American Bach Soloists
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 | |
| 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
