Whidbey Island Music Festival: Bach Cantatas & Concertos
$35 (students free)
- Debra Nagy, baroque oboe
- Tyler Duncan, baritone
- Clara Rottsolk, soprano
- Tekla Cunningham, baroque violin
- Cynthia Keiko Black, baroque violin
- Eleanor Legault, baroque violin
- Stef Creswell, baroque viola
- Elisabeth Reed, baroque cello
- Ross Gilliland, baroque bass & violone
- Stephen Price, organ & harpsichord
Johann Sebastian Bach — Ich bin vergnügt in meinem Glücke, BWV 84
Johann Sebastian Bach — Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen, BWV 32
Johann Sebastian Bach — Concerto for Violin and Oboe in C minor, BWV 1060R
Bach's cantatas are an endless source of inspiration, comfort, and joy. We live in challenging times, and listening to Bach makes everything better. Join us for an afternoon with America's leading baroque oboist, Debra Nagy, and two renowned Bach singers, Tyler Duncan and Clara Rottsolk, accompanied by a stellar band of baroque specialists. In these cantatas we'll invite you to sing along in the chorales. Tekla and Debra conclude the program with Bach's beloved concerto for oboe and violin.
Two performances of this program:
- Saturday, June 22, 3pm at First Reformed Church in Oak Harbor
- Sunday, June 23, 3pm at St. Augustine's in-the-Woods Episcopal Church in Freeland
About Debra Nagy, baroque oboe
About Tyler Duncan, baritone
About Clara Rottsolk, soprano
About Tekla Cunningham, baroque violin
Baroque violinist Tekla Cunningham delights in bringing the music of the baroque, classical and romantic eras to life with vivid and expressive historically informed performances.
Praised as "a consummate musician whose flowing solos and musical gestures are a joy to watch", her performances have been described as "ravishingly beautiful" and "stellar". Her greatest musical love is music of the baroque and chamber music of all stripes, though she can’t seem to quit Johannes Brahms. She is co-artistic director of Pacific MusicWorks in Seattle, artist-in-residence at the University of Washington and founder and director of the Whidbey Island Music Festival.
Tekla plays regularly as concertmaster and principal player with the American Bach Soloists. Her new release 'Stylus Phantasticus' with Pacific MusicWorks is delighting critics. "Tekla is a marvel…an endlessly songful bird". Early Music America describes the recording as "played with verve, the music presented here reaffirms the old notion that instrumental music can have the flair of any theatrical spectacle. … a stellar vessel for the boldest showmanship".
Tekla plays on a violin made by Sanctus Seraphin in Venice in 1746.
http://www.teklacunningham.com/About Cynthia Keiko Black, baroque violin
About Eleanor Legault, baroque violin
About Stef Creswell, baroque viola
Stef Creswell is an enthusiastic and lifelong proponent of both early music performance and chamber music. They have played with members of the Lafayette Quartet, studied with the Juilliard and Borodin quartets, and performed as a member of both the Alighieri Quartet and the Alder Quartet. Stef has attended International String Quartet competitions and several workshops. Their first teacher in early music endeavors was Stanley Ritchie, at Indiana University. Thereafter they worked with August Wenzinger, Gustav Leonhardt, Phoebe Carrai, and Jean Lamon, among others, having studied at the Amherst and Oberlin summer institutes, and also performed and recorded with Tafelmusik. In Seattle, Stef has performed with Tekla Cunningham and Caroline Nicolas in Pacific MusicWorks projects and in the Whidbey Island Music Festival, and with Henry Lebedinsky in Early Music Underground, Classical Uncorked! and for the American Guild of Organists Seattle Convention, 2022. They have played solos with the Pacific Baroque Orchestra and Seattle Baroque Orchestra, been a founding member of the Seattle New Music Ensemble, taught chamber music in the schools for 12 years through the Seattle Chamber Music Society, and recently completed their third year as Chamber Music Program Coordinator at Summer Strings, the Cascade Youth Orchestra day camp for young musicians.
https://seattlebachfestival.org/team-member/stef-creswell/About Elisabeth Reed, baroque cello
About Ross Gilliland, baroque bass & violone
Ross Gilliland performs regularly on modern and baroque bass throughout the Pacific Northwest with numerous ensembles including the North Corner Chamber Orchestra (NOCCO), Seattle Modern Orchestra, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Auburn Symphony, Seattle Chamber Orchestra, Emerald City Music, and the Seattle "Candlelight Concert" series. He also freelances actively in theater and studio sessions, recording soundtracks for feature films, pop, bluegrass, video games, and other "attractions." A lover of baroque/early music, he performs baroque bass and violone (a precursor to the modern bass) with period ensembles including Sound Salon, the Seattle Bach Festival, Tacoma Bach Festival, Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Portland Baroque Orchestra, the Whidbey Island Music Festival, Epiphany Parish, and Seattle Bach Choir. A Madison, WI native, he was a tenured member of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Madison Opera and performed with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, Madison Bach Musicians, and the Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, collaborating closely with famed composer John Harbison for 20 years. He has been a featured soloist with Seattle's Mostly Nordic concert series and live on Wisconsin Public Radio, and spent about a year of his life touring the nation in a ska band. Mr. Gilliland holds degrees in music performance, physics, and environmental policy.
https://www.nocco.org/ross-gillilandAbout Stephen Price, organ & harpsichord
Stephen C. Price recently joined the music faculty at the University of Washington (Seattle) as the inaugural Paul B. Fritts Faculty Fellow and Artist-in-Residence in organ performance beginning in September 2023. Dr. Price previously held the position of Assistant Teaching Professor in music (organ) at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. In his previous post, he maintained an organ studio including undergraduate and graduate students, and also taught church music, music history, and music theory courses. His former organ students have obtained church positions throughout the United States and are active within the profession.
Upon invitation, Dr. Price served as an adjudicator for the First Presbyterian National Organ Playing Competition (Fort Wayne, IN); and the Strader Organ Scholarship Competition (University of Cincinnati). While residing in Indiana, Dr. Price served at Plainfield United Methodist (Plainfield, IN), as choir director and organist; Holy Trinity Lutheran ELCA (New Castle, IN), and as Organist at High Street United Methodist Church, Muncie, Indiana, where he initiated the church's first organ scholar position to inspire and train future church musicians in East Central Indiana.
Dr. Price's debut album, Paris Impact Organ Suites, has been released on the Raven recording label and is available for purchase at RavenCD.com.
https://www.seveneightartists.com/priceSt. Augustine's in-the-Woods Episcopal Church
5217 South Honeymoon Bay RoadFreeland, WA 98249
United States