The 40th season of Bach Cantata Vespers at Grace Lutheran Church in River Forest begins on September 25 & 26 with lectures by Dr. Robin Leaver and a performance of Bach's Cantata #19.

 

On Saturday, September 25, Grace welcomes renowned Bach scholar and Reformation specialist Robin Leaver for two lectures on the sacred music of Johann Sebastian Bach. During the 9:30 a.m. lecture Dr. Leaver will address the changing pattern of the Divine Service in Leipzig during the time of J. S. Bach. The 11:00 a.m. lecture will focus on the Latin motets sung by Bach’s choirs in Leipzig. Cost for the lectures, including lunch, is $15 per person in advance; $20 at the door. Register online at www.bachvespers.org/season. Dr. Leaver will also lecture on Sunday morning at 9:45 a.m. on the way that Bach expresses theology in musical terms.

 

On Sunday, September 26 at 4:00 p.m., with cantata #19, Es erhub sich ein Streit
(There arose a great strife), for the Feast of the St. Michael. Grace Cantor, the Rev. Michael D. Costello will lead the Grace Senior Choir and Orchestra with soloists Maura Janton Cock, Christopher M. Cock, and Douglas Anderson. The prelude will begin at 3:45 p.m. with an organ recital by David Christiansen of St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Park Ridge, Illinois. The homilist will be the Rev. Dr. Marcus J. Miller, President of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina. A free-will offering will be received.

 

GraceLutheran Church is at 7300 W. Division, one block west of Harlem and Division, in River Forest. For more information on the Bach Cantata Vespers ministry of Grace, visit www.bachvespers.org.