MusicaNova Orchestra Performs Bach's St John Passion

MusicaNova Orchestra (MNO) presents an innovative performance of J. S. Bach's great Eastertide oratorio "St. John Passion" on Palm Sunday, March 25, 2018, 3:00 PM at Scottsdale Presbyterian Church, 3421 North Hayden Road.

Tickets are $20 and $15, available online at www.musicanovaaz.com and at the door. Youth under 18 are free with a paid admission.

The MusicaNova Singers, comprised of the finest professional singers in the Valley of the Sun, are joined by the renowned MusicaNova Orchestra, playing Bach's original orchestration on period instruments including the viola da gamba and the viola d'amore.

In a unique feature, the oratorio will be sung in English, with audience members invited to sing along with the hymn-like chorales as they did in Bach's day. Special pricing is available for individual singers and choral groups that want to participate in this stunning work. No pre-rehearsal is necessary. Email sjp@musicanovaaz.com for details.

St. John's Passion will feature several singers from the Phoenix Chorale and the Arizona Opera Chorus who will join the MusicaNova Singers for this monumental piece. Featured soloists in the work include sopranos Kathleen Berger and Melissa Solomon; altos Amanda Langham and Claire Penneau; tenors Daniel Kurek (Evangelist), Ryan Glover and Jeffrey Strand; and basses Earl Hazell (Pilate) and David Topping (Jesus).

A pre-concert discussion at 2 PM, led by Dr. Bruce Johnson, pastor of Scottsdale Presbyterian, and Warren Cohen, MusicaNova Music Director, explores backgrounds of both the text and music.

MusicaNova is a professional symphony orchestra founded in the Valley in 2003. In addition to its orchestra concerts, MNO also presents a Young Artists Concert Series as well as free Community Concerts at venues in Phoenix and Scottsdale. MusicaNova conducts extensive educational outreach with Valley schools, and sponsors the unique MNO Composition Fellows Program for hands-on mentoring of emerging composers.

MNO Orchestra Concerts are supported by grants from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture, Scottsdale League for the Arts, and Tempe Arts Grants.