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Looking Back to Bach

eflecting our frequently turbulenttimes, the themes of love and war

dominate the 74th Annual WinterPark Bach Festival. Concepts such astaking stock of our losses and con-templating how music can help usfind solace and peace resonatethrough this year’s performances.

“The things that we’re dealing withnow, like loving and rememberingthose who are gone, have so much his-tory because people have dealt withthem before. Music has come out ofthose times and we can still be movedby that music today,” says Margo Sted-man, program coordinator of the Bach

ANTICIPATED PERFORMANCES AND SUPERB ARTISTS MARK THE 74TH ANNUAL BACH FESTIVAL.

Festival Society of Winter Park.Running weekends from February

15 through March 1 in the KnowlesMemorial Chapel on the Rollins College campus, the Bach Festival isthe crown jewel of the 2008-2009 season of the Bach Festival Society ofWinter Park, which continues to bringworld-class talent to Central Florida.Under the direction of Rollins Collegemusic professor Dr. John V. Sinclair,the third-longest-running Bach festi-val in the nation was called “one of theoutstanding choral events in the coun-try” by The New York Times. The 160-voice Bach Festival Choir has reached

prominence as one of the finest orato-rio choirs anywhere. The Bach Festi-val Society is also Central Florida’soldest operating performing artsorganization.

“The opportunity to do master-works like Brahms’ Requiem is so life-enriching and life-altering that Ifeel blessed every time I get to do it,”Sinclair says.

Kicking off the Bach Festival at 3 p.m. on February 15 will be CarolWilliams, organist extraordinaire,artistic director of San Diego’s Spreck-els Organ Society and civic organistfor the city of San Diego. As a city

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employee, she performs outdoor organconcerts for the general public, and sheis known for her creative programmingand her background in jazz and theater.Williams is expected to present a rous-ing, vibrant recital.

Emotional and dramatic, Rossini’s Sta-bat Mater tells the story of the VirginMary’s grief for her son at his crucifixion.Known more for his opera compositions,Rossini wrote portions of the oratorio asa gift for an archdeacon. After the archdea-con died, his heirs sold the work. Upset,Rossini wrested the copyright back so hecould publish it when he saw fit.

“It is a bit more operatic in nature,and in some of the arias you can hear thatinfluence, more so than you would hearin the Bach piece or the Brahms piecethat the choir is also doing,” says Sted-man. “It’s a big, powerful work, espe-cially with the 160 voices in the choircoming at you.”

Baroque Classics withSharon Isbin and J.S. Bach’sEaster Oratorio on February 22is the centerpiece concert of theBach Festival. To call Isbin anaccomplished guitarist is anunderstatement. A multiple-Grammy Award winner and nominee in classical and Latin categories, Isbin also created TheJuilliard School’s guitar department

in 1989. Her festival repertoire willinclude baroque music, as well as con-temporary Spanish compositions.

The festival traditionally rotatesBach’s four major works — St. MatthewPassion, St. John Passion, Mass in B Minor,and Easter Oratorio in cycles, featuring adifferent one each year. This year, Easter Oratorio is the star. Originated as a sec-ular cantata, characters were replacedwith Mary Magdalene; Mary, the motherof James; and the disciples Peter and John. The impassioned reflec-tion of the Resurrection is sureto inspire.

Stedman describes Isbin’sappearance on the same program as the Bach Festival Choir and Orchestraas “exciting” and “incredible.”

Rounding out the BachFestival is Brahms’ German

FACING PAGE: Randy Singer, Matt Smith, andChristina Carter belt out favorite songs. THISPAGE: Rollins professor John V. Sinclair leadsthe Bach Festival Choir; INSET: Clover Battsand Erin Stillson.

Requiem, which fits perfectly into theoverall theme of the dueling concepts oflove and war. Brahms wrote the movingpiece as a sign of hope for those mourn-ing lost loved ones — still relevant todaywith current world events.

“Brahms’ German Requiem is a fabu-lous piece and that’s always fun. To me,the Bach Festival is the experience of newand of the old. There’s the experience of

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doing music I haven’t done before, suchas Easter Oratorio, and working withSharon Isbin for the first time. It’s likemeeting a new friend. And then there’ssome comfort, like being with an oldfriend: German Requiem and Rossini’sStabat Mater. Getting to repeat thosemasterworks gives you new insight thatyou didn’t have before,” Sinclair says.

Certainly the highlight of this season’sVisiting Artist Series is the appearance ofMidori, arguably the best-known andmost accomplished violinist in theworld. The Japanese-born former childprodigy made her first recording at theage of 14, tours widely today and is theJascha Heifetz Chair in Violin at the Uni-versity of Southern California. Review-ing one of her performances at theKennedy Center, The Washington Postdescribed her as “now more musicianthan youthful spectacle, a well-roundedartist capable of saying something aboutmusic’s underlying emotion.” The violinvirtuoso will no doubt charm andenchant the audience at Tiedtke ConcertHall with her performance.

The Bach Festival Society also presents

programs such as the Choral Master-works Series, Young Artists Competition,High School Invitational Choral Festival,Visiting Artists Series, Choral Workshops,Young at Heart Chorale, FreshStARTS,Fred Rogers Family Series, and the Cityof Winter Park community concerts.

Delighting audiences with the musicof a diverse assortment of composers,Artistic Director and Conductor Sinclairhas led the Bach Festival Choir andOrchestra since 1990. But creatingunforgettable musical experiences forappreciative audiences is only half the

story. He also selects all choral andorchestral works to be performed for theChoral Masterworks Concert Series andthe Bach Festival, as well as contractingvisiting artists. He conducts all perform-ances of the Bach Festival Choir, as wellas the auditions and their weeklyrehearsals (see sidebar). His leadershiphas earned critical acclaim for the Win-ter Park Bach Festival.

“I think John Sinclair is so successfulbecause he loves what he does so much,but he also allows the players and musicians to come in and be musicians.

CO-CONCERTMASTERS Routa KroumovitchGomez and Alvaro Gomez.

LOWELL NEWMAN with Alex Tiedtke.

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He’s demanding but allows everyone tocontribute to the interpretation ratherthan being militaristic at the podium,”Stedman says.

The Bach Festival Society celebratesthe life and works of Johann SebastianBach, as well as others. Bach is consid-ered one of the most accomplished composers of baroque music, a spiritedgenre marked by improvisation and contrasting elements and often featuringharpsichord accompaniment. Ironically,Bach, who lived from 1685 to 1750, wasbetter known as an organist than a composer in his own day. Devoted tomusic as a child, he was taught by hisfather and his brother Johann Christoph.

Three-quarters of a century is quitethe milestone, and the Bach FestivalSociety of Winter Park is already gearingup for next year’s big 75th anniversary,though it is still early in the planningstages. The only component finalizedthus far is the performance of Bach’s Massin B Minor, which some argue is his bestcomposition.

“How great is it to make it to 75 yearsfor an arts organization? It is an impres-sive longevity that Central Florida oughtto be proud of. We show that culture hasbeen a part of our existence here for along time, and it continues to thrive,”Sinclair says. “We are going to pull outall the stops next year, so it will be big-ger and more grand than usual.”

The season’s full schedule can befound at the Society’s website:www.bachfestivalflorida.org/pages/ calendar.html.

Angelic Voiceshe all-volunteer Bach FestivalChoir’s roots date back to the

formation of the Bach Festival Societyin 1935 by Isabelle Sprague-Smith tocommemorate the 250th anniversaryof Johann Sebastian Bach’s birth. Thechoir’s size and reputation quicklymatured from there.

The Bach Festival Society Choirand Orchestra have performed all overthe world, including St. Peter’s Basil-ica at the Vatican, Royal Albert Hall in London, cathedrals throughoutEurope, and even in Leipzig churchesin Germany that Bach himself performed in.

Auditions are held every summerby Sinclair and include singing a prepared piece, sight-reading, pitchrecognition, and memory exercises.Prospects have to read and hear well.The choir necessitates a serious com-mitment. Each member spends morethan 300 hours annually in rehearsaltime and performances and will singmore than 500 pages of music.

Ranging in age from 18 to 80,the 160 members of the Bach Festi-val Choir include persons fromnearly every walk of life, from home-makers, engineers, bankers, anddoctors to masons, accountants,

attorneys and teachers.“What’s gratifying is to see all

these wonderful people, all accom-plished in their own fields, cometogether for a common purpose of justmaking great music,” Sinclair says.

Tenor Zack Hayhurst, in his firstseason with the choir, is a full-timestate worker. “I am impressed everytime I go to rehearsal with the talentand depth of knowledge displayed byDr. Sinclair.”

Romania-born Cezarina Vintilla,who sings soprano and plays thepiano, is a business manager. “Myfavorite part about participating inthe Bach Choir is that it enables meto unleash my passion and love formusic.”

Russ J. Stacey (www.russjstacey.com), anOrlando-based freelance writer, has pub-lished articles, general features, and essaysin numerous magazines and newspapers,including this publication, Texture maga-zine, Orlando Business Journal, RollinsAlumni Record, and Builder/ArchitectMagazine.

“The opportunity to do masterworkslike Brahms' Requiem is so life-enriching and life-altering that I feelblessed every time I get to do it.”

— Dr. John V. Sinclair, Rollins College

music professor

BACH FESTIVAL CHOIR and Orchestra arequite a presence. BELOW: Eric Larmer andCarrell Myers.

T

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