ABS Plans for the Rest of the Season

Those familiar with the American Bach Soloists (ABS) know that December is a busy month. They also know that the season then continues into the New Year with a series of subscription programs. Since there is a tendency for details to work out later, rather than sooner, I felt it would be appropriate to provide a brief summary of ABS performances taking place within the San Francisco city limits, using hyperlinks to lead readers to further information about performance details and tickets. Here is the basic summary:

Wednesday, December 13, Grace Cathedral: Traditionally, ABS visit Grace Cathedral to perform George Frideric Handel’s HWV 56 Messiah oratorio. This year those performances will be preceded by a program entitled A Baroque Christmas. It will still begin with the first part (known as the Christmas portion) of HWV 56; and it will conclude with the two best-known choruses, “Hallelujah” and “Amen.” Between those selections, however, there will be a performance of Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Messe de minuit pour Noël (the midnight Mass for Christmas).

Thursday, December 14, and Friday, December 15, Grace Cathedral: These will be the two performances of HWV 56 in its entirety.

Sunday, December 31, Herbst Theatre: Once again, there will be an end-of-year vocal recital. This year’s soloists will be soprano Maya Kherani and bass-baritone Christian Pursell. They will sing arias from operas composed by Handel, Carl Heinrich Graun, and Jean-Philippe Rameau.

Friday, January 26, Green Room of the Veterans Building: This will be another vocal recital. This time the selections will be mad scenes from the Baroque opera repertoire. The vocalists will be mezzo Sarah Coit and baritone Hadleigh Adams.

Sunday, February 25, house concert: Into the Woods is a program that will be performed at a home in Saint Francis Woods. This will be a chamber music program played by two violinists, Jude Ziliak and Ela Kodžas, with Steven Lehning on bass viol.

Sunday, March 10, St. Mark’s Lutheran Church: Next year will be the 300th anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach’s BWV 245 setting of the St John Passion text.

Sunday, April 28, St. Mark’s Lutheran Church: The title of the final program will be Bach’s Favorite Instruments; and the program will feature virtuoso works by both Bach and Georg Philipp Telemann for violin, harpsichord, oboe d’amore, flute, viola, and cello (in order of appearance).