresden with the French composer and organist Louis Marchand; in the central movement, Bach uses one of Marchand’s themes. Marchand fled before the competition could take place, apparently scared off in the face of Bach’s great reputation for virtuosity and improvisation.
“Suite for Lower Strings” (2009) is a five-movement fantasy on well-known themes by J.S. Bach. The work emphasizes the string section’s lower voices, such as the viola, cello, and bass. Typically in Baroque music, the melody was given to the higher instruments — but the suite, commissioned by the New Century Chamber Orchestra, was specifically tasked to showcase the often under-used lower instruments.
Johann Sebastian Bach’s Magnificat, BWV 243, is a musical setting of the biblical canticle Magnificat. It is scored for five vocal parts (two sopranos, alto, tenor and bass), and a Baroque orchestra including trumpets and timpani. It is the first major liturgical composition on a Latin text by Bach.