American Bach Soloists
The American Bach Soloists (ABS) is an American baroque orchestra based in the San Francisco Bay Area.[1] The orchestra was founded in Belvedere, California, in 1989.[2] Performers share music from Johann Sebastian Bach and his contemporaries during the Classical era, including Handel, Vivaldi, and Mozart, with modern audiences.[1]
| American Bach Soloists | |
|---|---|
| Chamber orchestra on period instruments | |
 Logo | |
| Short name | ABS |
| Founded | 1989 |
| Location | San Francisco |
| Principal conductor | Jeffrey Thomas |
| Website | americanbach |
History
Since 1998, ABS has performed Handel's Messiah at Grace Cathedral during the Christmas season.[1]
In February 2020, ABS released a compilation album featuring Bach's cantatas and other early music pieces.[3]
American Bach Soloists Academy
In 2010, ABS began hosting the American Bach Soloists Academy, an annual two-week summer training program at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.[2] Each year, more than 50 advanced students of early music convene for coaching, rehearsals, and classes.[1] Following the academy, musicians publicly perform baroque selections as a part of the ABS Festival.[4][5]
Music director
The American Bach Soloists are led by artistic and music director Jeffrey Thomas.[2][6] Thomas is a conductor and tenor vocalist. He studied at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Manhattan School of Music, the Juilliard School of Music and at Cambridge University.[7]
Notable performers
Collaborations
- Performances at the Berkeley Festival and Exhibition
- Henry Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas with the San Francisco Opera Center and The Crucible in Oakland, California
- Works by Claudio Monteverdi, George Frideric Handel's Dixit Dominus, and Virgil Thomson's Four Saints in Three Acts with the Mark Morris Dance Group
- George Frideric Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks with laser lighting display by Lighting Systems Design, Orlando, Florida, in Grace Cathedral, San Francisco
References
- Littlejohn, David (July 31, 2013). "A Boost to the Country's Early-Music Capital". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
- MacNamara, Mark (September 5, 2017). "The Historically Informed Ego: Young Musicians Take Up the Early Music Challenge". www.sfcv.org. Archived from the original on June 11, 2021. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
- Zwiebach, Michael (April 7, 2020). "American Bach Soloists Grant Us Much Needed Tranquility". www.sfcv.org. Archived from the original on June 11, 2021. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
- Kotapish, Paul (June 8, 2021). "The American Bach Soloists Festival Goes Live This Summer". www.sfcv.org. Archived from the original on June 10, 2021. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
- Rowe, Georgia (July 31, 2018). "American Bach Soloists explore Dresden in SF summer festival". The Mercury News. Archived from the original on August 1, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
- Rowe, Georgia (July 25, 2019). "Summer with American Bach Soloists brings a bounty of Bach and more". The Mercury News. Archived from the original on July 26, 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
- Oron, Aryeh (May 2001). "Jeffrey Thomas (Conductor, Tenor) – Short Biography". www.bach-cantatas.com. Archived from the original on July 19, 2001. Retrieved June 13, 2021.
- "Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen's Impressive Debut Recording". www.sfcv.org. Retrieved June 11, 2021.