American Symphony Orchestra to Perform SONS OF BACH

American Symphony Orchestra comes to Alice Tully Hall for the holiday season with a concert titled Sons of Bach on Thursday, December 19 at 8 PM. The program will offer rarely-performed works by four of J.S. Bach's sons, showcasing the compositional mastery the young men learned from their father, and also revealing how each was able to develop his own unique style.

Featured soloists are soprano Amanda Woodbury, now in her fifth season at the Metropolitan Opera; mezzo-soprano Taylor Raven, who recently made her solo debut with the LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl; 2018 Richard Tucker Career Grant Winner, tenor Jack Swanson; and baritone Chris Kenney, a three-time winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council District Auditions. The performance is part of the ASO's expanded 2019-2020 Carnegie Hall season, which includes this additional concert at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall.

Music director Leon Botstein will provide the musical context for the program in a lively, 30-minute Conductor's Notes Q&A session, free for all ticket holders, one hour before the concert. As for all ASO programs, these discussions offer animated learning opportunities for both concert-goers and music connoisseurs alike.

The next concert in the ASO series will honor the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth with Beyond Beethoven, a program investigating how the great master's works were an inspiration to other composers (January 31, 2020 at Carnegie Hall).

Seldom-heard music by four of Johann Sebastian Bach takes centerstage at this concert. Wilhelm Friedemann's music is closest to his father's, while Carl Philipp Emanuel's is more imaginative and expressive. Johann Christian's music, on the other hand, is closer to the classical style of Mozart, although his earliest works are remarkably similar to Emanuel's. Johann Christoph Friedrich's compositional style resembles those of both Emanuel and Christian.

Leon Botstein, conductor

Amanda Woodbury, soprano

Taylor Raven, mezzo-soprano

Jack Swanson, tenor

Chris Kenney, baritone

Bard Festival Chorale

James Bagwell, choral director

W.F. Bach: Erzittert und Fallet (Oh, Tremble and Falter)

J.C.F. Bach: Die Amerikanerin (The American)

J.C. Bach: Symphony in G minor, Op. 6, No. 6

C.P.E. Bach: Magnificat

Tickets, priced at $25-$50, are available by calling CenterCharge at 212.721.6500, or visiting the Alice Tully Hall box office at Broadway and 65th St.

Now in its 58th season, the American Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1962 by Leopold Stokowski, with a mission of providing great music within the means of everyone. Music Director Leon Botstein expanded that mission when he joined the ASO in 1992, creating thematic concerts that explore music from the perspective of the visual arts, literature, religion, and history, and reviving rarely-performed works that audiences would otherwise never have a chance to hear performed live.

The ASO's signature programming includes its Vanguard Series, which presents concerts of rare orchestral repertoire at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center; an adult educational series at Symphony Space that offers interactive investigations into popular classical works; and various other events dedicated to enriching and reflecting the diverse perspectives of American culture. During the summer months, the ASO is the orchestra-in-residence at Bard's SummerScape Festival and performs at the Bard Music Festival.

As part of its commitment to expanding the standard orchestral repertoire, the ASO has released recordings on the Telarc, New World, Bridge, Koch, and Vanguard labels, and live performances are also available for digital download. In many cases, these are the only existing recordings of some of the forgotten works that have been restored through ASO performances.

Leon Botstein has been music director and principal conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra since 1992. He is also music director of The Orchestra Now, an innovative training orchestra composed of top musicians from around the world. He is co-artistic director of Bard SummerScape and the Bard Music Festival, which take place at the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College, where he has been president since 1975. He is also conductor laureate of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, where he served as music director from 2003-11. In 2018, he assumed artistic directorship of Campus Grafenegg and Grafenegg Academy in Austria. Mr. Botstein also has an active career as a guest conductor with orchestras around the globe, and has made numerous recordings, as well as being a prolific author and music historian. He is the recipient of numerous honors for his contributions to the music industry. In 2019, The New York Times named Leon Botstein a "champion of overlooked works...who has tirelessly worked to bring to light worthy scores by neglected composers."

For more information, please visit americansymphony.org.

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