Bach Cantatas Sprout in Spring
Lenten concert ushers in the new season
In March, Jonathan was heard performing two of J.S. Bach’s Cantatas for baritone and chamber orchestra, Ich habe genug and Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen, as part of the Music at Pine Street series in Harrisburg, PA. Hays chose these particular Cantatas for the Lenten devotional because of their dark and contemplative nature. Both works express a deep yearning for an end to life’s suffering and a longing for bliss in the world beyond. The Festival Orchestra for the program, conducted by Organist and Choirmaster Thomas Clark Jones, featured the talents of violinist John Eaken of the Grammy-nominated Eaken Piano Trio and the sublime oboe playing of Thomas Rowe of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra.
Next month, Hays will bow as Count Almaviva in the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra’s production of Le Nozze di Figaro in Lafayette, LA, and he returns to Harrisburg at the beginning of May for performances of G.F. Handel’s Dettingen Te Deum with the Harrisburg Choral Society.
A Winter Whirlwind of Concerts
Performances on Both Coasts Fill the Holiday Season
In November and December, Jonathan maintained a hectic concert schedule, performing in the cities of Winchester, VA; Los Angeles, CA; Carlisle, PA; and Harrisburg, PA.
On November 15, Jonathan was featured in the inaugural concert of the Winchester Orchestra in Winchester, VA, singing Maurice Ravel’s three-song masterpiece, "Don Quichotte à Dulcinée". When the Orchestra’s founder, Andrew Gekoskie, approached Mr. Hays about a piece for the concert, he suggested the songs as a light, charming, and witty to end the first half of the evening’s program. Excerpts of the recording will soon be available on the Sound Clips page.
The following week, Mr. Hays was performing again, this time in Josef Haydn’s, "The Creation" with the Dickinson College Choir and the Dickinson Orchestra in Carlisle, PA. Mr. Hays was hired over the summer as Dickinson College's "Artist Faculty in Voice", a position he sought both for the prestige of the school, and for its proximity to his family home in Mechanicsburg. The new post brings the baritone to South Central PA to give weekly lessons to undergraduate students, as well as to perform at the institution throughout the year. For his faculty recital on November 6, 2009, he will bring pianist Craig Ketter to Dickinson for a performance of Jorge Martin's, 'The Glass Hammer', which the duo performed to rave reviews in North Carolina this summer.
On December 3, the baritone flew to Los Angeles, CA for encore performances of Rob Kapilow’s whimsical song-cycle for Orchestra, “And Furthermore, They Bite”, with the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts. Mr. Hays performed the cycle with Mr. Kapilow earlier in 2008 with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, singing 10 performances there as part of their educational series, Young People’s Concerts.
Jonathan ended his pre-Holiday concerts with an orchestral performance of Randall Thompson’s rarely heard oratorio, “The Nativity of St. Luke”, with the Pine Street Presbyterian Church in Harrisburg, PA. Mr. Hays will return there in March as part of their music series “Music at Pine Street” for a program of music by J.S. Bach, featuring the famous cantatas, ‘Ich Habe Genug’ and ‘Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen’. For details, please see his Upcoming Performances page.
Summertime and the Singing Is Easy
Festival Performances Well Received by Warm Weather Audiences
Over the past summer, Jonathan sang two recital programs for festival audeinces on the East coast. The first, a repeat performance of Jorge Martin's tour de force song cycle for baritone, "The Glass Hammer" was warmly acknowledged by audience and critics alike at the Long Leaf Opera Festival in Chapel Hill, NC. A review by Roy C. Dicks for Classical Voice of North Carolina said of his performance with pianist Craig Ketter:
"The singer is crucial here, not merely for beauty of voice and clarity of text, but for the individualization of the characters. Here, the experienced opera singer Jonathan Hays confidently supplied everything that was necessary for success. His full, mellow baritone ranged from the softest half voice to the grandest thundering outburst, while his acting of the bellowing father, the admonishing mother, the elderly grandmother, and the innocent kid brother was detailed and nuanced.
Craig Ketter was an equal partner at the piano, his precision and control allowing for breath-taking delicacy and roof-rattling power. His empathetic connection with
Hays made the performance a beautifully integrated whole."
Hays hopes to perform the recital again next year as part of the faculty recital program at Dickinson College. Portions of the DVD performance will soon be available online.
The second program, a return to the Bard Music Festival in a recital of the music of George Gershwin, Cole Porter and Vernon Duke, provided Mr. Hays an opportunity to show his lighter side, which he will show again this month with the St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra in a program of patriotic music composed during the same era. The Bard program was not reviewed, but his performance enthusiastically received by a sold out Festival audience.
