Symphony and Sonoma County Bach Choir join forces to perform Bach B Minor Mass in three Sonoma County churches

News Release Contact:
Sara Obuchowski, (707) 546-7097 ext 218

(SANTA ROSA, CA) – Bach’s sacred magnum opus glorifies both voice and instrument as the orchestra wings the listener to heaven with brilliant harmonies and depth of sound. Santa Rosa Symphony Choral Director Robert Worth conducts the orchestra in collaboration with the Sonoma County Bach Choir in three performances of this tour de force setting of the Latin Mass on May 2, 3 and 4, 2008. Symphony members and the choir will be joined by an array of outstanding soloists: soprano Jenni Samuelson; alto Karen Clark, tenor Jos Milton and baritone Hugh Davies.

The concerts take place Friday, May 2 in Petaluma at St. Vincent De Paul Church; Saturday, May 3, in Santa Rosa at St. Eugene’s Cathedral, and Sunday, May 4, in Windsor at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. All performances start at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $20 general seating and can be purchased online at www.santarosasymphony.com, or by calling the Symphony Box Office at 54-MUSIC (707-546-8742).

All performances of the Bach B Minor Mass are underwritten by Maureen & Donald Green and the Donald & Maureen Green Foundation. The Santa Rosa concert at St. Eugene’s is additionally sponsored by North Coast Bank and Mr. Wilson Craig.

The Sonoma County Bach Choir, under the direction of Robert Worth, is a group of 50-60 singers specializing in the music of the Baroque period, with special emphasis on Johann Sebastian Bach. For further information about the Sonoma County Choral Society and the other ensembles under its umbrella, visit www.sonomachoral.org.

Photos of soloists Jenni Samuelson, Karen Clark, Jos Milton, Hugh Davies and conductor Robert Worth are available upon request.

(SOLOISTS’ BIOS follow summary)

Who: Santa Rosa Symphony and the Sonoma County Bach Choir under the direction of Robert Worth

Soloists: Jenni Samuelson, soprano; Karen Clark, alto; Jos Milton, tenor; Hugh Davies, baritone

What: Bach B Minor Mass

Time: 8:00 p.m. for all 3 performances

Venues:
Friday, May 2, 2008
St. Vincent De Paul Church
35 Liberty Street, Petaluma

Saturday, May 3, 2008
St. Eugene’s Cathedral
2323 Montgomery Drive, Santa Rosa

Sunday, May 4, 2008
Our Lady of Guadalupe Church
8400 Old Redwood Hwy, Windsor

Tickets: $20 general seating. Call the Santa Rosa Symphony box office: 54-MUSIC (707-546-8742) or purchase online at www.santarosasymphony.com.

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Jenni Samuelson, Soprano

Jenni Samuelson has performed with several companies across the country including San Francisco Opera, Cinnabar Opera, Chicago Light Opera Works, West Bay Opera, Opera San Jose, Western Union Theater, Eugene Opera, Skylight Opera of Milwaukee, and Western Opera Theater. She has a wide variety of roles to her credit, among them are Despina in Cosi fan tutti, Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, Musetta in La Bohème, Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Nanetta in Falstaff, Betsy in Sweet Betsy from Pike, Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore, Emma in Wise Man of the West, Laoula in L’Etoile, Belinda in Dido and Aeneus, Phyllis in Iolanthe and Adina in The Elixir of Love.

In addition to her operatic activities, Samuelson frequently performs concerts and recitals. She has been a featured soloist for works including Bach’s B minor Mass and Christmas Oratorio, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, Monteverdi’s Vespers 1610 and Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 by Villa Lobos with groups such as Sonoma Bach Society, San Francisco Chorale, Santa Rosa Symphony and Merced Symphony. Her education includes a bachelor’s degree in Musical Theater from Sonoma State University and a master’s degree in Vocal Performance from Northwestern University.

Karen Clark, mezzo-contralto

Karen Clark’s rich mezzo-contralto is acclaimed world wide in repertory spanning medieval to 21st Century. Critics from The South China Post, the New York Times, and San Francisco Chronicle have described her as “a mezzo of more dramatic difference: graceful and impassioned,” “strong, pure, and passionate,” “striking with an astonishing range of expressive subtlety.” She has appeared on prestigious concert series programs throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia in Utrecht, Köln, Royaumont, and Hong Kong with the outstanding chamber ensembles of Rifkin/Bach Ensemble, Ensemble Sequentia, Boston Camerata, and Waverly Consort. In oratorio, such as Handel’s Messiah, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, and Bach’s Mass in B minor, she has performed in New York’s Avery Fisher Hall, Town Hall, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and the Pierpont Morgan Library. With Joshua Rifkin and the Bach Ensemble, Clark sang the entire Mass in B minor, in New York, Kansas City, and Bressanone, Italy.

In June 2008, Clark will be featured with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gary Snyder and the Galax Quartet in new works by Robert Morris (Eastman School of Music), Fred Frith (Mills College), W. A. Mathieu and Roy Whelden. The San Francisco series Concerts at Old First Church hosts this celebration of Synder’s 50-year publishing career. She is recorded on the New Albion, Erato, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Opera Omnia, Musical Heritage Society, and Focus labels. She holds degrees from the Indiana University School of Music and has taught in the music departments of Swarthmore College and Princeton University. Karen lives in Sonoma County and is adjunct faculty at Sonoma State University and University of Southern California.

Jos Milton, Tenor

Tenor Jos Milton has recently relocated to Northern California and has immediately established himself as busy concert artist. He has made several appearances with the Sonoma County Choral Society and other concert ensembles as the tenor soloist for the Mozart's Requiem, Mass in C and Vesperae solennes de Dominica. For the 2007-2008 season, he has been engaged by the Santa Rosa Symphony as the tenor soloist for their performances of Bach’s B minor mass. Prior to his arrival in California, he was a resident artist with the Bach Vespers Series at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in New York City, where he performed solo movements in more than thirty Bach cantatas. Other concert appearances include solo engagements in Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings with the Goucher Chamber Symphony, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Concert Artists of Baltimore, Bach’s Mass in b minor with Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity, and Handel’s Messiah with the Annapolis Chamber Orchestra and with the Handel Choir of Baltimore.

Equally at home on the operatic stage, Milton has recently been engaged to sing Pedrillo in Abduction from the Seraglio for Sonoma City Opera under the direction of Michael Fontaine. He has sung various roles with companies including the title role in Stravinsky’s Mavra, Arbace in Mozart’s Idomeneo, the Chaplain in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites, Alfred in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, and Elder Hayes in Floyd’s Susannah. Those companies have included Baltimore, Santa Fe, Utah and Washington. His performance in Short Scores at New York’s Symphony Space was recorded and broadcast on New York Public Radio. In 2004, Jos made his European stage debut as Rodolfo in the New Opera Festival di Roma production of La Boheme.
Jos is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of Music, where he received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in voice. He was raised in Houston, Texas and currently resides in Calistoga with his wife Ashley.

Hugh Davies, Baritone

Hugh Davies was born and educated in England, and started his singing career as a boy chorister at St. Albans Abbey under the direction of Peter Hurford and Simon Preston. While a student at Cambridge University, he was a Choral Scholar at King's College, where the director of music was David Willcocks.

As a professional singer based in London, he appeared with Glyndebourne Opera and the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, and performed as a soloist with leading choirs and orchestras throughout Europe. He was a member of the Monteverdi Choir, the Schütz Choir and the John Alldis Choir, and made many recordings and broadcasts on television and radio.
After teaching music in Australia for two years, Davies moved to California in 1986. He now sings in the San Francisco area both as a soloist and as a member of several professional ensembles, and has appeared with groups such as Theatre of Voices, the American Bach Soloists, the California Bach Society, Magnificat, the Santa Rosa Symphony, the Sonoma County Bach Choir and the Albany Consort.