Cantata Singers Present 50th Anniversary Season Finale Tonight

Cantata Singers presents the final concert of its 50th Anniversary Season with a program that celebrates the organization's commitment to the continually rewarding exploration of Bach's cantatas, as well as to creating new repertoire for the canon.

A singular desire to bring to Boston's listeners music that isn't being heard anywhere else has inspired Cantata Singers' programming for 50 years.

In 1964, that music included the cantatas of J.S. Bach. Today, it may be hard for us to believe, but when Cantata Singers was founded in 1964, live performances of Bach cantatas were quite a rarity. In fact, Cantata Singers' early concerts featured the first Boston performances of many of the cantatas.

Bach's music, from the cantatas to the B-minor Mass to the Passions, remains an essential part of Cantata Singers' repertoire. However, the ensemble's repertoire has expanded to include music from the 17th century to today. Cantata Singers has commissioned 13 works for choir and orchestra-including one that was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music-and has presented more than fifty Boston premieres of music both old and new.

Cantata Singers has always focused on the music-be it by Bach, Verdi, Harbison, or Pärt-and its audiences do, too. Our audiences return year after year to hear fresh visions of iconic music, or an intriguing unfamiliar work that is-in fact-quite approachable. Each Cantata Singers concert is often surprising, sometimes challenging, always beautiful, and ultimately inspiring.

Cantata Singers' 50th Anniversary season finale concert, featuring music by J.S. Bach, Jan Dismas Zelenka, and the World Premiere of The Supper at Emmaus by John Harbison, is set for NEC's Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough Street, Boston MA tonight, May 9th, 2014 at 8:00pm. Pre-concert talk at 7:00pm with composer John Harbison. Post-concert reception, free to all ticketholders.

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