Bohemian Bach

Sixty miles from Johann Sebastian Bach’s home in Leipzig sits the great city of Dresden — and it is here, in the splendid Catholic Court, that Czech composer Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679–1745) spent his career. Largely unnoticed during life and mostly forgotten after death, Zelenka’s genius as a composer was nonetheless recognized and celebrated by the likes of Bach and Telemann — and his innovative, quirky compositions are notable for their unusual harmonic spice, asymmetrical phrasing, and rhythmic syncopation. Indeed, while Bach’s music might generally follow an orderly path, Zelenka’s works are exhilarating in their relative unpredictability. In this program, hear Zelenka’s glorious Missa Votiva, Op. 18 alongside Bach’s great Easter cantata Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4, performed by The Emmanuel Choir, soloists from within its ranks, and period-instrument chamber orchestra. Come discover — and fall in love with — the work of this “Bohemian Bach”!

• The Emmanuel Choir
• Period-instrument chamber orchestra
• Christian Lane, director

A ticket is required of all attendees, and may be obtained prior to the concert or at the door beginning 30 minutes prior to the performance.

Emmanuel Church is committed to ensuring all persons have access to its space and its musical offerings, regardless of income and ability to pay. Therefore, for most concerts, a limited number of Free Rush Tickets will be made available, online only, beginning 24 hours in advance of a concert's start time.

Single tickets are transferable, but not refundable. If your plans change and you can no longer attend a performance, we encourage you to transfer your tickets to a friend. To do so, open your ticket in Eventbrite and edit the ticket's name and email address.

Subscription tickets may be exchanged for a different concert on the same series. Simply write to [email protected] to request a ticket exchange.

We thank Emmanuel's Friends of Music for their ongoing and significant support of programming at Emmanuel. If you are intersted in becoming a Friend of Music, please click here.

Music at Emmanuel is grateful to the Maryland State Arts Council and the William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund, creator of the Baker Artist Portfolios, www.BakerArtist.org, for their support of the 2024–2025 season.

The Emmanuel Choir is Maryland's premier professional liturgical choral ensemble.

A 16-voice fully-professional mixed-voice ensemble, its 12-member core is augmented by four Choral Scholars, each a local young artist. Rooted in the great and expansive choral traditions of the Anglican (Episcopal) Church, the Emmanuel Choir’s repertoire spans the centuries — from Italian Renaissance to English Romantic; from plainsong to the 21st century — and includes regular world-premiere performances of new music composed for the church of today and tomorrow. The choir is directed by Christian Lane.

Emmanuel Church is located at 811 Cathedral Street in Baltimore, on the corner of Cathedral & W. Read Streets in the Mt. Vernon neighborhood.

Ample street parking, both free and metered, is available in historic Mt. Vernon. After 6:00 p.m. on weekdays, and all day on Sundays, many meters do not require payment and most residential restrictions are lifted. Please be sure to consult signage carefully.

However, we strongly encourage our patrons to avoid the stress of searching for street parking, and to make a parking plan before arriving into our residential neighborhood. To that end, the following websites and associated mobile apps may be very useful:

The closest paid parking lot is directly behind Emmanuel Church, at 810 N. Charles Street. Public lots within a three-block radius of the church include:

• 810 N. Charles Street
• 910 N. Charles Street
• 917 N. Charles Street
• 926 N. Charles Street
• 1000 N. Charles Street
• 1017 N. Charles Street
• 124 W. Read Street
• 230 W. Read Street
• 600 Cathedral Street

The church is also served by local bus routes on both Cathedral and N Charles Streets, as well as the Charm City Circulator (Purple Route) and Baltimore LiteRail Link (Mt Vernon/Centre St Stop).

Emmanuel Church is a 15-minute walk from Baltimore's Pennsylvania Rail Station (with regular MARC and Amtrak services).

Emmanuel Episcopal Church is located in the heart of Baltimore's historic Mt. Vernon neighborhood. Its tremendous stone tower at the corner of Cathedral and W. Read Streets serves as a beacon in this community, and the nave's warm acoustic and gentle ambiance contribute to creating an ideal environment in which to hear choral and chamber music.

In 2022, the church building underwent a $3.2M transformation to make each space in its physical plant fully accessible to all; included in this project was an elevator, increased ramp access, and new restroom facilities.

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