Arts & Entertainment
JS Bach St. John Passion
Good Friday: St. John Passion
The St. John Passion is a piece of intense beauty, expressiveness, and narrative force. It describes the story of the end of Jesus’ life in musical form, using arias, recitative narratives, and choruses. Rarely performed outside the concert hall, the Good Friday service at St. Paul’s will present the entire work, with choir, soloists, and chamber orchestra, as part of a liturgy, as originally intended.
Composed by Bach during his first year in Leipzig, the St. John Passion had its premier in the Good Friday liturgy, in 1724. Bach performed it frequently on subsequent Good Fridays until his death in 1750.
The Passion will be sung by St. Paul’s Choir. Accompaniment will be provided by an orchestra of prominent early music specialists, including renowned violinist Elizabeth Blumenstock, as concertmaster. St. Paul's Music Director, David Farr, will direct.
Evangelist: Joshua Black
Soprano: Tonia D’Amelio
Alto: Verah Graham
Tenor: Michael Eisenberg
Bass: Philip Saunders
Concertmaster: Elizabeth Blumenstock
Violin I: David Wilson, Carla Moore
Violin 2: Katherine Kyme, David Sego
Viola: David Daniel Bowes, Daria D'Andrea
Viola da Gamba: Amy Brodo
Cello: Joel Cohen
Violon: Kristin Zoernig
Flutes: Alice Lenaghan, Mindy Rosenfeld
Oboes: Curtis Foster, Fred Fox
Bassoon: David Granger
Archlute: Howard Kadis
Organ: Michael Paige
Harpsichord: Kathleen McIntosh
Director: David Farr