• Sumptuous Hors d'oeuvres and Dinner by Delicious! Inc
• Musical Entertainment by Christine Brandes and the American Bach Soloists
• Unique and Exciting Live and Silent Auction Items

If you love the music of ABS, you will not want to miss this Event!

[more information...]

From Dublin to the theatres of London, Handel's Messiah had captivated and intrigued audiences by its near-operatic qualities. But when Handel inaugurated annual benefit performances in London's Foundling Hospital "for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children," the world's favorite oratorio took hold of its permanent place in the hearts of audiences, then in London and now throughout the world. Jeffrey Thomas leads America's "best specialists in early music" including a splendid vocal quartet of Handel specialists in performances that have been treasured by Northern California audiences for more than a decade.

[more information...]

Bach composed his towering masterwork, the great Mass in B Minor, as a testament to and a summation of his supreme compositional art. To this day, it remains the pinnacle of exemplifications of Baroque music. Its monumental Kyrie fugue, sensational and awe-inspiring trumpet fanfares, and stunningly complex choruses have garnered cult-like followers and entire music festivals built around the performance of this most hallowed masterpiece. Maestro Thomas, the American Bach Soloists, the American Bach Choir, and five brilliant soloists have chosen this magnum opus to begin their 20th season of subscription concerts.

[more information...]

Since the American Bach Soloists’ debut concert nearly twenty years ago, Elizabeth Blumenstock’s “powerful intensity and passion” (San Francisco Classical Voice) and “energetically elegant musicality” (Los Angeles Times) have led the ensemble in countless performances. Music Director Jeffrey Thomas describes her artistry and unsurpassed technical brilliance as “a force of nature” and her audiences consistently agree. There is no better choice for a 20th Anniversary Solo Concert than this most acclaimed and in-demand American baroque violinist. Ms. Blumenstock will perform one of Bach’s notoriously demanding Solo Sonatas along with bravura works by the preeminent virtuosos of the 17th century, including a Rosary Sonata by Heinrich Ignaz Biber, one of François Couperin’s Concerts Royaux, and Arcangelo Corelli’s “La Follia” Variations. She will be joined by harpsichordist and organist Corey Jamason, who will perform Bach’s hypnotic Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue.

[more information...]

No music gives clearer portrayals of Bach’s spiritual essence and soul than his treasured cantatas. Each one presents philosophical ideals through the contexts of musical expression. To celebrate two decades of ABS’ dedication to these beautiful and moving mini-dramas, the works chosen for this program were selected by American Bach Soloists audiences: four favorite cantatas—including Ein feste Burg and Wachet auf—will be performed, one musician per part, with ABS’ renowned attention to clarity and detail. Baritone William Sharp, one of America’s most distinguished Bach vocalists and praised by The New York Times as a “sensitive and subtle singer,” will be featured in Bach’s exquisite solo cantata, Ich habe genug.

[more information...]

George Frideric Handel’s life has been celebrated for centuries by countless performers and devotees of his unsurpassed musical legacy. In 1784, twenty-five years after his death, the first of many spectacular commemorations was produced in Westminster Abbey. In the style of that famed event, American Bach Soloists and Grace Cathedral will collaborate in a pair of performances that will feature some of Handel’s finest choral works along with his celebrated Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks. The Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys, conducted by Canon Director of Music Jeffrey Smith, will join the American Bach Soloists in performances of grand compositions, including the coronation anthem Zadok the Priest, that resound perfectly in the architectural splendor of the Cathedral. Soprano Abigail Haynes Lennox will be featured in Handel's Laudate, Pueri, Dominum from the Carmelite Vespers. And Maestro Thomas will conduct an unusually huge array of instruments assembled especially for this event, including a drum corps in Georgian military costume. This is the premier musical event of the season!

[more information...]