Cantata Collective presents St. John Passion with Nicholas McGegan

Cantata Collective presented its first annual BACH WEEKEND on March 20 and 21, 2022. The headline event, a performance of the Johannes Passion, conducted by Nicholas McGegan, included a stellar line-up of vocalists, including Thomas Cooley, Evangelist, Paul Max Tipton, Jesus, Nola Richardson, soprano, Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, alto, Derek Chester, tenor, and Harrison Hintzsche, bass. This concert on Bach’s birthday sold out Berkeley’s temple of early music, First Congregational Church, and was the musical highlight of the Bay Area’s spring season.

The performance was accompanied by a Symposium discussing the Passion text and religious implications with talks by the noted Bach scholar, Michael Marissen, and UC Berkeley's Professor Emeritus, Richard Taruskin, and included an Introduction and Listener's guide to the work by Harry Gray. The Symposium culminated in a round table discussion on all aspects of the piece with Nicholas McGegan and members of the Cantata Collective. This event, FREE to the public, was followed by a festive instrumental concert by Cantata Collective including the Sinfonia from Cantata 42 and the 2nd and 3rd Orchestral Suites. The 2022 BACH WEEKEND was generously underwritten by the KAVAH Fund.