American Classical Orchestra Performs Bach's B Minor Mass Next Month

Founder and Artistic Director Thomas Crawford leads the American Classical Orchestra (ACO) in a performance of Bach’s monumental B Minor Mass with the acclaimed ACO Chorus at Alice Tully Hall on Thursday, March 7 at 7:30 PM. One of Bach’s best-loved vocal works, the B Minor Mass is widely considered to be the crowning achievement of the Baroque era. J.S. Bach completed it a year before his death in 1750. 

Featured soloists are soprano and crossover artist Kristen Hahn, who recently appeared at the Kennedy Center in Hello Dolly; soprano Nola Richardson, hailed by The New York Times for her “beautiful tone;” Grammy-nominated American countertenor Reginald Mobley, who has forged a stellar career across Baroque and Classical repertoire; noted Bach interpreter tenor Steven Soph, praised for his “impressive clarity and color” (The New York Times); and Baroque music specialist bass Steven Eddy, a 1st Prize winner of the 2019 Oratorio Society of New York Competition. 

After the March 7 concert, the American Classical Orchestra will next appear on May 8, 2024, at Alice Tully Hall, in a program titled Astronomical with works by W.A. Mozart, William Herschel, Johan Daniel Berlin, and C.P.E Bach.

B Minor Mass

Thursday, March 7, 2024, 7:30 pm at Alice Tully Hall

American Classical Orchestra

Thomas Crawford, conductor

Kristen Hahn, soprano

Nola Richardson, soprano

Reginald Mobley, countertenor

Steven Soph, tenor  

Steven Eddy, bass

ACO Chorus

Johann Sebastian Bach: Mass in B Minor, BWV 232

A musical setting of the complete Latin Mass, this 1749 work includes nine arias and duets, 14 ensemble sections for vocal groups of various sizes, and a range of instrumental solos in numerous styles. The composition as it is known today did not originate as a titled whole in any of Bach’s surviving documents. It was uncovered by his son C.P. E. Bach as a collection of his father’s hand-written scores grouped together inside four folders. The manuscripts were organized in four parts: The Kyrie and Gloria, followed by the Credo, the Sanctus, and Agnus Dei. Once published, the four parts became known as the B Minor Mass. Of note, Bach managed to complete the Mass while nearly blinded by cataracts. He subsequently underwent two unsuccessful eye surgeries using questionable methods, which worsened his condition.