Peter Sykes is one of the most distinguished keyboard virtuosos of today - on organ, harpsichord, clavichord, and sometimes all three.
His recordings include J.S. Bach's Leipzig Chorales recorded on the Noack organ, Langholtskirkja, Reykjavik, Iceland; Harpsichord Music of Couperin and Rameau; and MAXimum Reger: Favorite Organ Works. He took part in Grammy-nominated Boston Baroque recordings of Handel's Messiah, Bach's B-Minor Mass, and Monteverdi's Vespers.
Sykes has won the Boston Chapter American Guild of Organists Young Artists Competition (1983) and the Second International Harpsichord Competition sponsored by the Southeastern Historical Keyboard Society (1986).
He is Director of Music at First Church in Cambridge (Congregational) and a member of the faculties of the Longy School of Music, Boston University, and the New England Conservatory. He also serves as director of the Cambridge Society for Early Music.
Organ Vespers features organ works in the course of a service of evening prayer with brief liturgy, hymns, and prayers. There is no sermon.
Bach's Christmas Oratorio is not one unified work, but six cantatas — each based on a biblical scene and all linked together by their nativity theme — which were designed to be performed as part of the liturgy over the festive season. They were first presented in Leipzig between Christmas Day 1734 and Epiphany 1735.
The professional Bach Choir and Orchestra will present the first three cantatas of this beloved work on the first Sunday of Advent, November 30, at 5:00 p.m. Bach Society Music Director Robert Lynn will conduct.
Seating will be limited; early arrival is recommended!