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Johann Sebastian BachWeihnachtsoratorium, BWV 248
Bach’s Christmas Oratorio offers a reverent telling of the season’s story, following the rhythm of the feast days: the Nativity (Dec 25), the angels’ announcement to the shepherds (Dec 26), the Naming (Jan 1), the Magi’s journey (Jan 3), and the Epiphany (Jan 6). In this performance of Parts I, II, IV, V, VI, Evangelist Thomas Cooley delivers the Gospel narrative with distinctive clarity. Bach gives each moment its fitting character: choruses elevate the feast‑day praise with trumpets and timpani, arias draw us close in reflection, and chorales steady the heart in the voice of community. Rather than mere spectacle, the oratorio offers welcome space for gratitude and seasonal joy. In 2025, Washington Classical Review recognized the Consort’s Christmas Oratorio as the year’s “best Christmas concert.”
Clara Rottsolk, soprano
Janna Critz, alto
Thomas Cooley, tenor and evangelist
Edward Vogel, bass
Join us for Talking Bach at 3 p.m. This series of free pre-concert lectures by noted Bach scholar Michael Marissen is presented one hour before Director’s Series performances.
Suzanne R. & Robert L. McDowell Jr., Mary Ann Gardner, and Tamera Luzzatto & Alpheus Fair, underwriters
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Event venue
National Presbyterian Church, 4101 Nebraska Ave NW, Washington, DC 20016-2735, United States
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