Apollo’s Fire
Thursday, March 18, 2027
7:00 PM
First Community Church North
3777 Dublin Road
Columbus, OH 43221
Apollo’s Fire and conductor Jeannette Sorrell return to Columbus with J.S. Bach’s towering work: St. Matthew Passion. Premiered at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig on Good Friday in 1727, this is the 300th anniversary year of this monumental work.
In this dramatic presentation, the singers in the character roles (Jesus, Pilate, etc) interact with each other, singing from memory. The GRAMMY®-nominated chorus Apollo’s Singers is joined by children’s voices to create a sense of communal gathering in Sorrell’s interpretation. British tenor Ed Lyon, fresh from major successes at London’s Covent Garden, steps into the role of the Evangelist as an animated storyteller.
About St. Matthew Passion
Johann Sebastian Bach considered St. Matthew Passion his most treasured work and spent 19 years refining and reworking it. The manuscript itself is a work of art where Bach took great care to use his best handwriting, color coding (red was used for Bible verses), and included careful instructions for future performers.
It is historical lore that he kept it by his side for the rest of his life.
"It is certainly no error of judgement to consider Johann Sebastian Bach's St. Matthew Passion as the first significant momumental work of music history still shining in a splendour undimminished by the passage of time. ... the manuscript original score... in its external features alone an especially precious jewel, is unlike any other Bach autograph." —Christoph Wolff
National Public Radio on St. Matthew Passion
The audio program linked below, hosted by Lynn Neary, is from the NPR series Milestones of the Millennium. It's a journey through the St. Matthew Passion guided by acclaimed scholars, conductors and singers (including Ian Bostridge, Joshua Rifkin, Ton Koopman and Christoph Wolff), all closely associated with Bach's masterwork.
A Visitor’s Guide to Bach’s St. Matthew Passion
St. Thomas Church in Leipzig
J.S. Bach was the music director from 1723 until his death in 1750 and his remains are buried in a bronze tomb in front of the altar. St. Matthew Passion was premiered here in 1727.
A GRAMMY®-winning orchestra, Apollo’s Fire has performed sold-out concerts at Carnegie Hall, the BBC Proms, the Royal Theatre of Madrid, the Tanglewood Festival, the Metropolitan Museum of Art… and more! But what Apollo’s Fire musicians love most is bringing world-class performances to your doorstep – in a continuous “tour” of Northeast Ohio neighborhoods.
“Sorrell led a splendid performance. Wonderful vitality… lithe, glowing and elegant.” –Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times
Apollo’s Singers, the choral ensemble of Apollo’s Fire, was founded in 1992 by Jeannette Sorrell. Since their debut concert that year (performing Mozart’s Requiem), this professional straight-tone chorus has been hailed as “one of the finest choirs of its kind in the country” (The Cleveland Plain Dealer).
Featured Artists
Ed Lyon, tenor
Evangelist
Carine Tinney
soprano
Nathaniel Sullivan, baritone
Jesus
Aryssa Leigh Burrs
mezzo-sporano
Jacob Perry
tenor
Tyler Duncan
baritone