Emmanuel Music, Winsor Music, and Oberlin Conservatory announce the 2013 Bach Institute, supported by generous grants from the Klarman Family Foundation and Drs. Peter Libby and Beryl Benacerraf. From January 5 through 20, 2013, sixteen college and conservatory students, from Oberlin Conservatory and local Boston institutions such as New England Conservatory and Boston University School of Music, will embark on an intensive exploration, mentored by Emmanuel Music faculty, into the historical framework and performance of Bach cantatas and arias. 

The Bach Institute Mission
The Bach Institute has a two-fold mission: to provide an intensive opportunity for college and conservatory students to become immersed in the experience of learning about and performing Bach. The program also offers the participants several community outreach opportunities including performing at local nursing homes and assisted living facilities, and presenting an educational program they design for students at the Mather School in Dorchester. The public is invited to enrich their understanding and appreciation of J.S. Bach at programs including a free master class, a lecture by John Harbison, intensive lectures on the cantatas being performed on Sundays and a final performance of Bach Cantata BWV 97 and selected arias open to the general public. 

The Faculty 
The faculty for The Bach Institute will be drawn from the Emmanuel Music ensemble, and will include Ryan Turner, Artistic Director; John Harbison, Principal Guest Conductor; Kendra Colton, soprano; Pamela Dellal, mezzo-soprano; Frank Kelley, tenor; Peggy Pearson, oboe; Heidi Braun-Hill, violin; Michael Beattie, organ.

Kendra Colton, who initiated the project, says: "As a performer and teacher I have come to realize that there is nothing more difficult to sing well than Bach.  His music requires a musical sophistication, technical mastery of vocal articulation, and emotional investment that challenges the most experienced singers.  At Emmanuel we embrace these challenges and strive to improve our own skills to meet the demands of Bach’s music."

The Students
Faculty members of The Bach Institute identify qualified conservatory and school of music undergraduate students to participate in the program. There will be a quartet of singers (soprano, alto, tenor and bass), two continuo teams (cello and organ), solo flute, violin and oboe. Of these students, ten will be from Oberlin College; the others from the Boston area will participate in Cantata BWV 97. This combination of musicians will enable the program to explore a great variety of repertoire.

Bach Institute Event Schedule – all activities take place at Emmanuel Church
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

January 5, 12, 19, 2013 at 9:15 am – Pamela Dellal, Institute Faculty, gives an in-depth lecture on the cantata to be performed the following day:

• January 6, Cantata BWV 65
• January 13, Cantata BWV 37
• January 20, Cantata BWV 196
  Bach Institute students participate in the weekly cantata at the 10 am Emmanuel Church services on Sundays and perform chamber music in the service prelude.

January 13 at 12:30 PM: Cantata BWV 97, a talk with John Harbison, illustrated by Rose Mary Harbison, violin

January 16 at 3:30 PM How to Sing and Play Bach Recitative: Masterclass with Michael Beattie and Frank Kelley

January 20 at 7:00 PM Final Concert with Bach Arias and Bach cantata BWV 97, in Lindsey Chapel

About Emmanuel Music
Emmanuel Music, a collective group of singers and instrumentalists, was founded in 1970 by Craig Smith to perform the complete cycle of over 200 sacred cantatas of J. S. Bach in the liturgical setting for which they were intended, an endeavor twice completed and a tradition which continues today. Ryan Turner, Artistic Director, leads it today. Over the years, Emmanuel Music has garnered critical and popular acclaim through its presentations of large-scale and operatic works by Bach, Handel, Schubert, and Mozart, its in-depth exploration of the complete vocal, piano, and chamber works of Debussy, Brahms, Schubert, Schumann, and Beethoven, and its presentation of contemporary music, especially the work of Pulitzer-prize recipient, composer John Harbison.  The organization shares its artistic and educational resources with the community through its Community Connections program, The Bach Institute, and the Lindsey Chapel Series. 

About Winsor Music
Founded in 1996 by oboist Peggy Pearson, the mission of Winsor Music, Inc. is to foster the appreciation and enjoyment of chamber music. The organization consists of three branches: a chamber music concert series given in Massachusetts at the Follen Community Church in Lexington and St. Paul’s Church in Brookline; the direction of a national consortium of chamber music groups that commissions new works; and a highly successful outreach program, in which students from the Boston area perform chamber music in retirement communities, homeless shelters and recovery homes.