The acclaimed American Kantorei, a chorus and orchestra based in St. Louis, will sing during a Service of Choral Vespers for Eastertide, “Lord Jesus, Blessed Prince of Peace!,” at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 23, in the Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus on the Concordia Seminary, St. Louis campus. The service is part of the annual Concordia Seminary Concert Series and is free and open to the public.

Under the direction of Dr. Maurice Boyer, the American Kantorei will sing a cantata composed by J.S. Bach, “Halt im Gedaechtnis Jesum Christ” (BWV 67), during the service. The cantata, based on 2 Tim. 2:8, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead,” will be sung within the context of worship — the original context for which Bach composed his cantatas. 

Worshipers will sing three Easter hymns that were sung in Leipzig, Germany, during Bach’s years of service there (1723–50). The Seminary’s premier choir, Laudamus, will serve as the liturgical choir for the psalmody and canticle. A brief homily by Rev. William Weedon, pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Hamel, Ill., will follow. 

The service will mark the first performance of the American Kantorei on the Seminary campus since 2017.

“Concordia Seminary is honored and delighted to hear the American Kantorei as they fill our chapel space once again with sacred sound,” said Dr. Jon Vieker, dean of chapel at the Seminary. “We know that God’s Word on the wings of song will bring a blessing to all who hear it, just as it was a blessing for all the saints in Leipzig who first heard this music of Bach nearly three centuries ago.”

The Concordia Seminary Concert Series celebrates and proclaims faith through the gift of music, featuring Seminary choirs and musicians, as well as visiting chorale groups and performers of the highest acclaim. Find season dates and details at csl.edu/concert-series.

About the American Kantorei

Starting in 1993, the American Kantorei served as the performing group of Concordia Seminary’s annual Bach at the Sem concert series, presenting more than 100 concerts featuring the music of Bach, Schütz, Buxtehude, Mendelssohn and other Lutheran composers. The series ended in 2017, after which the ensemble organized independently and continued its respected tradition of spe­cializing in the music of Bach and making that music accessible to the St. Louis community. To learn more, visit americankantorei.org.

About Concordia Seminary

Concordia Seminary, St. Louis provides Gospel-centered graduate-level theological education for pastors, missionaries, deaconesses, scholars and other leaders in the name of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). To learn more, visit csl.edu.