Bach at One

This Bach at One is the first installment of Trinity’s Divine Muse series celebrating Saint Cecilia, whose spirituality and martyrdom have inspired countless works of art, literature, and music. Director of Music Melissa Attebury leads the Trinity Choir and the Trinity Baroque Orchestra in a tribute that includes Bach’s Komm, Jesu, komm; Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild, and Benjamin Britten’s Hymn to St. Cecilia — one of the best-known musical tributes to the saint. 

Trinity Choir; Trinity Baroque Orchestra; Melissa Attebury, Director 

The Trinity Choir performs one of Bach’s most complex choral pieces, Jesu, meine Freude (“Jesus, my Joy”) as well as two modern Gabriel Kahane pieces of the same title: We are the Saints. The first Kahane work (a New York premiere) grapples with our relationship with nature. The second, a world premiere arrangement of the composer's popular song, weaves personal narratives and social commentary into a compelling reflection on homelessness. 

This special Bach at One is part of the 2024–25 NOVUS Renewal: Shelter series, which highlights the experience of the unhoused and the complex systemic failures that lead to homelessness. 

Trinity Choir; Gabriel Kahane, soloist and composer; Melissa Attebury, director 

Bach never wrote an opera, but this concert features the closest approximation we have: the exquisite monologues and duets of his cantatas Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust and Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen. Cantata 32 uses the poetry of the Song of Songs to model a dialogue between Jesus, the expression of the divine, and Soul, embodying humanity.  

Elisse Albian, soprano; Elisa Sutherland, alto; Enrico Lagasca, bass; Trinity Baroque Orchestra; led by Avi Stein, organ 

In his last post as a music director in Leipzig, Bach led a concert series — in a coffeehouse in winter and a beer garden in summer — that featured works like George Frideric Handel’s fiery Concerto in D Minor, as well as such visiting virtuosi as violinist Georg Pisendel, whose arrangement of Jean-Féry Rebel’s Les Caractères de la danse is a medley of popular French dances of the time. Today’s program also includes a suite of opera hits by Jean-Philippe Rameau, and Bach’s own Prelude and Fugue in E Minor. 

Trinity Baroque Orchestra; led by Avi Stein, harpsichord 

Considered one of Christianity’s greatest statements of hope, the Magnificat is arguably Bach’s most popular choral work. Combining colorful orchestration with a large choir, the jubilant Magnificat is based on the Canticle of Mary from Luke’s gospel and centers on God’s love for the poor, humble, and oppressed.  

Trinity Choir; Trinity Baroque Orchestra; led by Avi Stein, organ 

Award-winning South African jazz vocalist Vuyo Sotashe opens the Jazz at One season. He has performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center and was one of the first male singers to place in the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Vocal competition.  

This season’s Jazz at One, Long Walk to Freedom, is inspired by Nelson Mandela and the 30th anniversary of South African democracy. Presented in collaboration with JAZZ HOUSE KiDS. 

Selections from Monteverdi Vespers of 1610, SV 206.

The Choir of Trinity Wall Street; Trinity Baroque Orchestra, led by Avi Stein, organ.

Ich steh mit einem Fuß im Grabe, BWV 156
Sehet, wir geh'n hinauf gen Jerusalem, BWV 159

The Choir of Trinity Wall Street; Trinity Baroque Orchestra; led by Avi Stein, organ

J. S. Bach: Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106
Nicolaus Bruhns: Paratum cor meum and Prelude in G Major

The Choir of Trinity Wall Street; Trinity Baroque Orchestra; led by Avi Stein, organ

J. S. Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068
G. F. Handel: Concerto Grosso in G Major, Op 6, No. 1, HWV 319

The Choir of Trinity Wall Street; Trinity Baroque Orchestra; led by Avi Stein, organ