MARLBORO-Juno Orchestra, led by Music Director Zon Eastes, will perform "Bach!" Sunday, Oct. 12, at 2:30 p.m. at Persons Auditorium, Potash Hill, in Marlboro.
Featured performers will be soprano Junko Watanabe and baritone Randall Scarlata, each with longtime connections to this area.
Scarlata will be featured for Bach's Cantata 56, "Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen," and be joined by Watanabe for the Cantata 57, "Selig ist der Mann." The Brattleboro Camerata choir will round out the ensemble for the cantatas.
Scarlata has appeared on concert stages throughout Europe, North America, South America, Australia, and Asia. He has been a soloist with the Philadelphia and Minnesota Orchestras, and with the Pittsburgh, San Francisco, American, Sydney, Ulster, Tonkünstler, National, New World, and BBC Symphonies, as well as the early music groups Wiener Akademie, Grand Tour, Tempesta di Mare, and Musica Angelica.
Watanabe has performed widely in operas, oratorios, and recitals in the U.S. and her native Japan. She has been featured as a soloist with the Boston Lyric Opera, Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, New England Bach Festival, and the Marlboro Music Festival. She is on the voice faculty of Brattleboro Music Center and Amherst College.
"These two compelling Bach cantatas each delve into real human experience," said Eastes in a news release. "The beauty and expressiveness of these works might serve as a soothing balm in these roiling times."
The program will also include Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048, "likely his most famous orchestral work. Its familiarity never overshadows its brilliance," says Eastes. Also featured will be Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach's Sinfonia in B minor, Wq. 182, No. 5.
"For many years, the Brattleboro Music Center shone a light on J.S. Bach on this holiday weekend. It is a real pleasure to honor this tradition, to enter Bach's world and perform these works in concert," says Eastes.
Tickets are $20 general admission in advance, $25 at the door. They are available from bmcvt.org, 802-257-4523, and info@bmcvt.org.
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.