The San Francisco Early Music Society to Welcome Magnificat Baroque Ensemble, Today

The San Francisco Early Music Society is pleased to present its annual holiday concert the weekend of December 11 with a return engagement by Magnificat Baroque Ensemble. Under the direction of Warren Stewart for over 20 years, Magnificat has recreated historical liturgies, performing great works from Monteverdi's Vespers to Charpentier's Midnight Mass in their intended musical context.

This season Magnificat stages a Lutheran Mass for Advent, following Leipzig liturgy as Bach himself wrote out on his manuscript score of Cantata 62. Magnificat performs at 8:00 pm Friday, December 11 at First Presbyterian Church in Palo Alto; at 7:30 pm Saturday, December 12 at First Congregational Church inBerkeley; and at 4:00 pm Sunday, December 13 at St. Mark's Lutheran Church in San Francisco. Individual tickets from $34 to $40 as well as three-concert subscription packages are available for purchase online at SFEMS.org.

Magnificat's recreation of musical services for the Christmas holidays has become one of the most popular events of SFEMS's annual concert season. This year the ensemble celebrates the first Sunday of Advent in the year 1735 in order to recreate a Lutheran service at St. Thomas of Leipzig. The concerts will feature one-to-a-part singing that brings Bach's joyous and intricate music into clear focus.

The musical riches of this concert -- whose program follows Bach's own handwritten notes for the service -- will include Bach's Cantata BWV 36, Schwingt freudig euch empor, and his Mass in G minor, together with motets and instrumental works by Buxtehude, Hammerschmidt and Schein, in addition to liturgical chant and chorales. In keeping with historical practice in Bach's day, the audience will be invited to join with soloists and orchestra in singing the chorales.

Vocalists Christine Brandes, Andrew Rader, Robert Stafford and Brian Thorsett will perform alongside Sarah Davol and Michael Dupree (oboes), Anthony Martin and David Wilson(violins), Wolfgang von Kessinger and Elisabeth Reed (cellos), John Dornenburg (violone),Katherine Heater (harpsichord) and Davitt Moroney (organ).

Over the past two decades Director Warren Stewart has established himself as one of the most dynamic and engaging early music specialists in America. He has received critical praise for his innovative programming and the emotional intensity of his performances of an extraordinarily wide range of repertoire from William Byrd and Claudio Monteverdi to Terry Riley and Arvo Pärt. Through his work with Magnificat, Stewart has established a reputation for expressive and thought-provoking interpretations of standard repertoire and modern premieres of forgotten masterworks, prepared modern editions of numerous works, and reconstructions of historic Roman and Lutheran liturgies.

With Magnificat, Stewart has appeared at the Berkeley Festival and Exhibition, the Bloomington Early Music Festival, the Tropical Baroque Festival, Music Before 1800, Seattle Early Music Guild, Carmel Bach Festival, as well as the San Francisco Early Music Society concert series. He conducted and produced Magnificat's recording of Cavalieri's Rappresentatione di Anima e di Corpo for Koch International and was artistic director for Magnificat's recordings of the complete works of Chiara Margarita Cozzolani for Musica Omnia.

Founded in 1975, SFEMS is the leading early music community-based service and membership organization in the US. Under the direction of Executive Director Harvey Malloy and President Robert Cole, it is the focal institution in Northern California for the advancement of historically informed performance of early music. Through its concert series, publications, outreach activities, affiliate support and educational programs, SFEMS encourages the development of amateurs, supports professionals, and increases public involvement and participation in early music. SFEMS is the lead presenter of the Berkeley Festival & Exhibition of early music.

MAGNIFICAT BAROQUE ENSEMBLE:

Christine Brandes, soprano

Andrew Rader, alto

Brian Thorsett, tenor

Robert Stafford, bass

Sarah Davol, oboe

Michael Dupree, oboe

David Wilson, violin

Anthony Martin, violin

Wolfgang von Kessinger, viola

Elisabeth Reed, violoncello

John Dornenburg, violone

Katherine Heater, harpsichord

Davitt Moroney, organ

PROGRAM:

J.S. Bach: Mass for Advent

Friday, Dec. 11, 2015 | PALO ALTO

8:00 pm @ First Presbyterian Church

1140 Cowper Street

Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015 | BERKELEY

7:30 pm @ First Congregational Church

2345 Channing Way

Sunday, Dec. 13, 2015 | SAN FRANCISCO

4:00 pm @ St. Mark's Lutheran Church

1111 O'Farrell Street

TICKETS: Individual tickets: $34 - $40; Subscription: Choose three concerts for $108 ($96 for SFEMS members).

Tickets may be purchased online at SFEMS.org.

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