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This coming May 2 & 10, the Madison Bach Musicians will present two performances of Bach’s Mass in B minor. Bach put everything he had into creating this glorious work, spending at least fifteen years composing, assembling, and revising a great pastiche of stylistic approaches into a monumentally coherent whole. The work is approximately two hours in duration and there is simply not a wasted note. The Mass in B minor is, at once, a journey of the soul and a statement of faith, and it is, I believe, the crowning achievement of spiritual music in the west.

The project will involve a complete period-instrument baroque orchestra of twenty-two players, plus eight vocal soloists, and a twenty-five voice choir from the University of Wisconsin’s Madrigal Singers. The orchestra will feature natural (valveless) baroque trumpets and horn, baroque oboes and oboe d’amores, baroque bassoons, flauto traversos (baroque flutes), string instruments set up with period bows and gut strings, timpani with calfskin heads, harpsichord and positive organ continuo. I will conduct the performances from the keyboard.

The Madison Bach Musicians seeks your financial support in defraying the many costs involved in presenting this unparalleled masterwork. Expenses for the project will total approximately $24,000 and anticipated revenue from ticket sales will cover only 40% of this. Grants and sales of advertising space in our program may make up for part of our shortfall, but corporate and individual support is essential. We are reaching out to you, our patrons, to underwrite individual aspects of the project such as hall rental fees, program printing, orchestral parts, and honoraria and travel for guest artists.

If you would like to underwrite any of these expenses with a tax-deductible contribution, your gift will be acknowledged in a special section of the Mass in B minor printed program. By way of thanks to any patron wishing to underwrite expenses for bringing baroque trumpet virtuoso Barry Bauguess ($2,000 donation), I am offering a performance of the complete Goldberg Variations in your home or other location for an evening entertainment—party, dinner party. . . . This event can be scheduled for any time between March 1 and October 1 of 2008. All donors giving $500 or more will receive an invitation to the after-concert reception on Friday May 2.

Below is a list of specific donation areas, but any and all contributions are very much appreciated. Donation checks should be made out to Madison Bach Musicians and mailed to the address listed above. If you would like your donation to go to a specific area, please indicate this on your check.

Many thanks for your support. I hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely yours,

Trevor Stephenson
Artistic Director, Madison Bach Musicians