St. Andrew’s Bach Society marks its 30th anniversary season this summer with a series of concerts that includes the encore of a world-class, locally-born-and-bred family ensemble and the series debut of a world-class cellist.
The repertoire in each of the concerts draws on the series’ namesake Johann Sebastian Bach in wildly different ways, said the program’s artistic director, Ben Nisbet.
“I wanted to do four concerts that were all very different. I wanted four unique concerts,” said Nisbet, who has been at the helm of the Bach Society since 2012.
The season kicks off June 3 with the encore of the Woodsmusick Ensemble, which performed with the Bach Society last summer. The family ensemble is anchored by patriarch and longtime University of Arizona music prof Rex Woods on piano, with sons Garrick on cello and Alexander on violin and viola, and daughter Aubrey on violin.
“They are just ridiculously good world-class musicians,” Nisbet gushed, adding that the audience last season was so enthusiastic that he couldn’t wait to get them back.
The St. Andrew’s Bach Society Chamber Orchestra will join the family for Bach’s violin concerti, with Alex and Aubrey Woods soloing.
Here is the rest of the Bach Society 2018 summer series, which is held at Grace St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 2331 E. Adams St.:
- July 8, “Monteverdi on the Edge”: A powerhouse Baroque vocal ensemble of early music specialists hailing from Boston, Chicago and New York City will bring the Baroque composer’s stunning madrigals to life. The program features music from the late Renaissance/early Baroque composer Claudio Monteverdi’s sixth and seventh books of madrigals that include dense, five-voice polyphony or duets with florid, soloistic vocal lines that Nisbet said “marries music and text like no other, deeply moving listeners from a distance of 400 years.” On hand for the mostly a capella performance: soprano Teresa Wakim, mezzo-soprano Mary Gerbi, tenor Lawrence Jones, baritone Sumner Thompson, bass-baritone Paul Max Tipton and David Walker on theorbo.
“What we’re going for here is more of an intimate experience, where people can hear the incredible blend of the voices and the music,” Nisbet said.
- Aug. 12, cellist Zuill Bailey. Bailey makes his Bach Society debut, but is no stranger to Tucson audiences. Bailey has appeared on several Arizona Friends of Chamber Music concerts over the years and is widely recognized as one of the world’s premiere cellists. He’s won a Grammy and performes on stages around the world when he’s not teaching at the University of Texas-El Paso or directing a handful of music festivals including a series through the Mesa Arts Center and his hometown El Paso Pro Musica. His Bach Society program includes selections from Bach’s Suites for Solo Cello that stand as some of the composer’s greatest instrumental masterpieces.
Bailey plays a 1693 Matteo Gofriller cello.
- Sept. 2, Ending with Schumann: The Bach Society closes its 30th season by showcasing the piano writing of Robert Schumann. Virtuoso violinist Lauren Roth, concertmaster for the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, will lead an ensemble that also includes pianist John Milbauer, Nisbet on violin, a violist from Seattle and a cellist performing Schumann’s Piano Quartet and Piano Quintet. The chamber works accentuate Schumann’s distinctive Romantic style with clear nods to Bach, who was apparently a favorite of Schumann’s wife, Clara.
