As the Passion story unfolds, Bach allows the audience time for reflection. Sometimes we hear his masterful four-part settings of Lutheran chorale melodies. He also offers exquisite and meditative arias, often pairing a solo instrument with a solo voice. Among our favorites are the well-known “Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben” (Out of love my savior is willing to die) for soprano and flutes, “Erbarme dich” (Have Mercy) for alto and solo violin, or “Mache dich, mein Herze rein” (Make thyself clean, my heart) for bass and orchestra.
Read more about our soloists for the Passion.
Jennifer Paulino, soprano.
Soprano Jennifer Paulino is celebrated for her “graceful yet powerful” and “sensitive and clear” voice (San Francisco Classical Voice). Specializing in Baroque, chamber, and new music, Ms. Paulino is in demand as an oratorio and concert soloist across the U.S. She has appeared with Magnificat Baroque Ensemble, Bach Collegium San Diego, San Francisco Choral Society, Seraphic Fire, Southwest Florida Symphony, and the Modesto Symphony. Her international appearances include a recital at the Organs of Ballarat Festival in Australia with concert organist Pavel Kohout, and performances of David Lang’s Little Match Girl Passion with San Francisco Lyric Opera in Denmark. In 2015, Ms. Paulino made her debut at the Festival Mozaic in San Luis Obispo, singing Bach’s B Minor Mass under the direction of Scott Yoo. In San Francisco, she performed the world premier of Terra Nostra, an oratorio by composer Stacy Garrop for soloists and chorus, under the direction of Bob Geary. This season, she makes her debut at Stanford University, singing a recital of Haydn’s Arianna a Naxos and songs with fortepianist Elaine Thornburgh. Ms. Paulino is on the faculty at the annual San Diego Summer Choral Festival and maintains an active teaching studio in the East Bay.
Danielle Sampson, mezzo-soprano.
Mezzo-soprano Danielle Sampson is an avid performer of Baroque, classical, and contemporary music. Last season’s highlights included a gala performance with Pacific MusicWorks, Praetorius’ Christmas Vespers with Early Music Vancouver, and collaborations with Amaranth String Quartet to perform works for voice and strings. Danielle performed with the Boston Early Music Festival in Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria (Melanto) and L’incoronazione di Poppea (La Virtù, Pallade), and with Early Music Vancouver in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (the Sorceress) and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. She performed as Ruggiero in Handel’s Alcina with Black Box Baroque in April, and appeared with Liaison, Nash Baroque Ensemble, and Jarring Sounds for the 2016 Berkeley Early Music Festival. Danielle has sung with the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, American Bach Soloists, California Bach Society, San Francisco Symphony Chorus, and San Francisco Bach Choir, among others. She is a founding member of the guitar/voice duo Jarring Sounds (with Adam Cockerham), and performs with Cappella SF, the new Bay Area octet Gaude, and Seattle’s Byrd Ensemble. She earned her BM at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music, and her MM at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Danielle currently resides in Seattle.
Mark Bonney, tenor.
Mark Bonney has been called “a tenor with a perfect voice for Baroque music ... with silken tone, great clarity of diction, seemingly effortless breath control, plenty of power, and dazzling vocal agility.” Currently based in London, he performs all over Europe and in the United States. In the San Francisco Bay Area, he was a soloist with the American Bach Soloists Academy, California Bach Society (Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610) Chora Nova (Handel’s Acis and Galatea), Marin Baroque, the Albany Consort, and the San Francisco Bach Choir. Mark is currently pursuing a Master’s degree at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he studies with Gary Coward and has participated in master classes with Elly Ameling, Emma Kirkby, Olaf Bär, Julius Drake, Roger Vignoles, and Richard Egarr, among others. He coaches with Eugene Asti, Max van Egmond, and Nicholas Mulroy. Mark began his musical training as a treble in the Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys. He went on to study voice as well as political science at Stanford University. He was an intern with the California Bach Society during his senior year. He is an alumnus of the American Bach Soloists Academy and the Franz Schubert Institute, a renowned Lieder course in Austria.
Marc Pantus, bass.
Bass-baritone Marc Pantus is at home in opera as well as oratorio repertoire. Last season he sang Bach’s Magnificat with the renowned ensemble Vox Luminis, Don Profondo in Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims with the Dutch National Opera, and a series of Schubert Lieder programs with renowned pianist Rudolf Jansen. Marc regularly sings the bass arias and the role of Christ in both St. John and St. Matthew Passions for sold-out audiences in the Netherlands. Highlights of this current season include Mendelssohn’s Paulus, Handel’s Acis and Galatea, the St. Matthew Passion in the historic Bergkerk in Deventer, and performances with the Dutch National Opera. His solo-CD Harry: Heine in Holland, featuring Lieder written by Dutch composers on German texts by Heinrich Heine, received four stars in the highly regarded Dutch/Belgian CD review magazine Luister and five stars in the national newspaper Trouw. Together with pianist Shuann Chai, Marc will perform the Lieder from his CD at the Noe Valley Ministry in San Francisco on Saturday October 22 at 4 pm, and at the Piano Club in Berkeley on Sunday October 23 at 2:30 pm (click here for more information). Mr. Pantus studied with Udo Reinemann and Meinard Kraak at the Utrecht Conservatory of Music and the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. At the Steans Institute for Young Artists in Chicago, he studied with Thomas Allen, Christa Ludwig, Barbara Bonney, Elisabeth Söderström, and Roger Vignoles.
Purchase your tickets soon to get discounted advance pricing for our monumental opening concert of this 2016-2017 season.