Tucson ensemble revisits Bach St. John Passion

Ten years after its one and only performance of Bach’s St. John Passion, True Concord Voices & Orchestra will revisit the work, a cornerstone of Bach’s masterworks trifecta that includes his B-minor Mass and St. Matthew Passion.

Since its inaugural season in 2004, True Concord has performed all three works, starting with the B-Minor Mass in 2011, followed by St. John in 2014 and St. Matthew in 2019.

The impetus to revisit the St. John Passion is twofold: To celebrate the professional ensemble’s 20th anniversary and mark the 300th anniversary of Bach composing the work in 1724.

Bach composed the St. John, the earliest of his passions, for Good Friday Vespers while working as a music director for a church in Leipzig. The text follows the crucifixion of Christ as recounted in the Gospel of John.

Performances will be at 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23, at Valley Presbyterian Church, 2800 S. Camino del Sol in Green Valley; and 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25, at Catalina Foothills High School, 4300 E. Sunrise Drive.

Tickets are $23.50-$63.50 through trueconcord.org.

On Tuesday, Feb. 27, True Concord will host a recital with Tucson soprano Erika Burkhart at the Century Room, 311 E. Congress St., in Hotel Congress.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

Burkhart will perform songs celebrating women by Jake Heggie, Alma Mahler, Margaret Bonds, Jocelyn Hagen, Cole Porter, Stephen Sondheim and others at 7 p.m. Tickets are $43.50 through trueconcord.org.

The concert is part of True Concord’s Close-Up recital series that will spotlight soprano Nicole Cabell on April 9 at the University of Arizona’s Holsclaw Hall.

Cabell will also sing Poulenc’s “Gloria” with True Concord April 5-7 as part of its “Gloria & Bernstein” concert. Both events are part of the spring leg of the Tucson Desert Song Festival.