Cantata Singers’ 2014-2015 season finale features Bach’s beloved Magnificat in D alongside the Boston premiere of Czech Baroque composer Jan Dismas Zelenka’s gleaming Te Deum in D on Sunday, May 10th, 2015 at 3:00pm at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall. Music Director David Hoose will conduct, and renowned Bach expert Dr. Christoph Wolff will lead the pre-concert talk.

“The Magnificat in D was one of the first pieces by Bach that I ever heard, and it rocked my world,” says Music Director David Hoose. “I didn’t hear Bach’s music until I was a college student at Oberlin. At the time, I had no concept of the scope of Bach’s brilliance beyond this piece. Bach’s essence as a composer shines in the Magnificat; it was this piece that inspired me to undertake what has been a lifelong exploration of Bach’s music.”

The festive program features two major Baroque works which both possess tremendous instrumental and vocal virtuosity. Bach’s exquisitely intricate Magnificat in D - scored for Baroque orchestra, chorus, and five soloists—was one of his first large-scale compositions. The jubilant twelve-movement piece uses text from Luke: 146-155, when the Virgin Mary learns of her pregnancy and its significance to humanity.

Zelenka’s Te Deum in D, is equally grand in instrumentation and scope, and yet is as spacious as the Magnificat is compressed. The Te Deum was composed for a worship service celebrating the birth of Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony in 1731, and is scored for an orchestra featuring four trumpets and timpani, two choruses, and five soloists. Cantata Singers’ performance will be the Boston premiere of this work.

The concert will include solo performances by notable emerging and established artists who are members of Cantata Singers, including: sopranos Lisa Lynch, Karyl Ryczek, and Alexandra Whitfield; altos Kimberly Leeds and Jennifer Webb; tenors Eric Christopher Perry and Jason Sabol; and basses Mark Andrew Cleveland and Will Prapestis.

All images: Credit: James Luo