Chattanooga Bach Choir wraps up Cantata Series at Christ Church Episcopal

The Chattanooga Bach Choir, conducted by David Long, wraps up its cantata series on Sunday, May 21, with a performance at 4 p.m. at Christ Church Episcopal.

The program features three works by J.S. Bach: Cantata BWV 86 "Wahrlich, Wahrlich Ich Sage Euch" (Truly, truly, I say to you) for choir; Suite No. 4 in E-flat major for solo cello, BWV 1010; and Organ Prelude BWV 658 "Von Gott will ich nicht lassen" (I will not forsake the Lord). Cellist Isaiah Pennington and organist Karla Fowkes will be the featured instrumentalists.

Long says the Bach Choir will be joined by three featured soloists, all in the early stages of their professional careers.

"Rachael Walls, a graduate of Lee University, is an alto with outstanding coloratura. Mark Laseter, a Signal Mountain native and a graduate of Westminster Choir College, sings with the professional chorus Seraphic Fire and will be a choral scholar at a cathedral in Great Britain next season. Zachary Cavan, a native of Ringgold who holds music degrees from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and the University of Louisville, is becoming recognized as an outstanding bass and has been a frequent soloist on the Barnett & Co. Cantata Series," he says.

The director says Bach wrote Cantata BWV 86 for the fifth Sunday after Easter and before the Rogation days of prayer.

"The gospel reading of that day comes from John 16: 23-30 - 'If you ask something of the Father in my name, He will grant it to you' - and Bach's librettist takes the reading as an opportunity for exploring the question of how these words of Jesus relate with the believer's life experience."

Long will present a 10- to 15-minute introduction to the cantata, with musical examples, before its performance by the choir. There will be a reception for the audience and performers following the concert.