Concordia Seminary Newsroom
Bach at the Sem Concert set for Palm Sunday
Bach at the Sem, presented by Concordia Seminary and the American Kantorei, will present the third concert of its 20th season on Sunday, March 24, at 3:00 p.m. in the Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus on the campus of Concordia Seminary in Clayton, Mo. These concerts are made possible through the financial support of the public. Please give generously as you are able.
Dr. Jeffrey Wilson, guest conductor for the March 24 concert, is professor of music, director of choral activities, and chair of the music department at Greenville College where he teaches conducting, voice, choral techniques and church music. He became the third conductor of the Greenville College Choir in 1996 and has toured with this ensemble throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. Dr. Wilson previously guest conducted with Maestro Bergt at Bach at the Sem in April 2011. Featured at the March concert will be: J. S. Bach, Cantatas BWV 22: Jesu nahm zu sich die Zwölfe; BWV 182: Himmelskönig sei willkommen; BWV 143: Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele (choruses); as well as G. F. Handel, “Worthy is the Lamb” (from Messiah).
The American Kantorei, the performing group of Bach at the Sem, was founded in 1969 by its first musical director, the Rev. Robert Bergt, a member of the Concordia Seminary faculty. Following a hiatus of some 20 years, the Kantorei was resurrected in 1993 at the behest of its major sponsors, Robert and (the late) Lori Duesenberg and Richard and Phyllis Duesenberg, and has since presented to the communities of Concordia Seminary and St. Louis at large nearly 100 concerts of the music of premier Lutheran composer, Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as music of Schütz, Buxtehude, Mendelssohn and other Lutheran composers.
In this period of guest conductors, following the death of Maestro Bergt in 2011, the chorus is prepared for each concert by interim music director, Dr. Jeral Becker, director of choral and vocal activities at Saint Louis University.
For additional information, please call 314-505-7009, email brewerm@csl.edu, or visit http://bach.www.csl.edu.