PERFORMANCE
The Chamber Series
Live! at 10th & G, 945 G Street NW, Washington, DC (Friday performances)
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 228 S Pitt St, Alexandria, VA 22314 (Saturday performances)
PAST PERFORMANCES

violin

harpsichord
Fantastic Bach!
Stylus Fantasticus
Friday, September 22, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. Live! at 10th & G
Saturday, September 23, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
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Andrew Fouts, violin
Justin Wallace, harpsichord
Running time: approximately 60 minutes
William B. Munier, MD, underwriter

Dana Marsh
conductor
Vocal Polyphony
Thomaskantors and the German Motet
Friday, March 31, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. Live! at 10th & G
Saturday, April 1, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
Johann Hermann Schein
Fontana d’Israel
Featuring vocalists of the Washington Bach Consort
Dr. Dana T. Marsh, conductor
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Running time approximately 70 minutes

Rachell Ellen Wong
violin
Ciaconna
Bach on the Solo Violin
Friday, March 3, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. Live! at 10th & G
Saturday, March 4, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
Johann Sebastian Bach
Unaccompanied works for violin featuring
Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004
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Recipient of a prestigious 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant—the only Baroque artist in the respected program’s history—and Grand Prize winner of the inaugural Lillian and Maurice Barbash J.S. Bach Competition, violinist Rachell Ellen Wong, is a rising star on both the historical performance and modern violin stages. This concert offers Bach works for unaccompanied solo violin, featuring the renowned Partita No. 2 in D Minor, with its famous Ciaccona.
Rachell Ellen Wong, violin
Running time: approximately 70 minutes, no intermission

Leon Schelhase
harpsichord
Musical Odyssey
The Goldberg Variations
Friday, November 18, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. Live! at 10th & G
Saturday, November 19, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
Johann Sebastian Bach
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
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The renowned Goldberg Variations have been admired for generations and comprise Bach’s most popular work for the keyboard. Plumbing the depths of musical possibility offered by the opening Aria, Bach takes us on an extended musical odyssey. Winner of the American Bach Soloists’ Goldberg Prize, harpsichordist Leon Schelhase brings this work to life with virtuosity.
Leon Schelhase, harpsichord
Running time: Approximately 90 minutes, no intermission
Richard & Beth Ayres, underwriters

Joanna Blendulf
viola da gamba

Adam Pearl
harpsichord
The Eloquent Viol
Bach on the Viola da Gamba
Friday, October 14, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. Live! at 10th & G
Saturday, October 15, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
Johann Sebastian Bach
Selections to include:
Suite no. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007
Suite no. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012
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An instrument that is all too rarely heard today, but well-recognized by J.S. Bach, is the viola da gamba. It comes from a lineage of stringed instruments that precedes the violin/violoncello family. American violist da gamba, Joanna Blendulf, plays a program drawing from Bach’s sonatas written expressly for the instrument, with further examples from his Baroque contemporaries. Most Bach enthusiasts will recognize the instrument from the most poignant moments of the St. John and St. Matthew Passions. This concert offers an opportunity to become more intimately acquainted with the instrument’s range of expression, presented by one of today’s finest performers. Joanna Blendulf is joined by harpsichordist, Adam Pearl.
Joanna Blendulf, viola da gamba; Adam Pearl, harpsichord
Running time: Approximately 75 minutes, no intermission
Stephen C. Wright & Thomas Woodruff, underwriters

Ruben Valenzuela
Guest Director
Conceptio Gloriosae
Baroque Music in Latin America
Friday, April 1, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. Live! at 10th & G
Saturday, April 2, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
Sacred Polyphony and Villancicos
Works by Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla, Francisco López Capillas, Antonio de Salazar, and Juan de Araujo.
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Vocalists:
Crossley Danielle Hawn & Sara MacKimmie, sopranos; Kristen Dubenion-Smith & Sylvia Leith, altos; Matthew Hill & Jacob Perry, Jr., tenors; Mark Duer & Ian Pomerantz, basses
Instrumentalists:
William Simms, guitar & theorbo; Jessica Powell Eig, violone; Michelle Humphreys, percussion; Paula Maust, organ
Ruben Valenzuela is the Founder and Artistic Director of Bach Collegium San Diego (BCSD). As a conductor and keyboardist, he has led BCSD in notable performances of music of the Renaissance, early and high Baroque, early Classical period, as well as music of the twentieth century. Valenzuela’s performances have been described as “dramatic,” “vibrant,” and “able to unlock the true power of Baroque music” (San Diego Story). Under Valenzuela’s leadership, BCSD has achieved international acclaim through virtuosic performances of iconic repertoire, as well as lesser-known works.
In addition to his work with BCSD, Valenzuela is regularly called upon as a guest director. Notable guest engagements include Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity, New York City; Marsh Chapel Choir and Collegium at Boston University; Bach at Emmanuel Church, Boston; and most recently Juilliard415 at Lincoln Center, New York City.
Valenzuela holds a PhD in Musicology from Claremont Graduate University and is the Director of Music & Organist of All Souls’ Episcopal Church, San Diego.
Running time approximately 65 minutes, no intermission
Jill Kent and Mark Solomons, underwriters

Andrew Gonzalez
violoncello da spalla
Violoncello da spalla
Bach’s Cello Suites
Friday, February 25, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. Live! at 10th & G
Saturday, February 26, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
Johann Sebastian Bach
Selections to include:
Suite no. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007
Suite no. 6 in C Major, BWV 1012
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Few have heard of the violoncello da spalla; fewer still have heard the instrument in a live performance or commercial recording. It looks like a smaller version of the cello and is strapped to the body over the shoulder (spalla), resting across the upper chest. The instrument existed during Bach’s lifetime, and there is speculation that several of his cantatas dating from the 1720s (with instrumental parts labelled “violoncello piccolo”) may have been composed with such an instrument in mind. The same has been conjectured about Bach’s Sixth Cello Suite, which will be presented in this performance. Andrew Gonzalez, praised by The Strad magazine for his “warm-hearted playing and mellow tone,” performs a rich program on this fascinating instrument, opening a revelatory view of two of Bach’s iconic cello suites.
Andrew Gonzalez, violoncello da spalla
Running time: 60 minutes, no intermission

Vocal Polyphony
Franco-Flemish composers of the 15th and 16th centuries
Friday, November 19, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. at Live! at 10th & G
Saturday, November 20, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
Josquin des Prez (c.1450/55–1521) was among the most important composers of his era and, like Bach, a master of counterpoint. He was held in especially high esteem by his contemporaries—a reputation that continues to the present day. This program celebrates the 500th anniversary of the composer’s death.
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Musicians
Susan Kavinski & Sara MacKimmie, sopranos; P. Lucy McVeigh & Kristen Dubenion-Smith, altos; Jacob Perry Jr. & Gregório Taniguchi, tenors; Jason Widney & Edmund Milly, basses; Michael Holmes, sackbut
Running Time: approximately 70 minutes including intermission

French Devotion in the Sainte-Chapelle
Charpentier’s Missa Assumpta est Maria
Friday, October 15, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. at Live! at 10th & G
Saturday, October 16, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Missa Assumpta est Maria, H 11
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Vocalists:
Margaret Carpenter Haigh & Amy Nicole Broadbent, sopranos; Sylvia Leith & Andrew Rader, altos; Jacob Perry, Jr. & Matthew Loyal Smith, tenors; Aaron Cain & Ian Pomerantz, baritones; Mark Duer & Edmund Milly, basses
Instrumentalists:
Colin St-Martin & Kathryn Roth, flutes; William Simms, theorbo; Joanna Blendulf, Leslie Nero, Niccolo Seligmann & Amy Domingues, violas da gamba; Jessica Powell Eig, violone; John Walthausen, organ
Anonymous Donor, underwriters

Nigel North
Bach on the Lute: Nigel North
A magical evening from the instrument of Orpheus
Friday, February 28, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. at Live
Saturday, February 29, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. at VTS
J.S. Bach
Partita No. 3 in A minor, BWV 1013
Suite in C Major (after the 6th cello suite), BWV 1012
Suite in E Minor (auf lautenwerk), BWV 996
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Nigel North has for years been acknowledged by critics in the US and abroad to be the foremost interpreter of Bach on the lute. Having recorded such works to completion, North presents an especially rare program not to be missed. One of the most respected classical guitarists of the 20th century, Julian Bream, said of North’s Bach playing, “…I was bowled over by how masterful and musical it was!” This promises to be a magical evening.
Nigel North, lute
Running time: 65 minutes, no intermission
Barbara Piquet Villafranco, In Memory of Ronald V. Villafranco, Saturday underwriter

Henry VIII
The Tudors
Sacred motets of Tallis, Sheppard, Byrd & others
Friday, December 6, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. at Live!
Saturday, December 7, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. at VTS
Motets of John Taverner, Thomas Tallis
John Sheppard, Christopher Tye, and William Byrd.
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In a new series of programs devoted to vocal polyphony, the Washington Bach Consort will transport you to 16th-century England. Revel in a bespoke selection of sacred motets written by the finest composers to serve at the pleasure of four Tudor monarchs, from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I. This music is truly of another world, and as a Venetian ambassador of the period was known to have said of the English Chapel Royal choristers performing this music, it sounded “more divine than human.”
Running time: 70 minutes, no intermission
Tamera Luzzatto & David Leiter, Friday underwriters
Al Regnery, Saturday underwriter

John Moran
At Home with Bach
Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 6, Telemann & Stölzel
John Moran, Guest Director
Friday, November 8, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. at Live!
Saturday, November 9, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. at VTS
Johann Sebastian Bach
Sonata for Violin in G major, BWV 1021
Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-flat major, BWV 1051
Trio Sonata in G major, BWV 1027
Gottfried Heinrich Stöltzel
Quartet in E minor
Georg Phillipp Telemann
Sonata à 5 in E minor, TWV 44:5
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Bach’s apartment in Leipzig was a beehive of activity with the entire family busy with the preparation of musical scores and parts and frequent musical visitors passing through. When the day’s work was done, they would have had incredible opportunities for music making. This program, featuring the Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 alongside other works by Bach, Telemann, and Stölzel, imagines one such ephemeral evening of friends and family happily playing together. The Consort’s principal cellist, John Moran, directs.
John Moran, Guest Director, violoncello and viola da gamba
Risa Browder, violin and viola
Andrew Fouts, violin and viola
Leslie Nero, violin and viola
Marlisa del Cid Woods, violin
Amy Domingues, viola da gamba
Rebecca Humphrey, violoncello and viola da gamba
Jessica Powell Eig, viola da gamba and violone
Dongsok Shin, harpsichord
Running time: 70 minutes, no intermission
Jill Kent & Mark Solomons, Friday underwriters
Steve Wright & Tom Woodruff, Saturday underwriters

Leon Schelhase
Sounds of Spring
Friday, April 5, 2019 at 7:00 p.m.
Celebrate the arrival of spring with a selection of music for flute and harpsichord by Bach and his contemporary, Georg Philipp Telemann.
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The pairing of the two instruments in these compositions, sometimes graceful and sometimes dazzling, charm and delight to this day.
(1681–1767)
Fantasia in E major
Affettuoso
Allegro
Grave
Vivace
(1685–1750)
Toccata in F-sharp minor, BWV 910
Partita in A minor, BWV 1013
Capriccio sopra la lontananza del suo fratello dilettissimo, BWV 922
Sonata for Harpsichord and Flute in B minor, BWV 1067
Colin St-Martin, flute
Leon Schelhase, harpsichord
Running Time: approximately 60 minutes, no intermission
Charles Reifel & Janie Kinney, underwriters
Admission includes a free post-concert reception with a sampling of spring inspired doughnuts by our favorite neighbor Astro Doughnuts and Fried Chicken immediately following the performance.

Claudio Monteverdi
Soavi accenti: Glories of the Italian Madrigal
Friday, February 22, 2019 at 7:00 p.m.
The Consort’s acclaimed vocalists offer an evening filled with harmonies that transport you to 16th-century Italy.
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Highly popular among music-lovers of the period, madrigals drew first from classicist texts as subjects for musical experimentation, helping to establish new aesthetic relationships between words and music by the 17th century. Composers wrote these animated and often daring compositions for two to eight voices, emphasizing secular subjects. Thanks to traveling musicians, madrigals spread throughout Europe, stimulating composers in countries including England and Germany to apply their own unique styles to the form, experimenting with new ways of using the human voice to tell stories and express emotions.
The Consort Chorus

Franklin Quartet
Bach to Mozart
Friday, November 2, 2018 at 7:00 p.m.
Special guest artists The Franklin Quartet perform rarely heard Mozartian transcriptions in a concert that also includes selections from The Well-Tempered Clavier performed on fortepiano.
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had a lively interest in J.S. Bach’s compositions, and arranged for his father to send him copies of Bach’s collection of keyboard pieces, The Well-Tempered Clavier. Mozart then transcribed some of the fugues from that iconic keyboard work for string trios and quartets, some with newly composed adagios preceding them.
The Franklin Quartet
Kenneth Slowik, fortepiano
Jill Kent & Mark Solomons, underwriters

Tatiana Chulochnikova
The Musical Offering
Friday, April 6, 2018 at 7:00 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
The Musical Offering, BWV 1079
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David Ross, flute
Tatiana Chulochnikova, violin
John Moran, cello
Dongsok Shin, harpischord

Andrew Fouts
Virtuosity and Innovation
Friday, February 23, 2018 at 7:00 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Selections from The Well-Tempered Clavier
Partita No. 2 in D minor for Violin Solo, BWV 1004
Violin Sonata No. 6 in G, BWV 1019
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Andrew Fouts, violin
Leon Schelhase, harpsichord

Todd Fickley
From the Archives
Friday, October 20, 2017 at 7:00 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No. 6, BWV 1051
Trio Sonata in G, BWV 1038
Concerto for 2 Harpsichords in C, BWV 1061
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Native Washingtonian, conductor, pianist, harpsichordist, and organist Todd Fickley is the acting artistic director of the Consort. He holds an MA in organ performance from the University of Wales and is a fellow of the AGO. He has performed at the Kennedy Center and across the US, Europe and Israel, and has been featured with the NSO and Washington Ballet. His recordings have been critically praised as “some of the most enthralling Bach organ playing you are likely to hear anywhere by anyone.”
Colin St-Martin, flute
Marlisa del Cid Woods, violin
Paul Miller, viola
Scott McCormick, viola
Todd Fickley, harpsichord
Scott Dettra, harpsichord
Reverend Elizabeth Carl & Victoria Hill, underwriters

Anna Marsh
Politically Corrette
Friday, April 7, 2017 at 7:00 p.m.
Michel Corrette
Symphonie No. 1 in D Minor
Organ Concerto No. 2 in A Major, Op. 26
Le Phénix
Concerto Comique No. 25 – Les Sauvages et la Furstemberg
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Gwyn Roberts, flute
Tatiana Chulochnikova, violin
Anna Marsh, bassoon
Todd Fickley, organ

Kate Vetter Cain, soprano
Secular Bach
Friday, February 24, 2017 at 7:00 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Wedding Cantata: Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten, BWV 202
Capriccio on the departure of a beloved brother, BWV 992
Peasant Cantata: Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet, BWV 212
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Kate Vetter Cain, soprano
Mark Duer, bass
Colin St-Martin, flute
Stephen Bard, oboe
Bradley Tatum, horn
Todd Fickley, harpsichord

Colin St-Martin, flute
Eine kleine Bachmusik
Friday, November 4, 2016 at 7:00 p.m.
A Program of Sonatas
Violin Sonata No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1016
Gamba Sonata No. 2 in D Major, BWV 1028
Flute Sonata No. 2 in E Minor, BWV 1034
Flute & Violin Sonata in G Major, BWV 1039
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Colin St-Martin, flute
Tatiana Chulochnikova, violin
John Moran, viola da gamba
Todd Fickley, harpsichord

Amy Nicole Broadbent, Soprano
Coffee Cantata
Friday, April 8, 2016 at 7:00 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Coffee Cantata, BWV 211
Selections from the Anna Magdalena Notebook
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Amy Nicole Broadbent, soprano
Nicholas Fichter, tenor
Richard Giarusso, bass

Richard Stone, Lute
Suite Delights
Friday, February 26, 2016 at 7:00 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007
Lute Suite in G Minor, BWV 995
Harpsichord Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816
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John Moran, cello
Richard Stone, lute
Reilly Lewis, harpsichord

Tatiana Chulochnikova, Violin
Chips Off the Old Bach
Friday, November 13, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.
W.F. Bach
Concerto in D for Flute
Johann Sebastian Bach
Concerto for Harpsichord, Op. 1, No. 4 in G Major
Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No. 4, BWV 1049
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Tatiana Chulochnikova, violin
Colin St. Martin, flute & recorder
Gwyn Roberts, recorder
Reilly Lewis, harpsichord

Pinnacle Achievements
Saturday, April 11, 2015 at 5:00 p.m.
Goldberg Variations
Brandenburg Concerto No. 5
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All in the Family: Motets of the Bach Dynasty
Saturday, March 21, 2015 at 3:00 p.m.
Drawing from the collection known as the Altbachisches Archiv, this concert will feature exquisite motets by Johann Sebastian Bach and his illustrious relatives.
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Laura Choi Stuart
The Intimate Bach
Friday, October 24, 2014 at 7:00 p.m.
Enjoy a program of vocal and instrumental music featuring the superb artistry of members of the Consort chorus and orchestra.
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Laura Choi Stuart, soprano
Kristen Dubenion-Smith, mezzo-soprano
Robert Petillo, tenor
Steven Combs, baritone
Marlisa del Cid Woods, violin
Meg Owens, oboe
John Moran, cello
J. Reilly Lewis, harpsichord