The Houston-Leipzig Sister City Association is delighted to invite you to the festivities celebrating 30 Years of Bach Society Houston this Sunday, October 16, 2011, beginning at 5:15 p.m. with Illuminations, followed by the Anniversary Concert. Long an informal tradition, the Bach Society has fêted its sponsors, friends, and musicians with an Oktoberfest after the concert, and as a friend of the Bach Society for quite some time, Houston-Leipzig is joyfully sponsoring the Bach Society Oktoberfest this year.
The Bach Society festivities begin with Illuminations at 5:15 p.m. llluminations are lectures and discussions preceding each Bach Vespers and Abendmusik Concert event to facilitate the listener’s understanding of the music, the composer, his times and contemporaries. Yvonne Kendall and Mark Mummert will talk about the inner workings of Bach’s music and his theology, introduce the performers, and give the inside story on the performances. During part of the lecture/discussion, vocal soloists for Phoebus and Pan will accompany introduction of the characters and explanation of some of the chronology in the libretto.
At 6:00 p.m. the Bach Society presents – Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft, BWV 50 – Mass in G Major, BWV 236 – and Der Streit zwischen Phoebus und Pan, BWV 201 – by Johann Sebastian Bach in its Abendmusik Concert: 30th Anniversary Celebration with the Bach Choir Houston, Mercury Baroque, soloists Lauren Snouffer, Sonja Bruzauskas, Randolph Lacy, Randall Umstead, Dirk Schmidt (Leipzig), and Matthias Weichert (Dresden) under the direction of Albert LeDoux. Marty Martin, the Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School, will give a festive keynote address. Dr. Marty is one of the most prominent interpreters of religion and culture today, and he has written more than 50 books.
After the concert Houston-Leipzig welcomes you with typical Oktoberfest fare in the Parish Hall and courtyard. You are welcome to join us, even if you can’t make it to the concert. We are looking forward to seeing you Sunday for the Bach Society Houston 30-Year Anniversary Celebration!
Please RSVP to angelika@houstonleipzig.org . Illuminations, the Anniversary Concert, and the Oktoberfest will all take place at Christ the King Lutheran Church, 2353 Rice Boulevard, Houston, TX 77005 (see map at the Events tab on this site).