Dayton, Ohio (March 19, 2009) – On Saturday, April 4 at 7 pm in Westminster Presbyterian Church in downtown Dayton, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra presents J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion. This is the fifth of six Special Events in the 2008-2009 Colours Season.
Soprano Tony Arnold, alto Julia Bentley, tenor John Wesley Wright, baritone Ian Greenlaw, and the Dayton Philharmonic Chamber Choir (Hank Dahlman chorus director) join the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and Music Director Neal Gittleman in a presentation of J.S. Bach’s monumental Johannes-Passion (St. John Passion, BWV 245). Mark Spencer will perform the parts of Petrus and Pilatus. Ian Greenlaw will perform the part of Jesus. The composition was one of just two surviving Bach Passion works out of an original four or five. A form of musical passion play, it tells the story of Jesus Christ’s arrest, trial, and crucifixion. The work uses Christ’s recitations as well as those of Peter and Pilate, and solos comment on the “emotional and spiritual meaning of the event described.” St. John Passion has become a sublime element of the Easter Season.
“It is a rare occasion when one hears St. John Passion,” John Neely, Minister of Music of Westminster Presbyterian Church, states, “and the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra in the setting of Westminster Presbyterian will provide listeners with a rare and enjoyable musical experience indeed.’
Single Ticket Prices: Adults $28, Senior $26, Student $14 General Admission. Tickets available at Ticket center Stage, (888) 228-3630 or www.daytonphilharmonic.com . Westminster Presbyterian Church is located at 126 N. Wilkinson Street.
For photographs of Neal Gittleman or any of the various series’ guest artists, go to:
http://www.daytonphilharmonic.com/newsroom/mediaaccess