Peregrine Consort to Present Debut Performance, "A Vesper for Peace," in Woburn on Sunday, May 31st

The Peregrine Consort, a professional musical ensemble dedicated to performing the J.S. Bach cantatas and other musical works in the Boston area, will present its inaugural concert, “A Vesper for Peace,” on Sunday, May 31st at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, 60 Forest Park Road, Woburn, Massachusetts. Beginning at 7 p.m., the evening will consist of a prelude concert, followed by a Vespers church service at 8 p.m. There is no charge to attend.

Founded by Woburn-based organist Paul Carlson and Arlington violist Anne Black, Peregrine Consort is made up of highly accomplished Boston-area instrumentalists and singers who have performed with such prominent musical organizations as the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, Aston Magna Festival, and Emmanuel Music. Aimed at providing “powerful meditative and musical experiences,” the Consort plans to perform Bach cantatas in a liturgical context at different churches in the Boston area. “Used as an adjective, the word ‘peregrine’ means coming from abroad, traveling, wandering,” explains Carlson. “Many Bach cantata series are based in one location, typically a large urban church. The idea is to take these works to a variety of locations in the suburbs.”

Additional liturgical music, as well as a variety of other types of music, will also be presented at the Consort’s free concerts, which will precede Vespers — an evening liturgy — which is one of the contexts for which the church cantatas of J.S. Bach were originally intended. The Consort will perform the cantatas with one singer per vocal part, an approach supported by the work of musicologists Rifkin, Parrot, and others.

Performing on period instruments at Peregrine Consort’s first event on May 31st will be Peregrine Consort members Paul Carlson, organ; Jesse Levine, trumpet; Jesse Irons, violin; Anne Black, violin and viola; Jason Fisher, viola; Guy Fishman, cello; and Erik Higgins, bass; along with soprano Shari Wilson. The concert program will include works with various instrumental and vocal combinations, including Bach’s Fantasia super: Komm, heiliger Geist and excerpts from a Suite for Solo Cello, as well as chamber music by Johann Jakob Walther, Heinrich Biber, and Daniel Pinkham. Bach’s Cantata No. 51, “Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen,” with vocals by Wilson, will be performed during Vespers.

“The Bach cantatas form a pinnacle of sacred art beloved by many around the world,” Carlson elaborates, “and it seems natural to imagine that people in the Boston suburbs would welcome an ensemble bringing live Bach cantata performances to their local communities. Next season, we plan to follow through on this vision by establishing a series of performances at a variety of locations. We are committed to presenting as many different cantatas as possible, perhaps eventually performing them all.”

For more information, visit www.peregrineconsort.org or call 781-933-4600.