Bach Cantata Vespers

Bach Cantata Vespers Grace Lutheran Church's Bach Cantata Vespers present the cantatas of J. S. Bach within the context of

As the Bach Cantata Vespers ministry concludes its 55th season, we give thanks for another year of music, worship, and c...
05/29/2026

As the Bach Cantata Vespers ministry concludes its 55th season, we give thanks for another year of music, worship, and community. The choral and orchestral music, the congregational singing and liturgy, and the cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach all bring us closer together in Christ.

Over the course of nine services spanning the church year, we gathered for music ranging from intimate chamber works to festive cantatas with full orchestra, trumpets, and timpani. This season included two cantatas new to the Bach Cantata Vespers series, as well as December’s special New Year’s Eve service of Holy Communion.

We were honored to welcome many distinguished guests throughout the season, including organists Chelsea Chen and David Cherwien, violinist Eleanor Bartsch, and the Rev. Dr. Robert Moore from Leipzig, Germany. Collaborations with the Kontras Quartet and the Kapelle of Concordia University Chicago also enriched this year’s services in special ways.

This season also marked soprano Maura Janton C**k’s final appearance with Bach Cantata Vespers after more than 25 years singing with the series. As Maura and her family prepare to move west, we give thanks for her many years of artistry, generosity, and faithful participation in this ministry.

We also give heartfelt thanks to Dr. Mark Peters, who has offered Cantata Preview Lectures since 2010 and whose scholarship and insight have greatly enriched this ministry over many years. We are deeply grateful for his longstanding contributions to Bach Cantata Vespers at Grace and wish him well in his move to Pennsylvania.

Above all, we are deeply grateful to all who make the Bach Cantata Vespers ministry at Grace possible through their music, volunteer work, financial generosity, and faithful presence throughout the year.

If you would like to revisit this season’s services, recordings remain available on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/BachCantataVespers

We wish you a restful and renewing summer and look forward to welcoming you again this fall as we begin our 56th year of Bach Cantata Vespers at Grace. More information on next season is coming soon!

Thank you to all who joined us this past Sunday for the final Bach Cantata Vespers of our 55th season!It was a joy to co...
05/21/2026

Thank you to all who joined us this past Sunday for the final Bach Cantata Vespers of our 55th season!

It was a joy to conclude the season together in music and congregational song and to share Bach’s festive Ascension cantata "Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen" with all who gathered in person and online. We give special thanks to soprano Maura Janton C**k for her more than 25 years singing with Bach Cantata Vespers, and Dr. Mark Peters, who has given pre-service lectures on the cantata since 2010.

If you missed the service — or would like to experience it again — you can watch it here on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A84ZiyeHnao

Next week, we will share a few highlights from this past season as we look back on the 55th year of Bach Cantata Vespers at Grace.

Thank you again for being part of this season and for supporting these services through your presence, generosity, and love of this music.

Join us today for the final Bach Cantata Vespers of our 55th season! Here’s everything you need to know:🗓 Sunday, May 17...
05/17/2026

Join us today for the final Bach Cantata Vespers of our 55th season! Here’s everything you need to know:

🗓 Sunday, May 17

3:00 PM — Cantata Preview Lecture with Dr. Mark Peters (in the Seminar Room)
3:45 PM — Prelude: Gerald Finzi, Violin Concerto; Eleanor Bartsch, violinist
4:00 PM — Bach Cantata Vespers: "Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen," BWV 43

Homilist
Robert George Moore, St. Thomas Church, Leipzig, Germany

Motet
Ralph Vaughan Williams: "O Clap Your Hands"

Musicians
Bach Cantata Vespers Chorus and Orchestra
Grace Cantor Michael D. Costello, conducting
Maura Janton C**k, soprano
Emlynn Shoemaker, mezzo soprano
Ace Gangoso, tenor
David Govertsen, bass

📍 Grace Lutheran Church, River Forest, IL

Free and open to all. Free parking on site.

We hope you will join us in person for this celebratory conclusion to our season. If you are not able to attend, a livestream is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A84ZiyeHnao

The bulletin is here:https://bachvespers.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2026/05/BWV-043-May-2026.pdf

We look forward to welcoming you this afternoon!

We are delighted to welcome this Sunday’s soloists for the final Bach Cantata Vespers of the season:Maura Janton C**k, s...
05/15/2026

We are delighted to welcome this Sunday’s soloists for the final Bach Cantata Vespers of the season:

Maura Janton C**k, soprano
Maura Janton C**k is Adjunct Professor of Voice at Valparaiso University. She earned degrees from the University of Arizona (Tucson) and Minnesota State University-Moorhead. She has appeared as a soloist with the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony, the Tucson Symphony, the Southwest Michigan Symphony, and the Northwest Indiana Symphony. She has worked extensively with Robert Shaw and Helmuth Rilling. Recent engagements include performances with the Michigan Bach Collegium, Bach Chamber Choir and Orchestra of Rockford (Illinois), Miami Bach Society, Dayton (Ohio) Bach Society and the Cuesta Master Chorale and Orchestra (California). She has frequently been a soloist for Bach Cantata Vespers at Grace.

Emlynn Shoemaker, mezzo soprano
Emlynn Shoemaker is an operatic soprano based in Chicago, IL. Emlynn has often been praised for her vocal range and her earnest character choices which are reflected in her musical expression on stage. She sings regularly with Lyric Opera Chicago, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and sang for four seasons with Consonance—Chicago Choral Artists. Emlynn’s other upcoming engagements include appearing with Lyric Opera Chicago’s productions of Medea, Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, and Carmina Burana as a member of their Chorus. Emlynn obtained her Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Kansas in 2021, where she studied with renowned mezzo-soprano Joyce Castle and graduated with honors. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Presbyterian College where she studied privately with Dr. Christian Elser.

Ace Gangoso, tenor
Ace Gangoso enjoys a varied career in Chicago as a singer, pianist, and liturgical musician. Recent concert solo engagements include Liszt’s Missa Solemnis (Symphony OPRF), Mozart’s Requiem (DuPage Chorale), Bach’s Weihnachts-Oratorium (Chicago Choral Artists), and recurring appearances in the Bach Cantata Vespers series (Grace Lutheran, River Forest). Ace is a chorister at the Lyric Opera of Chicago where he also sang the title role in Jason and the Argonauts in the 2023 production with Opera in the Neighborhoods. Other choral work includes the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Grant Park Music Festival; he also performs with ensembles and chamber groups such as Fourth Coast Ensemble, Chicago a ca****la, Schola Antiqua, Waveform, and Líriko (Filipino Tenors). An active church musician, his main post is as the Director of Liturgy and Music at Old St. Mary’s Catholic Church in the South Loop.

David Govertsen, bass
Chicago native David Govertsen has been active as a professional singer for over twenty years, portraying a wide variety of opera’s low-voiced heroes, villains, and buffoons. Mr. Govertsen has appeared as a soloist with numerous local and regional opera companies, including Lyric Opera of Chicago, Santa Fe Opera, Tulsa Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, and the Haymarket Opera Company. He is a member of the vocal chamber quartet Fourth Coast Ensemble, performing art song in Chicago and throughout the Midwest. As a concert soloist Mr. Govertsen has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Grant Park Orchestra, Santa Fe Symphony and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival among many others. He made his Carnegie Hall debut as the Herald in Otello with the CSO conducted by Riccardo Muti. Mr. Govertsen is currently on faculty at North Park University, Lewis University and the College of DuPage.

As we shared earlier this week, this service will also mark soprano Maura Janton C**k’s final appearance with Bach Cantata Vespers after more than 25 years singing with the series before she moves west.

🗓 Sunday, May 17

3:00 PM — Cantata Preview Lecture with Dr. Mark Peters
3:45 PM — Prelude: Gerald Finzi, Violin Concerto; Eleanor Bartsch, violinist
4:00 PM — Bach Cantata Vespers: "Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen," BWV 43

📍 Grace Lutheran Church, River Forest, IL

Free and open to all.

Emlynn Shoemaker Ace Gangoso

Join us this Sunday, May 17, for the final Bach Cantata Vespers of our 55th season! Concluding the season is the magnifi...
05/13/2026

Join us this Sunday, May 17, for the final Bach Cantata Vespers of our 55th season!

Concluding the season is the magnificent Ascension cantata "Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen" (God goes up with jubilation), written by Bach for the feast of the Ascension and first performed on May 30, 1726. Our performance of this cantata will take place 300 years after it was premiered, almost to the day! The large orchestra, complete with three trumpets and timpani, points to the nature of the festival. After the opening chorus, each vocal soloist takes a turn with a recitative and aria before the final chorale.

The music throughout the service reflects the joyful spirit of the celebration, including Ralph Vaughan Williams’ jubilant "O Clap Your Hands" for chorus and orchestra, as well as festive hymn concertatos by Thomas Gieschen and Grace Cantor Michael D. Costello. We are also honored to welcome two special guests: violinist Eleanor Bartsch, who joins the Bach Cantata Vespers Orchestra for the 3:45 p.m. prelude performance of Gerald Finzi’s Violin Concerto, and homilist Robert George Moore, visiting pastor at the historic Thomaskirche in Leipzig, Germany.

We are delighted to welcome this Sunday’s soloists: Maura Janton C**k, soprano; Emlynn Shoemaker, mezzo soprano; Ace Gangoso, tenor; and David Govertsen, bass.

🗓 Sunday, May 17

3:00 PM — Cantata Preview Lecture with Dr. Mark Peters
3:45 PM — Prelude: Gerald Finzi, Violin Concerto; Eleanor Bartsch, violinist
4:00 PM — Bach Cantata Vespers: "Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen," BWV 43

📍 Grace Lutheran Church, River Forest, IL

Free and open to all. Free parking on site.

We hope you will join us for this concluding service of our 55th season!

After more than 25 years of singing with Bach Cantata Vespers at Grace, the next service on May 17 will be Maura Janton ...
05/08/2026

After more than 25 years of singing with Bach Cantata Vespers at Grace, the next service on May 17 will be Maura Janton C**k’s final appearance as part of our series as she and her family prepare to move to the west coast.

We are deeply grateful for her many years of excellent music-making and her presence in this community.

Maura has been part of many cantatas services at Grace, beginning in the late 1990s. Reflecting on that time, she shares that “it has been a joy to be able to participate in so many cantatas through the years.” Feeling welcomed by the Grace Senior Choir each time she has sung here has been especially meaningful, allowing her to form lasting connections within the ensemble.

Among many memorable moments, she recalls the opportunity to perform BWV 51 (Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen) as a particular highlight, as well as singing the St. Matthew Passion in 2023 after its cancellation in 2020 during the pandemic.

Looking ahead, Maura speaks to what she will carry with her: “Performing the music of Bach is a privilege, whenever and wherever one gets to do it, and I do not take this lightly. I am grateful to have had so many opportunities to sing at Grace under several cantors through these years. Singing these works in the context of a worship service has also been very meaningful and I take that with me as I go on to new adventures." She has sung under Grace cantors John Folkening, Jonathan Oblander, interim director Carl Grapentine, and current Grace Cantor Michael D. Costello.

Maura Janton C**k, soprano, is Adjunct Professor of Voice at Valparaiso University. She earned degrees from the University of Arizona (Tucson) and Minnesota State University-Moorhead. She has appeared as a soloist with the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony, the Tucson Symphony, the Southwest Michigan Symphony, and the Northwest Indiana Symphony. She has worked extensively with Robert Shaw and Helmuth Rilling. Recent engagements include performances with the Michigan Bach Collegium, Bach Chamber Choir and Orchestra of Rockford (Illinois), Miami Bach Society, Dayton (Ohio) Bach Society and the Cuesta Master Chorale and Orchestra (California).

We thank Maura for her artistry, her generosity, and her many years of dedication, and we wish her the very best in the next chapter ahead.

You can hear Maura at Grace one last time on May 17, alongside fellow soloists Emlynn Shoemaker, mezzo soprano, Ace Gangoso, tenor, and David Govertsen, bass.

For the final Bach Cantata Vespers of the season on May 17, we are honored to welcome the Rev. Dr. Robert George Moore, ...
05/07/2026

For the final Bach Cantata Vespers of the season on May 17, we are honored to welcome the Rev. Dr. Robert George Moore, joining us from Leipzig, Germany, as our guest homilist.

Dr. Moore serves as pastor in residence at the historic St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, where Johann Sebastian Bach served as Cantor from 1723 until his death in 1750.

The Rev. Dr. Robert Moore served as Pastor of Christ the King Lutheran Church in Houston from 1994 until 2016, when he and Kathy moved to Houston’s sister city, Leipzig, Germany, to represent the City of Leipzig and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) during the 500th Anniversary Observation of the Reformation. This project ended in 2019, but Robert and Kathy remained in Leipzig at St. Thomas Church where Robert serves as pastor in residence.

Prior to his call to the serve Christ the King Lutheran Church, Dr. Moore earned the Ph.D. in Religious Studies at Rice University. He served on the Board of Regents at Texas Lutheran University from 2011 until 2016 and was elected in 2011 to the church council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Robert was awarded the Golden Pin of Honor from the City of Leipzig in 2013. He received the German Federal Cross of Merit (Bundesverdienstkreuz am Bande) on January 14, 2013.

We hope you will join us for this celebratory final Bach Cantata Vespers of our 55th season, including music by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Thomas Gieschen, Grace Cantor Michael D. Costello, and a special prelude featuring violinist Eleanor Bartsch in Gerald Finzi’s Violin Concerto.

🗓 Sunday, May 17
3:00 PM — Cantata Preview Lecture with Dr. Mark Peters (in the Seminar Room)
3:45 PM — Prelude: Gerald Finzi, Violin Concerto
4:00 PM — Bach Cantata Vespers: "Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen," BWV 43

📍 Grace Lutheran Church, River Forest, IL. Free and open to all.

We are delighted to welcome violinist Eleanor Bartsch to the final Bach Cantata Vespers of the season on May 17. She joi...
04/30/2026

We are delighted to welcome violinist Eleanor Bartsch to the final Bach Cantata Vespers of the season on May 17. She joins the Bach Cantata Vespers Orchestra to perform Gerald Finzi’s Violin Concerto as the prelude to the service at 3:45 p.m.

A member of the first violin section of the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra, Bartsch is also first violinist of the Kontras Quartet , Grace’s string quartet in residence, which performed as part of the January Bach Cantata Vespers and plays regularly for Sunday services at Grace.

We hope you will join us for this special prelude and for the final Bach Cantata Vespers of our 55th season, including thrilling music for the Ascension of Our Lord by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Thomas Gieschen, and Grace Cantor Michael D. Costello. The homilist for the service is the Rev. Robert George Moore, visiting pastor at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, Germany.

🗓 Sunday, May 17
3:00 PM — Cantata Preview Lecture with Dr. Mark Peters (in the Seminar room)
3:45 PM — Prelude: Gerald Finzi, Violin Concerto
4:00 PM — Bach Cantata Vespers: "Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen," BWV 43

📍 Grace Lutheran Church, River Forest, IL
Free and open to all.

Thank you to all who joined us this past Sunday for Bach Cantata Vespers at Grace. It was a joy to share this time of mu...
04/24/2026

Thank you to all who joined us this past Sunday for Bach Cantata Vespers at Grace. It was a joy to share this time of music and congregational song together with all who gathered in person and online. It was a special joy to hear the Kapelle of Concordia University Chicago!

If you missed the service — or would like to experience it again — you can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlT55sR_ZqY

Bach Cantata Vespers at Grace is made possible by the generosity of our community. If you would like to support these services, you can learn more or make a donation here: https://secure.myvanco.com/L-ZBA2/campaign/C-11F44

We look forward to welcoming you again on May 17 for the final service of our 55th year!

Highlights will include violinist Eleanor Bartsch and the Bach Cantata Vespers Orchestra in Gerald Finzi’s Violin Concerto, a homily by Pastor Robert George Moore (coming all the way from Leipzig, Germany), and Bach’s festive Ascension cantata "Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen," BWV 43 (God goes up with jubilation).

We are especially grateful to welcome back artists and collaborators who have been part of this community over many years, and to share this celebratory close to the season together.

Join us today at Grace Lutheran Church in River Forest, IL. Here’s everything you need to know:🗓3:00 p.m. — Cantata Prev...
04/19/2026

Join us today at Grace Lutheran Church in River Forest, IL. Here’s everything you need to know:

🗓3:00 p.m. — Cantata Preview Lecture with Dr. Mark Peters
🗓3:45 p.m. — Organ Prelude with Grace Cantor Michael D. Costello
🗓4:00 p.m. — Bach Cantata Vespers: "Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal in das Reich Gottes eingehen," BWV 146 (We must enter the kingdom of God through much sorrow)

Homilist
Nathaniel P. Klein

Prelude
Grace Cantor Michael D. Costello, Grace Lutheran Church and School, River Forest, Illinois, organist

Motet
Johannes Eccard: "Wir singen all mit Freudenschall"

Musicians
Please note: mezzo-soprano Emlynn Shoemaker will be replaced by Sarah Ponder for this service.

Kapelle of Concordia University Chicago, guest choir
Charles P. Brown, conductor
Carolyne DalMonte, soprano
Sarah Ponder, mezzo soprano
Brian Skoog, tenor
David Govertsen, bass

📍 Grace Lutheran Church, River Forest, IL
Free and open to all. Free parking.

We hope you will join us in person.
If you are not able to attend, a livestream is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlT55sR_ZqY

The bulletin may be found here:
https://bachvespers.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2026/04/BWV-146-April-2026.pdf

We look forward to welcoming you this afternoon!

Address

7300 Division Street
River Forest, IL
60305

Telephone

(708) 366-6900

Website

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