Moving Music: Bach Society of Saint Louis

He appeals to our hearts and minds, our deepest spiritual selves. Bach is “everything,” says Dr. A. Dennis Sparger, music director and conductor of Bach Society of Saint Louis for the past 30 years. Obviously, it hasn’t been a job for him, but a calling.

 The society, dedicated to performing Bach’s choral works, was formed in 1941 by Dr. William Heyne, professor of music at the former St. Louis Institute of Music, after hearing the composer’s Mass in B Minor at a concert in Pennsylvania. “He experienced an epiphany,” Sparger says. “He knew he had to bring it back to his hometown.” Over the years, the society has grown to become the seventh largest of around 50 in the U.S. Annually, it holds four major public performances and several smaller events. This year, it received an Excellence in the Arts award from Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis, and Sparger says it is considered to be the finest chorus of more than 40 in the city.

In addition to concerts, Bach Society offers education and outreach programs. ‘Giving Bach to St. Louis Youth’ is a mentorship and scholarship program for high school students who have a desire to pursue a career in music. Two award recipients are given behind-the-scenes access to private dress rehearsals and receive free tickets to each concert of the season. Its Young Artists Awards, established to enhance training for career-oriented postgraduates under age 30, provides recipients with stipends and opportunities to learn from and interact with soloists and professional choral singers. Melissa Payton, Bach Society executive director, was one such recipient. “I had the chance to sing at Powell Hall in front of 2,600 people,” Payton says. “That kind of opportunity for a young singer is very rare. It was terrifying, but incredible.”

This year, the society celebrates 75 years of bringing the composer’s sublime choral works to the city with a special Anniversary Gala. The event includes a concert performed by St. Louis Symphony concertmaster David Halen, soprano Miran Halen, the internationally known Calidore String Quartet and 60 voices from the Bach Society Chorus. However, Sparger says the whole 75th season is a celebration marked by numerous special events. In March, it performed Gabriel Faure’s Requiem at Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis; at Christmas, it brought back alumna soloist Christine Brewer who recently was named one of the the world’s top 20 opera singers by the BBC. On May 15, Kirkwood’s First Presbyterian Church will fill to the rafters with Bach’s Mass in B Minor, which Sparger describes as Western civilization’s “most profound and meaningful work.”

The conductor says he is thankful for his 30 years—for the thousands of people who have sung, played, sat in audiences, served on the board and become patrons and donors. “The music, whether it is Bach or the many other master composers, has elegantly served to connect people to one another and to release their deepest feelings,” Sparger says. “This brings out the best in our society. I am fortunate to have been a part of it for so long.”

With the funds raised from the gala, Payton says the society hopes to expand its educational reach, and eventually to hire a director of education. This year’s gala is presented by Mercy. Centene Charitable Foundation also is a sponsor. Co-chairs are Becky Hauk and Linda Lee; honorary chairs are Tom and Carol Voss. The emcee is Kathy Lawton Brown of the Radio Arts Foundation, the event’s radio sponsor.

Bach Society of Saint Louis holds its 75th Anniversary Gala June 9 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. For information and tickets, call 314.652.2224, or visit bachsociety.org. Pictured on the cover: Gala co-chairs Linda Lee and Becky Hauk, Dr. A. Dennis Sparger, Miran Halen, David Halen and Thriess Britton.

Cover photo by Suzy Gorman | Cover design by Julie Streiler
Pictured above: Bach Society performs Faure’s Requiem at Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis.
Photo: Kris Bueltmann