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Dear friends and patrons,
At first, the dream of “let’s put on a concert” seemed simple. What did I know!?

About a year ago, an extraordinarily generous patron approached me, asking if I’d be willing to take on a project performing a work by one of his favorite composers: The Last Seven Words by Haydn. I suggested that we do it as a professional project as I couldn’t fit any regular rehearsal schedule into the school year. In fact, that remarkable patron underwrote the entire project. From that experience, I learned what is possible.

Not long after, I connected with a like-minded mad man, David Pyle, who was crazy enough to buy into the idea of creating a professional ensemble that would perform the greatest works we knew at the very highest level. We mapped out a strategy and it looked overwhelming. That was little more than 6 months ago and we took it step by step – creating a board, identifying our ‘wish list’ of musicians, and selecting venues. Along the way, Dr. Howard Skinner, Cynthia Vaughn, Lee Cord joined with us in forming a (hard-working!) board of directors.

Creating The Colorado Bach Ensemble has been overwhelming, exhausting, and exhilarating. We are building something special – something that never existed before. It’s like moving a mountain. But it can’t be done alone.

We are deeply grateful for the support we’ve received from all of you. That exceptional patron from last year, Dr. Don Park, has stepped up as our season sponsor. And, more sponsors and donors have added their resources to make this possible. Thank you to all!

It is my great privilege to send this eNewsletter with sky-high excitement and anticipation for our inaugural season performances with one of the greatest masterworks in the history of entire western music: the B minor Mass by Johann Sebastian Bach. Please continue to spread the word to your group of friends and colleagues, encouraging them to “check us out” via our website and Facebook page. Most important, come hear this magnificent work that was given to humankind. Our dream has become a reality!

Warmly,
James Kim

Just celebrated Easter. Resurrection (et resurrexit tertia die). He rose on the third day. It is part of Credo in the mass and probably the most celebrated Christian Holiday next to Christmas. Our church celebrated with 4 services with brass, choir and the Hallelujah chorus, of course. We ran out of chairs with so many people in the congregation.

Bach finds resurrection celebratory and composes one of the most exhilarating movements in the B minor. But, it is not the central movement in his Credo. What is? The Crucifixion.

Here is the structure for the Credo in the B minor.

Movement #1; Credo (chorus with cantus firmus)
Movement #2: Patrem omnipotentem (chorus)

Movement #3: et in unum (duet aria)

Movement #4: et incarnatus est (chorus)
Movement #5: Crucifixus (chorus)
Movement #6: et resurrexit (chorus)

Movement #7: et in Spiritum Sanctum (solo aria)

Movement #8: Confiteor (chorus with cantus firmus)
Movement #9: et Expecto (chorus)

As one can see, the entire Credo is framed by two outer choral movements with each starting with cantus firmus(fixed Gregorian Chant melody). Then, he adds an aria on both ends: a duet and a solo. Movements #4-6 are the middle movements with the Crucifixus (#5) as the most central piece in the 9-movement structure. It is also in passacaglia form with repeated pattern in the bass-line.

Crucifixion: Jesus came down from Heaven to become a human being, crucified, and the resurrected. It seems pretty obvious, at least to me, that Bach considers the Crucifixion as the most important event in Christian theology.

What is the message? Christianity.. Is it about the crucifixion? The Suffering? We don’t seem to celebrate(?) that part of Christian calendar as much as we celebrate the Birth and the Ressurection.

Bach delivers the message again through the structure in his Credo. The Cross starts with “et incarnatus est” (God became a human being). In that particular movement, he chooses to put Cross Motiv in the string section with descending vocal lines implying the the incarnation. God came down to take the cross…

Easter is a wonderful holiday. Spring is in the air. A new beginning. People come home to celebrate with the family. My own children look forward to the Easter egg hunt although we missed one this year.

Yet, Bach reminds us: without “Crucifixus”, there would be no “et Resurrexit tertia die”..

God came down in humility, fully aware of the Cross..

Crucifixus.. Et Resurrexit tertia die.

It’s been little more than a week now.   Returning home felt good.  But catching up?   argh…    Been waking up at around 1:00am for almost a week, which was necessary for me to catch up with everything.  It was nice to have a rehearsal with the students and spend the Palm Sunday at the church singing V.Williams and Handel….

Now, the roster for the choir and the orchestra are complete.  I insisted that we have a preliminary string-principal meeting with Ken Mervine who’s agreed to play the continuo, prior to our first full orchestra rehearsal.  We finally confirmed to meet with 5 principals and Ken on May 9.  Absolutely necessary!   As I’m preparing the scores with my own markings, I realize more and more how massive this is..  I thought I would be able to finish marking the scores by April 1..   How foolish!    My computer says it is now 2:33am, April 3.   Finally done.

Helmuth Rilling emphasizes memorizing the music.  He would say, ‘..it is worthwhile..’   I agree.  My favorite German word; auswendiglernen; to learn by heart!  not just memorizing.   I must learn BY HEART.  So, the music comes from the HEART.   Is there any other way?   I think not.   Yes, it is worthwhile.

Yesterday, I secured two additional donors with some significant amounts.   Still long way to go though, especially with St. Matthew.

The two venues for the Messiah in December are almost confirmed.

This must go on.

Checked-in and waiting to board at the Stuttgart airport on my flight to Denver via Frankfurt.  Sitting here exhausted and spent. Don’t know why. Didn’t sing nor conducted any during the last two weeks.  All that walking, intense German, salty (VERY salty!) food must’ve gotten to me.

Got some wonderful ideas about a summer festival and a Bachakademie in Colorado. A Summer Bach festival in Colorado!: Colorado would be great for that!  with German Lieder,  Chamber music, cantatas, the passions, etc. Wouldn’t that be nice? Stay hungry, stay foolish; A great visionary preached.

Last night was a culminating performance of the B minor Mass at the beautiful Markuskirke. It was overwhelming to see one of our students from CSU participating in this amazing work with a world-renowned conductor in a beautiful church in Stuttgart, Germany. I am so proud of you, Gene Stenger. This was meant to be.

The concert continued without an intermission; only a brief pause and another tuning before Credo. Nobody moved during that short pause. Everyone attending seemed to be meditating. I soon realized that people in the audience were truly appreciating the music, not the performance. The music became real for them; meditating on the text and how Bach proclaims through his music.

Can’t believe how beautiful this music is! Heavenly! It rattled my soul during the entire performance, and I was completely disappointed to learn that I am indeed living on the earth after the performance. Soon after…I realized “I GET TO DO THIS FEW MONTHS LATER”! Lots and lots of preparation, and MORE preparation I must do. But it will be totally worth it, and I can’t wait to experience it with everyone involved in Colorado.

Also very nice to meet and get to know Anne-Kathryn Olsen (one of our soprano soloists) during this time. I had an opportunity to interview this beautiful young lady with a wonderful voice and a very interesting background. We plan to feature her in our first eNewsletter.

I am ready to go back now. A journey to Stuttgart is ending, but another journey awaits me as I return home to face the challenges. Bring it on!

I am hungry, I am foolish…

 

March 21, 2012: Bach’s 372th birthday. I received a gift from Ingo Goritzki on Bach’s behalf 🙂 a copy of the B minor Mass full score with Rilling’s markings.

As I compared my own markings with his, I realized how much I’ve changed. Both Katy Olsen and Gene Stenger (they are singing with Rilling and will be performing with me in June) will notice the difference first-hand. Nevertheless, it is wonderful to see what he does, and more importantly, WHY he does what he does. It gives me more clear understanding of what I want to do.

So far, there have been three lecture concerts. Through these lecture concerts and discussions, it has become much more evident and obvious that one must understand Bach as a theologian as much as a counterpoint genius, if not more. The architecture, voicing layers/textures, tonal centers, motives, instrumental/word painting, and melodic contour are based on his personal theological affirmation. It is as if he’s giving a sermon through his music: to be humble, to be joyful, to celebrate life and the resurrection, to make peace: just like Jesus who came to this earth to take up the cross, be crucified and to resurrect. It is for ALL.

One of the goals for CBE should be to offer affordable world-class concerts for everyone. Another mission is to provide performing opportunities for the young-emerging artists in the
country. It was nice to chat with James Taylor from Yale ISM yesterday. We need more programs like that and must provide more performing venues for the young singers and players who are
passionate about the music of Bach.

While I’m here, our team has been working around the clock: to finalize the contract, upload the ticketing links, finalize the roster, gather names of potential donors for direct mailings, create marketing materials, and much more… So much work…

Why? We all believe that we are creating something special, and it is becoming more REAL by each day.

Overwhelmed with the amount of work, I’m questioning EVERYDAY whether this is worth it..

Bach, the theologian, challenges me and DOES make me a better human being. We NEED it. I NEED it.

Founding an organization requires so much energy and efforts by many, needless to say. I had thought that funding was the most difficult part in establishing an organization but am beginning to realize more and more it is the clearly defined vision and continued passion are the most important.

The process for this organization has been organic….My former students graciously participated in NCCO by paying their own airfare to be part of something special.  They are also  literally volunteering  to be part of our inaugural season concert with the B minor, along with many others from within the state.  I do not know how to express my gratitude for those who are out there.  I will make it up to y’all…     A number of  players immediately jumped on board as soon as I mentioned ‘Bach’ in my phone call or email.  It’s like being back at a graduate school again.  ‘Hey, you wanna do some Bach? ‘   ‘Sure! I’d love to… Let me check my schedule…what are you doing?’. Didn’t have money to pay them, but took them out to dinner after the concert though. Everyone simply wanted to do good music with good people. Listening to my graduate recital of BWV 147 which was done almost exactly 10 years ago, I still get goosebumps: not because the performance was impeccable although it was dang close!   There was youthful exuberance and sheer joy of making wonderful music.  It is the same emotion I get when listening to the live-recording of Friede auf Erden by CSU Chamber Choir from 2006. Not a perfect performance, but perfect regardless…Everybody who sang in that performance , I’m sure, remembers the moment.  Probably don’t remember what they sang before or after although it was preceded by Debussy’s Trois Chansons and followed by William Walton’s Cantico del Sole.

Part of the Mission of the CBE says. “… Highest artistic standards..”  What does that mean? Precision? perfection? transparency?  Informed-performance practice?  All of the above?

It is important part of what we do.  Far more importantly though, the music has to speak to us. Music has to speak to ME..  personal, subjective…

Music allows us to find that “thin place”, which cannot be found anywhere else: the place where we can be connected with Someone greater, superior, and far beyond our imagination.   Bach does it better than anyone else.   This music lets us experience something that is not part of this world.   When discussing a possibility of establishing a Bachakademie in Colorado, I learned that one integral component would be Theology. Of course, why wouldn’t it be?  It was the most fundamental-underlying  foundation in Bach’s music.  It cannot be separated from Bach as a person and as a musician.

How much subjectivity must we have or can we express when we live in a society where ‘everything for all’ sentiment is so dominant, and when we are being asked to be ‘politically-correct’?

Our Heart should dominate our Brain…Emotion over Logic…..Like Monteverdi making his case 400 years ago.

Helmuth Rilling is one of a kind: whether you are a fan of his Bach or not, he did what HE believed and stuck by it. He made Bach exciting and accessible to many, and no one can take that away.   An amazing era is about  to end soon.
By coming back here, I am now solidifying more and more of my own. Most importantly, it has to be me. I must express what I believe.  It CANNOT be someone else’s. This will continue to evolve, I’m sure…But I feel that concept is getting much clearer and more concrete than ever.

Its truly wondergul to have time: time to walk around, to write, and time to think, think and think…
THIS is a luxury I haven’t had for a long time. Good timing…..

Yesterday, Kathy Romey who was preparing the chorus said something that struck me. After running the Cum Sancto Spiritu, she said, “Bach makes me a better person”… I pondered on that.

I also had a chance to hear Gernot Süssmuth working with the string players mainly about the articulations and phrasing. It was helpful, especially when I will be working wth modern instruments for the CBE.

This got me start thnking about how far we’ve come since the 80’s in the Baroque world, in terms of performance practice. It is now very rare to find a Baroque group performing with modern instruments, especially with Rilling retiring in 2013 from both the Bachakademie and the OBF. Both Rademann (who will be the Artistic Director for the Internationale Bachakademie) and Matthew Halls (for the Oregon Bach Festival) are known as Baroque specialists (whatever that means to you…). What about us, in Colorado where there is not much early music going on compared to other metropolitan cities such as Boston, New York, and DC area?

If we don’t have aceess to the Baroque instruments, do we simply not perform the literature? Is it wrong if you don’t follow the current
trend of those early music performance practice guidelines with modern
instruments?
One of the biggest challenges for the CBE (besides the funding, of course) would be to reconcile with the fact that we are performing with modern instruments and still must make it sound appropriate to the modern listeners.

I started listening to Karl Richter’s Münchener Bach-choir and orchestra when I got serous about Bach as an undergraduate at USC. Is there anyone else out there who is still listening to his recordings? Is it wrong? Out of trend? passé?

We are now very used to other performance-practice-informed groups playing Bach’s music much faster with much smaller-scale ensembles. Sometimes even with one on a part. Is this the orthodoxy we’ve created? Do we ever question it? Hmmm..

I must be insane…not spending our spring break together with the family back home, but here 5,000 miles away pondering on a quote.

Someone told me that my wife must be madly in love with me as I virtually deserted my own three little children for two weeks. Then, there is a choir tour as soon as I get back before I head out for another out-of-country trip… She must love me so much.

‘Bach makes me a better person’. I’m going to hang on to this.

It’s 4:22am (German time) as I start writing my second blog entry. Exhausted when I went to bed last night, but I got up at around 4 am. Ok. That’s about when I get up anyways back in Colorado, so it’s time to get to work. It will be a long day…

As I arrived yesterday, I was supposed to be picked up by my old friend who sings at the Mannheim Opera, but it didn’t work out that way. So, I got out of the airport. Took the S-Bahn and got off at Stadtmitte. It was refreshing to hear the language again, especially some strong Schwäbisch accent spoken by few older ladies as I was getting off the S-Bahn. I am now in Baden-Württemberg.

As I was walking down the street trying to find my hotel, I was thinking “how come this country makes me hum Brahms’ “Im Herbst” although it is almost spring?” Weird…

After checking into the hotel, I walked down to the Koenigstasse, the main street that goes all the way to Hauptbahnhof, the main train station. It looked like a lot has changed, with so many modern shops
that didn’t exist before. It didn’t feel familiar at all. Then, I ran into two historic landmarks that reminded me that I’m back in familiar territory: Schlossplatz and Stiftskirke. Kay Johannsen is still the music director at the church,
but the church went through a serious renovation as I left the town in 1999 taking 5 years to finish. I tested my German with a lady at the information desk and was pleasantly surprised that most of it stayed with me. It suddenly felt like I never left this town…

The B minor rehearsal starts today. Anxious to meet Kathy Romey, Elisabeth Janku at the Bachakademie, and the musicians from all over the world. Of course, Can’t wait to re-connect with Rilling to talk about Bach.

It’s wonderful to be back…

So, here is my very first blog entry; trying to finish writing before the kids get up 🙂

At first, I had reservations about sharing my personal feelings and innermost thoughts with the public; Not because I’m worried about how others would think of my entires, but the idea of putting my personal thoughts out there via ether is overwhelming .   I still have mixed feelings about this, but my friends who are marketing gurus tell me that it’s not that bad.  I trust them, and I also trust that people will see and understand (through my personal blogs) where I come from and why I do what I do.

Almost exactly 15 years ago, I lived in Germany for two and a half years as a young lad with high aspirations to become famous someday.  Not sure if I have accomplished my agenda, but I know that those were the most fruitful times to help me shape what I have become.  As I watched Rilling rehearse Liszt’s “Christus” from memory for the first time; I simply could not believe.   After one of the Gesprächskonzerts I participated, I asked him about his memorization.  He simply replied; “I try”.  Frieder Bernius was in town as well.  I also wanted to learn from him as much as possible.  His rehearsal (not just the performance) of the Brahms Requiem with his Kammerchor  was an experience I’ve never forgotten.   Then of course, there was St.Matthew.  Rilling conducted it during the Holy Week in 1997; my first year there.  It was the most riveting, emotional, and dramatic performance I’ve ever experienced to this date.

15 years later… what changed?   A LOT!   I am now married, to a beautiful wife who helps me understand the artistry of string-playing (I really need to start working on second position…).  We have three most adorable children in the whole world (who sometimes… maybe bit more often.. drive both of us nuts?!).  I have the best day job in the world.    Am I wiser, more mature?   Don’t know much about that, but one thing I know for sure is that I am MUCH more appreciative of the gift given to Mankind through the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.

15 years later…I’m still a young lad: although my chair keeps reminding me that I am one of the senior faculty in the department…  I am forever indebted to my wife, Heejung, who encouraged me to take on this challenge.   I thank the Board members for their tireless efforts and for challenging me not to take the easy route; Cynthia Vaughn, Lee Cord, David Pyle, and Dr. Howard Skinner for your infinite wisdom.   Shane Miles and Matt Scott have teamed up to create the logo and the website.  They are wizards in the world I’ve never dreamed of.  I thank all the donors and sponsors for buying into what I’m trying to accomplish through this organization.  It is the vision not to create an entertainment for the few elites, but for the mass public to experience what I experience through the music of J.S.Bach.  It empowers me, strengthens me, and helps me to live through my daily lives on earth.  It is a necessity, not a luxury.  We need this whether we realize or not.  Is this the Gospel, the Good News?  It certainly feels like it. Or at least, it is a treasure I don’t want to keep it to myself.

Dang! the Word Count says I’ve written 592 words although I was advised to write only between 150-250 words. Now, it says 608…..

And so here I am, 15 years later, packing to go back to Stuttgart and getting ready to embark on a journey that will take me to places I’ve never been before.  I’m in for a long haul.