Carolina Baroque, Dale Higbee, music director, will open its 21st season of concerts in Salisbury in the Chapel of St. John’s Lutheran Church, 200 W. Innes St., on Friday, Oct. 10, at 7:30 p.m.
Titled “Bach Cantatas from Mühlhausen, Weimar & Leipzig,” the concert will feature three complete sacred cantatas by J. S. Bach (1685-1750), as well as sections of two others.
Opening the program will be Cantata 131, “Out of the depths Lord, I call to You,”one of Bach’s earliest surviving cantatas, written when he was working at St. Mary’s Church in Mühlhausen in 1707.
Susan Bates, organ, will next be featured in Bach’s chorale prelude, “Come, God Creator, Holy Spirit,” which will be followed by Cantata 22, “Jesus took the twelve to Him,” first performed in 1723 as part of Bach’s audition for the post of cantor at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig.
Following intermission will be Cantata 159, “See! We go up to Jerusalem,” written in Leipzig in 1729. Then Susan Bates will perform another Organ Chorale Prelude, “Now Come, Savior of the Gentiles.”
Concluding the concert will be sections of two sacred cantatas composed in Weimar: the soprano aria “Prepare the ways, prepare the path!” from Cantata 132 (1715), and the final three movements of Cantata 61, “Now Come, Savior of the Gentiles” (1714).
The cantatas will be sung with one voice on a part, the four soloists also comprising the chorus: Teresa Radomski, soprano; Lee Morgan, contralto; Richard Heard, tenor; Doug Crawley, bass baritone.
To help coordinate the singers in the choruses, Carolina Baroque will have a guest conductor, James Bates, who conducted the Moramus Chorale in Winston-Salem for 15 years, and is now a doctoral candidate in choral conducting at UNC-G.
Instrumentalists will include John Pruett, baroque violin and baroque viola; Greg Pannell, baroque violin; Marian Wilson, baroque viola; Anne Sellitti, baroque violoncello; Susan Bates, harpsichord and organ; Dale Higbee, music director and recorders.
There is no formal charge for admission, but a $10 donation is suggested to help cover expenses involved. Carolina Baroque is a member of the Rowan Arts Council and receives some support from theCity of Salisbury and the Rowan County Commissioners, but it is largely dependent on funds received from Friends of Carolina Baroque and donations at the door.
For more information, visit www.carolinabaroque.org or contact info@carolinabaroque.org.