Joanna Bramel Young is a professional performer on recorders and renaissance double reed instruments. She is a member of the Festival Consort, which toured the US with Community Concerts, and Nota Bene Baroque Ensemble. She was on the music faculty of Santa Rosa JC for 22 years. She also was on the faculty of early music workshops around the US. Joanna teaches recorder in Santa Rosa.
San Francisco’s American Bach Soloists (ABS) presented Handel’s incomparable oratorio Messiah, HWV 56, to a sold out Weill Hall Dec. 18. It was a celebratory afternoon.
In the fashion ABS audiences have learned to expect, conductor Jeffrey Thomas brought out the best of orchestra, chorus and soloists with his eminently tasteful and impeccably nuanced direction.
Prior to the opening measures early arrivals were reading Mr. Thomas’ informative program notes, which stated that ... more
Three baroque composers were brought together April 22 at the American Bach Soloists‘ offering of oratorios: Buxtehude, Johann Kuhnau and Bach. In Belvedere’s St. Stephen’s Church the ABS highlighted the sequence of influence for these three masters, displaying stunning choral singing, virtuoso instrumental work, and distinguished vocal solos under the ever-deft guidance of conductor Jeffrey Thomas.
Bach, who wrote only three oratorios, brought the oratorio form to a new, more ex... more
Playing to a full house Jan. 22 at St. Stephen’s Church in Belvedere, the American Bach Soloists launched its twenty-seventh season with a program of four Bach Favorites - two delectable instrumental compositions sandwiched between a pair of cantatas that ABS had performed in its very first concert.
Soprano Mary Wilson, countertenor Jay Carter, tenor Derek Chester, and baritone Mischa Bouvier joined young virtuoso violinist Tatiana Chulochnikova in captivating solo work, supported fl... more
The American Bach Soloists presented Dec. 12 a performance of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio in San Francisco’s magnificent St. Ignatius Church. The church, built in 1912 and one of San Francisco’s largest, was nearly filled with legions of appreciative Bach and ABS fans.
First heard in 1734 and standing with Handel’s Messiah as a crowning celebration of the Christmas season, Bach’s masterpiece is not heard often, especially given the required array of unusual instruments. Comprising six i... more
Nearing the close of its “Festival and Academy 2013” the American Bach Soloists outdid themselves once again July 19 in its presentation of Handel’s oratorio Esther, with full house at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. During his early years in England, Handel turned to Racine’s masque Esther for the seeds of what in his hands grew into a new genre -- the English oratorio. Because the Bishop of London forbade dramatic performances, Handel presented Esther in concert, to the delight of En... more
The American Bach Soloists are holding their Academy for advanced young musicians July 12 through July 21 that explores early music, along with its annual summer Festival. The combination of the two is providing concerts by ABS, master classes, lecture-demonstrations, and performances by gifted Academy students. Once again the setting is the San Francisco Conservatory.
The initial ABS concert of the Festival July 12 was presented in the sold out Conservatory hall and offered a deli... more
The American Bach Soloists (ABS), led by music director Jeffrey Thomas, staged the St. John Passion Jan. 25 for a full house in Belvedere’s St. Stephen’s Church. The formidable Soloists are in their 25th season.
Along with the St. Matthew Passion and the B Minor Mass, the St. John is one of the monumental compositions Bach produced during his Leipzig period. It sets forth the account of Christ’s last hours, the Evangelist’s recitatives sustaining the narrative, and is punctuated by the... more
The Tallis Scholars graced the Weill Hall stage Dec.8, ten singers (five women and five men) raising their voices to transform the marvelous hall into a sanctified place. The entire program consisted of sacred works by renaissance and contemporary composers.
The first piece was a double-choir Magnificat by the Spanish composer Vivanco and every note could be heard with great clarity. The Tallis Scholars, from the United Kingdom, are famous for the exquisite blend of their voices, with... more