The Cecilia Chorus of New York to Present A BACH FAMILY CHRISTMAS at Carnegie Hall

The Cecilia Chorus of New York, Mark Shapiro, Music Director, will present A Bach Family Christmas on Saturday, December 10 at 8:00 PM in Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, 57th Street and 7th Avenue in Manhattan. The concert will be presented with orchestral accompaniment. Maestro Shapiro will lead the chorus and orchestra.

The program will feature J.S. Bach's masterpiece Magnificat, along with the World Premiere of Der Zippelfagottist, a 15-minute comic intermezzo (mini-opera) by Jonathan Breit that was commissioned by the chorus.

Magnificat will be presented with four additional hymns (laudes) that were inserted into the piece in 1723 by the composer. These rarely performed interpolations enhance the standard version, enriching its context and texture and extending the range of its atmospheres and moods. Also presented will be works by other members of the Bach family, including Meine Seele Erhebet Den Herrn ("Magnificat" in German) by Johann's cousin J. Ernst, and the Advent cantata Wachet Auf by his son J. Christoph Friedrich.

Der Zippelfagottist tells the story of a brawl between the 20-year-old Johann Sebastian Bach and one of his students, a bassoonist. Mr. Breit also wrote the libretto, which he adapted from the original church documents, c. 1705. Mr. Breit, known for his humorous compositions, studied music and linguistics at Yale College and received a Masters of Music at the Mannes School of Music. For more information, visit bit.ly/2f9T2b9.

Soloists for the concert will be Rebecca Farley, soprano, Rihab Chaieb, mezzo-soprano, Nicholas Tamagna, countertenor, Matthew Swensen, tenor and Cody Quattlebaum, bass-baritone.

Tickets for the December 10 event range from $25 to $85, and can be purchased online at www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2016/12/10/0800/PM/The-Cecilia-Chorus-of-New-York-with-Orchestra, by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or visiting the box office at 57th St and Seventh Ave. For more information about this concert, go to www.ceciliachorusny.org or call 646-638-2535.

The Cecilia Chorus of New York is the 2015 winner of the ASCAP/Chorus America Alice Parker Award; and the 2013 third-place winner for The American Prize in Choral Performance. New York City's Department of Cultural Affairs recently bestowed a generous grant of support on The Cecilia Chorus of New York for its' 2016-17 season.

The Chorus, a secular organization, was founded in 1906 and has evolved into one of the finest avocational performing arts organizations in New York City. Recent performance highlights have included the commission and premiere of Tom Cipullo's Credo for a Secular City at Carnegie Hall in Spring 2014, the New York Premiere of the Mass in D (1892) by Dame Ethel Smyth and revivals of works by Peter Mennin and Isabella Leonarda, as well as the Chorus's first-ever commission/premiere for Carnegie Hall, Divis Cetera by Raphael Fusco in 2012. The Chorus's 2016-17 season will include three newly commissioned works throughout the year.

Mark Shapiro was appointed the seventh Music Director of The Cecilia Chorus of New York in 2011. He is one of a handful of artistic leaders in North America to have won a prestigious ASCAP Programming Award five times, achieving the unique distinction of winning such an award with three different ensembles. His February 2015 Juilliard performance of Britten's The Rape of Lucretia was characterized in The New York Times as "insightful"; The Times has elsewhere praised his work for its "virtuosity and assurance," and "uncommon polish," and his leadership was characterized by New Jersey's Star-Ledger as "erudite and far-reaching." Learn more at www.ceciliachorusny.org/music-director-mark-shapiro.