The performance celebrates Johann Sebastian Bach’s birthday with
Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 and Cantata 82
PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (February 2024)– Chatham Baroque is pleased to present their annual “Joy of Bach” program on March 15th and 16th. The program, which activates Pittsburgh’s historical Calvary Episcopal Church, serves to celebrate decorated composer Johann Sebastian Bach’s most beloved works in honor of his 339th birthday.
Considered one of the greatest composers of all time, Bach’s interest in music can be owed to his family’s long legacy as musicians. From serving as music director to German Prince Leopold to his long and illustrious stint as music director of Leipzig, he was able to create and master his own style of music, one that combined traditional Baroque methods with innovative styles.
The performance begins with Bach’s “Prelude and Fugue in C BWV 547” before moving into his signature “Brandenburg Concerto No 6 in B-flat Major BWV 1051.” The second half of the program features “Ricarere a 6 BWV 1079” and “Cantata ‘Iche Habe genung’ BWV 82.”
“Chatham Baroque always eagerly awaits the month of March, bringing us harbingers of Spring, the vernal equinox, and the birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach!”, said Chatham Baroque co-artistic director, Andrew Fouts. “Celebrate with us, in a tradition begun long ago with Pittsburgh’s beloved Don Franklin, as we perform iconic works of J.S. Bach, including the Brandenburg Concerto no. 6 and Cantata 82 Ich habe genug.”
Andrew Fouts is joined by fellow Chatham Baroque musicians Patricia Halverson (viola de gamba) and Scott Pauley (theorbo) plus talented guest artists including Johnathan Woody (bass-baritone), Kathryn Montoya (oboe), Daniel Elyar (viola), Paul Miller (violin), Martha McGaughey (viola de gamba), Rebecca Humphrey Diedrich (cello), J. Tracy Mortimore (bass), Justin Wallace (harpsichord & organ) and Alan Lewis (organ prelude).
Bass-baritone Jonathan Woody is a versatile and dynamic musician who maintains an active schedule as a performer and composer in New York and across North America. Cited by the Washington Post for singing “with resonance and clarity,” Woody is an in demand soloist, appearing regularly with historically informed orchestras including Boston Early Music Festival, Apollo’s Fire, Pacific MusicWorks, Bach Collegium San Diego, Trinity Baroque Orchestra and New York Baroque Incorporated. In the 2021-2022 season, he served as Artistic Advisor for the Portland Baroque Orchestra, curating a program of 17th-century German music for voices and orchestra.
An accomplished chamber musician, Woody often performs as a member of the GRAMMY®-nominated Choir of Trinity Wall Street. He has also recently performed in collaboration with Kaleidoscope Ensemble, Les Délices, Seraphic Fire, Byron Schenkman and Friends, and TENET Vocal Artists.
As a sought-after new music proponent, Woody has participated in premiere performances of several leading composers’ works, including Ted Hearne’s The Source (2014), Ellen Reid’s p r i s m (2019 Pulitzer Prize-winner), Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves (NYC premiere, 2018), and Du Yun’s Angel’s Bone (2017 Pulitzer Prize-winner).
In recent seasons, Woody has appeared at the Staunton Music, Portland Bach, Carmel Bach, and Oregon Bach Festivals, the American Bach Soloists Academy, and at the Aldeburgh Festival at Snape Maltings. He has also been seen on the operatic stages of Opera Lafayette, American Opera Projects, and Beth Morrison Projects. Woody can be heard on the Choir of Trinity Wall Street’s GRAMMY®-nominated recording of Israel in Egypt, released in 2013 on the Musica Omnia label, as well as on ACRONYM’s Cantica Obsoleta (Olde Focus Recordings), Boston Early Music Festival’s St. Matthew Passion of J. Sebastiani (RadioBremen), New York Polyphony’s Roma Æterna (BIS Records), and the Choir of Trinity Wall Street’s Missa Gentis Humanae (Musica Omnia).
“This annual Bach program gives us the opportunity to gather some of our closest and most beloved colleagues from home and away to celebrate the monumental scope and influence of the music of Bach,” continued Fouts. “This year we welcome the dynamic bass-baritone Jonathan Woody to transport and comfort with the achingly beautiful Cantata 82 Ich habe genug. I’m also excited to dust off my viola and welcome the wonderful and talented Kathryn Montoya, Rebecca Humphrey Diederich, Daniel Elyar, Justin Wallace, Paul Miller, Martha McGaughey, J. Tracy Mortimore and music director at Calvary Episcopal, Alan Lewis, to our stage.”
Tickets are on sale now for Joy of Bach. Early Bird Tickets sold at a discounted rate for general admission and seniors are available through the end of the day on Friday, March 1st. On Saturday, March 2nd, patrons purchasing tickets will pay full price. More information about the performance can be found here: https://www.chathambaroque.org/concert/chatham-baroque-joy-of-bach/.
About Chatham Baroque
Each year, Chatham Baroque presents a series of captivating, historically informed performances, drawing from a vast repertoire of classical music styles, eras, and locales from the Medieval Period through the early 19th Century.
As one of the country’s leading period instrument ensembles and early music presenters, each season features several concerts with the distinguished Chatham Baroque ensemble with artistic directors Andrew Fouts (violin), Patricia Halverson (viola da gamba), and Scott Pauley (theorbo and baroque guitar) as well as concerts by renowned touring ensembles specializing in music of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, and early Classical period.
Chatham Baroque concerts are performed with period instruments, which are restored or replica versions from the time when the music was written. Concerts are held in a variety of settings across Pittsburgh from churches to concert halls, and performers actively engage audiences with lively commentary and insights into the music. To learn more, please visit www.chathambaroque.org.
