ANNUAL BACH FESTIVAL SPECIAL EVENTS

Pre-concert talks, masterclasses, and more!

Visit BachFestivalFlorida.org/special-events for a complete schedule and details.

All special events are free and open to the public.

Greetings and welcome!

We are all here for the same reason! Whether you are in the audience, the Choir, the Orchestra, or one of our world-class guest soloists, I believe we all are here to celebrate and to be inspired by the beauty and power of great music.

The music for this, our 88th Festival, was carefully curated in the effort of offering you, our loyal patrons, music that will speak to both the soul and intellect.

We are grateful that you have chosen to join us for Central Florida’s grandest musical tradition and we hope to see you often throughout the Festival.

Warmest regards,

John Sinclair Artistic Director and Conductor Bach Festival Society of Winter Park

About The Bach Festival Society Of Winter Park

The Bach Festival Society of Winter Park’s mission is to inspire the human spirit through extraordinary music, featuring powerful choral performances and innovative programming that celebrates the legacy of J.S. Bach. The 88th Season offers a dynamic array of world-class musicians and vocalists performing classical masterworks and contemporary compositions that will delight, challenge, and inspire listeners. Founded in 1935 at Rollins College, the Bach Festival Society continues to secure critical acclaim for its artistic excellence and its commitment to elevating new music while celebrating traditional composers.

Artistic Director And Conductor

John V. Sinclair enjoys a national reputation as a conductor of choral masterworks while locally being known as one of the hardest-working and in demand artists of the Central Florida cultural community. In his 33rd season as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Bach Festival Society, he continues his imaginative programming, creative interpretations, and expressive conducting.

Dr. Sinclair, known as a master teacher, is Director of Music at Rollins College and holds the John M. Tiedtke Endowed Chair. As a career educator, Sinclair keeps the Society’s educational focus vital by providing a broad range of musical programs and experiences for individuals of all ages. As a conductor who is equally adept at directing choral and orchestral music, he has been referred to as Central Florida’s “resident conductor.” He has appeared as conductor for more than a thousand performances in addition to his work as clinician and lecturer throughout the United States and other countries. The Bach Festival, under his leadership, has achieved international recognition by touring in Europe, producing nationally released CDs and broadcasts, and performing with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Dr. Sinclair holds a masters and doctoral degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Conservatory of Music. His undergraduate school, William Jewell College honored him with its most prestigious Citation for Achievement. In addition to editing and interpreting historical choral works through the Moravian Music Foundation, he has authored an anecdotal book entitled Falling Off the Podium, and Other Life Lessons. The late Wall Street Journal’s arts critic, Terry Teachout wrote, “John is a gifted conductor, a great educator, and the best of all possible colleagues.” For more than three decades, John Sinclair has shared his talent and dedication to musical excellence with the Central Florida community and beyond.

PAUL JACOBS, ORGAN

PAUL JACOBS, ORGAN

Friday, February 3, 2023 | 7:30 pm

Knowles Memorial Chapel

Program

Fantasia for Organ (10’)

Trio Sonata in E minor, BWV 528 (11’)

I. Adagio-Vivace

II. Andante

III. Un Poco Allegro

Prelude, Fugue, and Variation, Opus 18 (11’)

Concert Variations on The Star-Spangled Banner, Opus 23 (9’)

Intermission

Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Opus 42 (29’)

I. Introduction and Allegro

II. Pastorale

III. Finale

John Weaver (1937-2021)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Cesar Franck (1822-1890)

Dudley Buck (1839-1909)

Heralded as “one of the major musicians of our time” by Alex Ross of The New Yorker and as “America’s leading organ performer” by The Economist, the internationally celebrated organist Paul Jacobs combines a probing intellect and extraordinary technical mastery with an unusually large repertoire, both old and new. He has performed to great critical acclaim on five continents and in each of the fifty United States. The only organist ever to have won a Grammy Award—in 2011 for Messiaen’s towering “Livre du Saint-Sacrément,”—Mr. Jacobs is an eloquent champion of his instrument both in the United States and abroad.

Alexander Guilmant (1837-1911)

Mr. Jacobs has transfixed audiences, colleagues, and critics alike with landmark performances of the complete works for solo organ by J.S. Bach and Messiaen. He made musical history at age 23 when he gave an 18-hour marathon performance of Bach’s complete organ works on the 250th anniversary of the composer’s death. As a teacher he has been a vocal proponent of the redeeming nature of traditional and contemporary classical music.

As a pioneer for the revival of symphonic music featuring the organ, Mr. Jacobs regularly appears with the Chicago Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Edmonton Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Montreal Symphony, Nashville Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and Utah Symphony, among others.

This recital is made possible by Rollins College through the Faith Emeny Conger ‘54 Visiting Organist Concert Series in Honor of John Oliver Rich ‘38.

During the 2020-21 season Mr. Jacobs performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra led by Yannick Nezet-Seguin for their digital streaming series including the Poulenc Organ Concerto, as well as chamber versions of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 and Das Lied von der Erde and with the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Franz Welser-Most for the Poulenc Concerto.

Please turn off cell phone and electronic devices prior to the start of this performance. The Bach Festival Society’s policies strictly prohibit photography, filming, or recording of any kind during performances without the express written permission of the Society.

Mr. Jacobs studied at the Curtis Institute of Music, double majoring with John Weaver for organ and Lionel Party for harpsichord, and at Yale University with Thomas Murray. He joined the faculty of The Juilliard School in 2003 and was named chairman of the organ department in 2004, one of the youngest faculty appointees in the school’s history. He received Juilliard’s prestigious William Schuman Scholar’s Chair in 2007. In addition to his concert and teaching appearances, Mr. Jacobs is a frequent performer at festivals across the world, and has appeared on American Public Media’s Performance Today, Pipedreams, and Saint Paul Sunday, as well as NPR’s Morning Edition, ABC TV’s World News Tonight, and BBC Radio 3. In 2017 he received an honorary doctorate from Washington and Jefferson College.

Bach Festival Society of Winter Park Presents

Spiritual Spaces

Members of the Bach Festival Choir and Orchestra

John V. Sinclair, Artistic Director and Conductor

Saturday, February 4, 2023 |3:00 pm and 5:00 pm

Knowles Memorial Chapel

Program

Wachet Auf from Cantata #140

Villanella from Antique Danzie ed Arie, Suite 1

Våren (Letzter Frühling)

Adagio in g minor

Joni Roos, violin and Adam Brakel, organ

Adagietto from Suite in E Major

Munera Pacis from Illuminaire

Adagio from Clarinet Concerto

Spiritual Spaces

O Salutaris Hostia

Jessica Speak, clarinet

Johann Sebastian Bach

Ottorino Respighi

Edvard Grieg

Tomaso Albinoni

Flow, My Tears

Arthur Foote

Elaine Hagenberg

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Caitlin Mohr and Maya Claussen, sopranos

Eriks Estenvalds

Lullaby George Gershwin

Lascia ch’io pianga from Rinaldo

Morceau de Concours

George Frideric Handel

Caitlin Mohr, soprano

Nora Lee Garcia, flute

John Dowland

Vocalise Sergei Rachmaninoff

Caitlin Mohr, soprano

Gabriel Faure

Agnus Dei from Mass in Bb Major

Johann N. Hummel

Noël from Symphonic Sketches George Chadwick

John Maclane Schirard, tenor

Caitlin Mohr, soprano

Please turn off cell phone and electronic devices prior to the start of this performance. The Bach Festival Society’s policies strictly prohibit photography, filming, or recording of any kind during performances without the express written permission of the Society.