Vancouver Bach Choir ushers in the holidays with Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, December 6

Featured soloists include soprano Chloe Hurst, mezzo-soprano Emma Parkinson, tenor Colin Ainsworth, and baritone Aaron Durand

The Vancouver Bach Family of Choirs presents Bach Christmas Oratorio at St. Andrew’s–Wesley United Church on December 6 at 7:30 pm

THE STAYING POWER of J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio is practically indisputable. It premiered during the holiday season of 1734 at two churches in Leipzig, Germany—St. Thomas and St. Nicholas—and then wasn’t performed again in its entirety until 1857. But despite the work’s slow start, choral organizations around the world are still performing it nearly three centuries later.

The Vancouver Bach Family of Choirs is one such company singing the Christmas Oratorio this season. Four soloists—soprano Chloe Hurst, mezzo-soprano Emma Parkinson, tenor Colin Ainsworth, and baritone Aaron Durand—will join the group’s adult symphonic choir at St. Andrew’s–Wesley United Church on December 6 to perform the three-hour masterpiece, which is actually composed of six individual cantatas.

The German text of the Christmas Oratorio traces the Nativity story. The narrative begins with the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day, then depicts the annunciation to and adoration of the shepherds, the naming and circumcision of Jesus, and the journey and adoration of the Magi.

Leslie Dala will conduct, while the VBC Chamber Orchestra will give the composition its signature instrumentals, including exuberant trumpet notes.

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Emily Lyth

Emily Lyth is a Vancouver-based writer and editor who graduated from Langara College’s Journalism program. Her decade of dance training and passion for all things food-related are the foundation of her love for telling arts, culture, and community stories.

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