Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, is pleased to announce the 12th season of Bach at the Sem, featuring presentations of J.S. Bach’s music by The American Kantorei under the direction of Robert Bergt. The sacred concerts that comprise the Bach at the Sem series take place at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoons in The Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus on the Seminary campus. There is no admission charge and no tickets are issued.

The first Bach at the Sem concert will be held Nov. 9, opening with an organ recital of all-Bach literature. Organist Dennis Bergin will perform major works by the heralded Leipzig composer, such as “Prelude and Fugue in G Major,” “Fantasy and Fugue in G Minor” and “Passacaglia in C Minor.” The American Kantorei conductor, Robert Bergt, will perform several chorale preludes with stringed orchestra and oboes, with choir and congregation participating. The Kantorei also will perform Bach’s Motet 6, “Praise to the Lord.”

The second concert will be held Sunday, Dec. 7. The major presentation will be “The Mass in G Major” for chorus, soloists and orchestra, which Bach prepared for Sunday worship at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. A short service of lessons and carols from The Oxford Book of Carols also will be sung by the Kantorei and congregation.

In 2004, the emphasis is upon Luther’s influence in the works of Bach. The remaining concerts will be Feb. 1, “The Magnificat in D Major”; March 7, “The Passion According to St. John”; and April 18, Cantata 119, “Oh, Jerusalem, Praise the Lord,” and Cantata 190a, “Sing to the Lord a New Song.”

For more information, contact Communications, Concordia Seminary, 801 DeMun Ave., St. Louis, MO 63105; 314.505.7374; communications@csl.edu.