Church guide

BACH'S LUNCH, Friday, May 3, 12:15PM. Graham Løken, bassoon, and Joseph Pettit, harpsichord, play Vivaldi sonatas.

Yes, Bach's Lunch organ recital happens on Friday of Bright Week, April 26, keeping the Easter party going. Cantor Joseph Pettit plays Handel's Water Music transcribed for organ. 12:15PM.

Today is Good Friday, and we recount the Passion of Christ according to his beloved disciple John. This evening at 7PM the Bach Choir and Orchestra and soloists present JS Bach's St. John Passion (abridged). Please join us on the journey through Holy Week.

Holy Week services at St. James. Journey with us.

The Bach Choir of St. James just finished its final rehearsal of the St. John Passion for Good Friday. I am so very pleased with their hard work and willingness to take on new musical ideas. The choir is approaching Bach with textual understanding and musical sophistication. Please join us at 7PM this Friday for this masterwork with orchestra, soloists and choir. Encounter Bach as both consummate composer and theologian in Holy Week's most tragic, dramatic moment. Cantor Joseph Pettit

Bach's Lunch, Friday, April 12, 12:15PM. Cellist Gregory Dubay plays Three Lenten Chorale Preludes by Eric Walters, with contrasting Bach chorale preludes. Cantor Joseph Pettit, piano. Gregory Dubay is the Director of the Community Music Center in Portland. He was principal cellist of the Honolulu Symphony, and was a lecturer in music at the University of Hawaii. He taught both traditional & Suzuki cello methods in Hawaii public and private schools. He holds the BM and MM from the Manhattan School of Music, and is a National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts AMICI (Arts Management in Community Institutions) graduate. The late Eric Walters (1967-2016) was a cellist, composer, teacher and Chatter ensemble co-founder. Walters performed with the Santa Fe Symphony and taught at both Cleveland and Rio Rancho high schools. He was an Albuquerque native who graduated from the music programs at the University of New Mexico and Indiana University.

Time to get serious about Lent. Bach's Lunch this Friday, March, 29, 12:15, presents soprano Marissa Moultrie singing Hendrik Andriessen's rarely heard masterpiece "Miroir de Peine" ("Mirror of Pain") about the last sufferings of Christ. She will also sing Samuel Barber's "The Crucifixion", and Cantor Joseph Pettit will play Barber's variations on "Wondrous Love". Marissa is a senior at Pacific Lutheran University, graduating this spring with a double major in music and anthropology. She will pursue graduate studies in music at the University of Southern California this fall. She is Soprano Choral Scholar at St. John's Episcopal Church, Gig Harbor, WA.

CANCELED: BACH'S LUNCH, MARCH 22. Guest pianist Paul Moyer has suffered an arm injury and is unable to play. Please remember him in your prayers.

CANCELED: BACH'S LUNCH, MARCH 22. Guest performer Paul Moyer, pianist, has suffered an arm injury and is not able to play. Please remember him in your prayers.

Jazz Vespers this Sunday, March 17, 5:00pm at St. James. The featured musician is John Stowell on guitar. John Stowell began his successful career in the early 1970's studying with guitarist Linc Chamberland and pianist John Mehegan. Several years later he met bassist David Friesen in New York City, and they formed a duo that recorded and toured prolifically for seven years, with performances in the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia. John continues to tour, record and teach internationally. He has been Artist-In-Residence at schools in Germany, Indonesia, Argentina, and in the United States and Canada. He served as assistant director and performer in Oregon Public Broadcasting's PDX Jazz Summit in 1991, and since 1995 has been a contributing columnist for a number of magazines, including "Downbeat", "Guitar Player", "Canadian Musician", "Soundcheck" (Germany), and "Guitar Club" (Italy). The Jazz Vespers at St. James Lutheran Church is held every 3rd Sunday of the month. It is a welcoming, inclusive, meditative message, delivered in part by a beautiful, original liturgy, punctuated with select jazz standards throughout. The music is performed by the Mike Horsfall Trio, and features a special guest each month. All are welcome. Stick around afterwards for a reception for the St. James Artist of the Month, Bob Grover.

Bach's Lunch, Friday, March 8, 12:15. Cantor Joseph Pettit plays settings of the Old German chorale "Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten" (If You But Trust in God to Guide You) to support our Lenten theme of walking the journey with God. Music of Bach, Böhm, Drischner, Markull, Walcha, and Walther. The previously announced and postponed performance by trombonist Kellyn Haley has been canceled due to an ongoing family medical emergency. Please remember her mother Linda and the whole Haley family in your prayers.

Who's Who: Bach Cantata Vespers, March 3, 5PM. Dr. Scott Swope, baritone When Dr. Swope retired from Germany to Portland in 2015, he made St. James Lutheran his church home. What a gift to the music program here, and to the Portland community at large! #blessed Here's what he brings to the party: Scott S. Swope, D.M.A. Baritone and voice teacher Retired to Portland in July 2015. Currently singing in St. James Lutheran Church Choir and St. James Lutheran Bach Choir. Also playing Clarinet in the Oregon Symphonic Band and the PSU Wind Symphony, as well as in the newly formed Zephyr Clarinet Choir here in Portland. Docent for Voice at Univ. of Osnabrueck & Univ. of Applied Sciences, Osnabrueck, Germany October 1993 - May 2015 Voice Teacher for Music Education majors, Voice Class for Instrumentalists, Mentor for Vocal Pedagogy students Music teacher / Voice teacher at City School of Music&Art of Osnabrueck, Germany January 1992 - September 2014 Voice lessons for youths to adults. Taught Classical, Opera, Jazz, Musical, Pop and Rock. Head of Voice and Choral Dept. Directed yearly Musical Revue. Judge at Jugend Musiziert competition. Coordinator of music school exchange program with Nazareth, Israel, 2009-2014. Visiting Asst. Prof. of Voice at University of Nevada - Las Vegas August 2002 - May 2003 Taught Applied Voice for Undergraduates, Graduates and Non-Majors. Voice class of Voice Majors. Taught 2 doctoral seminars for DMA Voice candidates. Operas of Verdi and German Song from Bach to Berg Lyric Baritone at Staedtische Bühnen Osnabrück August 1986 - August 1992 Engagement as 1st Bass Chorus with Solo responsibilities: Solo roles: Saretski, Eugene Onegin; 2nd Prisoner, Fidelio, Rabbi, Fiddler on the Roof; Chantal, La Cage aux Folles; Peter, Jesus Christ Superstar; Evita’s brother Juan, Evita. Lyric Baritone at Städtische Bühnen Freiburg September 1985 - July 1986 Chorus with Solo contract. Parsifal, Die Fledermaus, Wiesse Rüssel L’Accademia d’Amore, Early Music Program, with Stephen Stubbs, Erin Headley in Bremen, XVII Century Opera studies and scenes, Ottone in L’Incoronazione di Poppea (Bremen & Rome) and Orfeo in Peri’s Euridice.(Lamole, Tuscany) 1994-1998 Extensive concertising as recitalist and oratorio singer in Germany. From 1984 to retirement in May 2015. Müller- Swope Duo Professional Guitar Instruments and Voice duo Fall 1988 - Spring 2015 Extensive concerts in Germany and Europe. USA Tour in 1992. Aspen Music Festival Solo Baritone and Opera Ensemble member Summers 1979 to 1983 Pacific Center for the Performing Arts (PCPA) Santa Maria, Calif. Summer Stock in Santa Maria and Solvang, Calif. Summers 1977-1978 Padre in The Man from La Mancha, Rabbi in Fiddler on the Roof, & Ensemble member. Education Eastman School of Music D.M.A. in Opera and Voice, 1984 M.M. in Opera and Voice, 1981 UCLA Opera Workshop, 1977-1979 Music Academy of the West, Opera Program, Summers 1974-1977 Portland State University B.A., Music and General Studies, 1968 - 1974 Organizations National Association of Teachers of Singing International Advisory Committee (2017 to present) Member: August 2002 to Present European Voice Teachers Association EVTA e.V. Vice-President (2004-2012), Treasurer (2012-2014) Honorary member since Sept. 2014 BDG: Bundesverband Deutscher Gesangspädagogen e.V. (German Voice Teachers Assn) Treasurer (2000 to 2006) Member: April 1998 to Present Zephyr Clarinet Choir: Ad-Hoc board member/Coordinator Fall 2017 to present

Who's Who: Bach Cantata Vespers, March 3, 5PM. Lilli Vellom, soprano Kayla Ray, soprano, Paul Moyer, bass The Choral Scholars program at St. James is the way our congregation forms young musician for future service in church music. Current college students and recent graduates not only boost the choir's numbers, but they are exposed to the essentials of making church music: hymnody, chant, sacred choral repertoire, and larger works such as Bach cantatas. They are also given opportunities to develop their resumes and repertoire lists. To that end, for this March 3 Cantata Vespers, St. James presents two of our choral scholars, soprano Lilli Vellom and bass Paul Moyer, as soloists in Handel's "As Pants the Hart", along with soprano Kayla Ray, a recent voice graduate of Idaho State University.

Who's Who: Bach Cantata Vespers, March 3, 5PM. DR. LISA NEHER makes her first appearance at St. James. Portland, Oregon mezzo-soprano and composer Lisa Neher (DMA) thrives in the crossroads of the concert hall and the theatre stage. Trained as a stage actress, she is equally at home in the worlds of opera and spoken theatre, bringing dramatic specificity and committed physicality to her performances. Lisa performs with Resonance Vocal Ensemble in Portland and is in high demand as a concert soloist. Her credits include Duruflé’s Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem, Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, and Coronation Mass, Bach’s Magnificat and Ascension Oratorio, and Arvo Part’s Pässio. A composer and contemporary music specialist, Lisa is a fearless performer of new works. She premiered the leading role of Jennifer in Rita Ueda’s chamber opera One Thousand White Paper Cranes for Japan with the Singaporean ensemble Chamber Sounds. Lisa was recently heard at New Music Gathering in Boston, the Iowa Composer’s Forum, and the International Saxophone Symposium, where she premiered her own chamber-vocal work When My Daughter Asked Why There Are Stars, I Said with Resonance Saxophone Orchestra. For more information, visit her website, www.lisanehermusic.com.

BACH'S LUNCH today at 12:15 features another suite by the venerable David P. Dahl. Last week Cantor Joseph Pettit played Dahl's "An English Suite". Today he will present "An Italian Suite", a fascinating chromatic study of early Italian keyboard forms through Dahl's erudite lens.

Bach's Lunch this Friday, Feb. 15, features David P. Dahl's inventive Italian and English Suites. Dahl was Cantor Joseph Pettit's organ professor at Pacific Lutheran University.

Due to a medical emergency, the February 3 Bach Cantata Vespers is rescheduled for Sunday, March 3 at 5:00pm.

Yes, there certainly is Bach's Lunch this Friday! It's a program of music by Bach's own hero, Dieterich Buxtehude. The Passacaglia in D Minor, a couple of clever canzonas, and the preludes and fugues in E Minor and F Major will be played by Cantor Joseph Pettit. See you at 12:15. (That's the only surviving picture of Buxtehude below.)

It's Jazz Vespers time again! Sunday, January 20 at 5:00pm Dan Balmer is the featured musician. From coffee house gigs at fifteen to chart-topping success with the Tom Grant Band in the 90s, world tours with two-time Grammy Award winner Diane Schuur and contemporary jam-bands, Dan Balmer brings fire and heart every time he plays the guitar. His playing spans nearly one hundred CDs including twelve as a leader from which his original works have appeared internationally in television, film and radio. Dan is a frequent guest artist for the St. James Jazz Vespers series. We are grateful for his enthusiasm with this program. Music begins at 4:50pm with Laurent Nickel on bass, and Tim Rap on drums. Tim Nickel will be subbing for Mike for this service. Valarie Brown is the cantor. Free will offering.

BACH'S LUNCH noon organ recital canceled today 1/18 due to illness. See you next week!

You are warmly invited to Bach Cantata Vespers at St. James Lutheran Church, Sunday, Dec. 9, at 5:00. J.S. Bach - Cantata 30: Freue dich, erlöste Schar J.C.F. Bach - Motet: Wachet auf Bach Choir & Orchestra of St. James Julie Rains Kangas, soprano Kathryn Weld, mezzosoprano Steven Arends, tenor Barry Johnson, baritone Scott Swope, baritone Joseph Z. Pettit, conductor Freewill donation. Reception follows service.