CALIFORNIA BACH SOCIETY Paul Flight, Artistic Director “California Bach Society delivers a sublime St. Matthew Passion” Steven Winn, San Francisco Classical Voice, October 2016 “sensitive and expansive leadership" [...] This long, demanding piece needs conviction and focus, and the ensemble seemed to have both of those in abundance.” Nicholas Jones, “California Bach Society sings a moving All-Night Vigil”, San Francisco Classical Voice, March 2019 April 26-28, 2019 I Maestri Italiani a Vienna / Italian Masters in Vienna Giovanni Valentini and Antonio Bertali Friday, April 26, 8pm, at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church 1111 O’Farrell at Franklin, San Francisco 94109 Saturday, April 27 8pm, at All Saints’ Episcopal Church 555 Waverley at Hamilton, Palo Alto 94301 Sunday, April 28, 4pm, at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church 2300 Bancroft at EllsWorth, Berkeley 94704 Doors open 30 minutes prior to each performance. Tickets: $35 (discounts for advance purchase, seniors, students, and under 30) 650-485-1097 | http://WWW.calbach.org | [email protected] Palo Alto, March 28, 2019: True to their reputation as "prospectors of Baroque gold," Artistic Director Paul Flight and the award-winning chorus will perform the U.S. premiere of Antonio Bertali's Missa Redemptoris, for eight vocal soloists, chorus, brass, and strings. It is only one of a beautiful collection of works by tWo Italian masters, Giovanni Valentini and his successor Bertali, who worked as Kapellmeisters at the Hapsburg court in Vienna in the 17th century. The 30-voice chamber chorus was aWarded "Best Choral Group” and “Best Early Music/Baroque Ensemble" for 2017-2018 by San Francisco Classical Voice for their performance at the Berkeley Early Music Festival in June 2018. The chorus is joined by a period instrument orchestra of cornettos, sackbuts, and strings, featuring Alex Opsahl and Steve Escher on cornetto and Aaron Westman and Anna Washburn on violin. Vocal soloists are sopranos Christa Pfeiffer and Caroline Jou California Bach Society presents “I Maestri Italiani a Vienna”, Apr 26-28, 2019 2 of 5 Armitage, mezzo-soprano Gabriela Estephanie Solis, tenors Tim Silva and Michael Desnoyers, and basses Clayton Moser and Adam Cole. More about the Italian Masters in Vienna: Giovanni Valentini and Antonio Bertali Worked in Vienna as Kapellmeisters to the Holy Roman Emperors Ferdinand II and Ferdinand III, in the 17th century. Valentini was a student of the great Giovanni Gabrieli, and his music reflects that legacy. We perform his stunning double choir motet "Iniquos odio habui" and a selection of his deeply expressive madrigals written for voices and obbligato instruments. Valentini’s successor at the Hapsburg court, Antonio Bertali, excelled in compositions for large forces. In addition to his Missa Redemptoris, we perform his setting of Psalm 51, "Miserere mei Deus." Program: Missa Redemptoris Antonio Bertali (1605-1669) U.S. Premiere Miserere mei Deus, Psalm 51 Antonio Bertali Iniquos odio habui, Psalm 119 Giovanni Valentini (1582-1649) Cantate gentes Giovanni Valentini Secondo libro de madrigali, Venice, 1616 Giovanni Valentini Guerra, guerra tu brami Vagheggiando le bell ‘onde Ecco maggio seren Biographies: To doWnload photos, please go to http://WWW.calbach.org/press/ The California Bach Society, a 30-voice chamber chorus, was recently aWarded "Best Choral Group” and “Best Early Music/Baroque Ensemble" for 2017-2018 by San Francisco Classical Voice, folloWing a dazzling performance at the Berkeley Early Music Festival in June 2018. Founded in 1971, CBS has specialized in historically informed performances since 1998 and has established a reputation for its interpretations of Renaissance and Baroque choral music. Since his appointment in 2006, artistic director Paul Flight has attracted audiences and critics with his thoughtful and refreshing programming. Under his direction, the chorus has become well respected for bringing lesser-knoWn Baroque masterWorks to Bay Area stages and has garnered critical acclaim. California Bach Society presents “I Maestri Italiani a Vienna”, Apr 26-28, 2019 3 of 5 In February 2013, Leon Chisholm of San Francisco Classical Voice Wrote: "In recent years, the California Bach Society has become a prospector of Baroque gold. Its concerts have brought forth exquisite, rarely heard works by forgotten masters from the lost frontier, to the delight of its audiences." A 2017 SFCV revieW asserted "California Bach [Society] excels in the intricate polyphony of Bach’s choral writing.” Artistic Director Dr. Paul Flight—a noted choral conductor, teacher, and singer—is in his thirteenth season with the California Bach Society. A former member of such distinguished ensembles as the Waverly Consort, Theatre of Voices, Pomerium Musices, and the NeW York Collegium, he brings a wealth of expertise to CBS. Critics have praised Dr. Flight’s conducting acumen, stating: “Flight has made of the choral group a professional ensemble capable of every expressive nuance and glorious ensemble sound.” In addition, he is the artistic director of Schola Cantorum San Francisco, a professional chamber choir, and the founding director of Berkeley-based Chora Nova. For nine years Dr. Flight Was principal conductor of the Madison Early Music Festival, where he directed masterWorks by Bach, Handel, Telemann, Vivaldi, Purcell, Dufay, and Guerrero. He has tWice been a visiting professor of music at the University of California at Berkeley, directing the music department’s top choral ensembles. As a visiting professor at Mills College, he has lectured on opera, and music history and form. He conducted an operatic double-bill production of Gustav Holst’s Savitri and Darius Milhaud’s Les malheurs d’Orphée for Mills College. Dr. Flight received his doctorate from Indiana University, where he studied conducting with Robert Porco. He has recorded a program featuring the music of Croce for Harmonia, a nationally syndicated radio shoW, and appeared as a guest on KALW radio’s performing arts program My Favorite Things as Well as KALW’s Open Air. Soprano Caroline Jou Armitage is knoWn to Bay Area audiences for her “absolutely beautiful” performances sung with “pitch-perfect clarity and affecting intensity” (San Francisco Classical Voice). A frequent featured soloist with the California Bach Society, she has performed Handel’s Dixit Dominus, Bach’s Cantatas BWV 21 and 198, Bach’s Mass in G Major, and Respighi’s Lauda per la Nativita (role of Angel). As an early music interpreter, she has presented a concert of Handel opera arias and duets With contralto Karen Clark at the 2018 Berkeley Festival and Exhibition and appeared as a soloist With the Amherst Early Music Festival in Carissimi’s Jephte, Caldara’s Il giuoco del Quadriglio, and excerpts of Roman de Fauvel, directed by Benjamin Bagby (Sequentia). Caroline’s operatic roles include Laetitia in Menotti’s The Old Maid and the Thief, Lucy in Britten’s The Beggar’s Opera, the First Lady and Papagena from Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and Norina in scenes from Donizetti’s Don Pasquale. Recently, she was the featured soloist in a concert of opera arias and choruses With Chora Nova where she sang arias of Dido and Belinda from Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, Ännchen from Weber’s Der Freichütz, and Santuzza from Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana. Christa Pfeiffer, soprano, has a diverse repertoire of over 100 works, ranging from Baroque to contemporary and encompassing oratorio, opera, and recital. San Francisco Classical Voice Wrote that her voice was “like balm to the ears,” and that her “artistry elevated the performance.” Recent credits include the title role in Handel’s Rodelinda, California Bach Society presents “I Maestri Italiani a Vienna”, Apr 26-28, 2019 4 of 5 Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Haydn’s Creation, the roles of Dido (Dido and Æneas) and Galatea (Acis and Galatea), Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, and Ravel’s Chansons Madécasses. In demand throughout the Bay Area and the U.S., she has appeared with American Bach Soloists, American Philharmonic Sonoma Country, Berkeley Symphony, Blue Hill Bach (Maine), Philharmonia Baroque Chorale, San Francisco Ballet, Festival Opera, Livermore Opera, ChamberMix and Marin Baroque. She has also performed abroad in Brazil, Japan and South Africa. Upcoming performances include Monteverdi Vespers of 1610 and Ola Gjeilo’s Dark Night of the Soul. Ms. Pfeiffer, an Oakland native, received a Bachelor’s Degree in vocal performance from Eastman School of Music. She lives with her designer/builder husband in San Rafael, where she maintains a busy voice studio. Gabriela Estephanie Solis, mezzo-soprano, is an avid interpreter of early and sacred music. In the San Francisco Bay Area she regularly performs as a soloist with the California Bach Society and as a member of the American Bach Soloists Choir. Operatic engagements include the roles of Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Bradamante in Handel’s Alcina, Endimione in Cavalli’s La Calisto, and Orineo in Cavalli’s L’Erismena (Amherst Early Music Festival). She has also performed as a soloist in numerous concert works of the Baroque, including Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri, Vivaldi’s Gloria and Nisi Dominus, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Zelenka’s Missa Votiva, and Handel’s Messiah. A frequent interpreter of Bach, Gabriela has also performed as the alto soloist for BWV 29, 42, 106, 1083, Magnificat, and Mass in B Minor. Other major works include Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music, Copland’s In the Beginning, and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms. Her most recent engagements include winning the Bethlehem Bach Aria Competition and traveling to Weimar and Leipzig, Germany to perform Bach cantatas with Helmuth Rilling. She is a recent alumna of the University of Notre Dame, where she completed graduate studies in sacred music and vocal performance, and noW resides in Baltimore. More information can be found at https://gabrielaestephaniesolis.com/. Sought out for his “rich and resonant” and “sWeet, well-projected lyric tenor,” Michael Desnoyers has sung over 50 different roles across San Francisco Bay Area stages.