Recent performances and lectures

June, 2011 – Received a number of commissions for new works, including a major work for the Bach Society of Saint Louis. [See Composer for more details].

June 12, 2011 – Directed Pentecost Sunday performances of choral masterworks by Palestrina, Tallis, and Aichinger, as well as an excerpt from Bach’s motet, Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf. The service music also included Pentecost organ selections by Maurice Duruflé and Marcel Dupré. The performances were given in worship at Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church, Saint Louis.

April 24, 2011 – Directed Easter Sunday performances of Bach’s Cantata BWV 4, Christ lag in Todesbanden. Soloists were Gina Malone, soprano, Matt Bear, tenor, and Andrew Schmidt, baritone. The performances were given in worship services at Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church, Saint Louis.

March 20, 2011 – Conducted the Masterworks Chorale and Children’s Chorus in a performance of the Requiem, Opus 48, by Gabriel Fauré. The program, at St. Clare Catholic Church, O’Fallon, Illinois, also included several works by Franz Schubert. Soloists included Stella Markou, soprano, and Thomas Florio, baritone.

February 6, 2011 – Performed an evensong organ recital at Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church, Ladue, Part of the monthly Choral Evensong at Saint Peter’s series. Program included the complete Suite du Deuxième Ton by Louis-Nicolas Clérambault and the Choral in A minor by César Franck, given on the 2001 N. P. Mander organ. The program was repeated on March 3, 2011 on the Aeolian-Skinner organ at Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Saint Louis. The March performance of Franck’s Chorale in A minor may be heard here.

January, 2011 – Lecture series presentation: Sacred Music in Crisis: Musical Style and the Crossfade of Cultures. An exploration of the relative values and characteristics of “classical” music, folk music, jazz, and rock, and discussion of their potential for application to a Christian worship context. Delivered at Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church, January 16, 23, & 30.

December, 2010 – Many choruses throughout the United States performed carols by Stephen Mager in their annual holiday concerts. Canto Deo Festival Chorus, Denver, Colorado, conducted by Jonathan Brown, performed several Mager carol settings. Click here to hear their performances of Long, Long Ago; Come, All Ye Shepherds; and Shepherds, Shake Off Your Drowsy Sleep. The Greater South Jersey Chorus performed another Mager carol, Ding-Dong, Merrily on High.

December 12, 2010 – Conducted the Masterworks Chorale and Children’s Chorus in a performance of L’Enfance du Christ, parts I and II, by Hector Berlioz. Soloists included mezzo-soprano Jacquelyn Matava, baritone Thomas Florio, and bass Andrew Kroes. The performance took place at St. Clare Catholic Church, O’Fallon, Illinois.

October 17, 2010 – Led a performance by the Masterworks Chorale of Carissimi’s biblical oratorio, Jephte. Featured in the title role was soprano Gina Malone. The program also included other Italian and English music of the early seventeenth century, including music of Claudio Monteverdi. The performance featured projected images of artwork contemporaneous with the musical repertoire. The concert was given at the Hettenhausen Center for the Arts, Lebanon, Illinois.

September/October, 2010 – Presented a series of lectures for the Choral Department at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University. The topic centered on principles of orchestration manifest in the choral repertoire.

July, 2010 – Presented a four-week course entitled, Music in the Church: Discovering our foundations, expanding our horizons. The course, intended for non-musicians, gave an overview of Christian worship history (particularly in the West) and speculated on the crisis of contemporary sacred music. Sponsored by the Lutheran School of Theology, Saint Louis.