Great Barrington — The Berkshire Bach Society (BBS) will present Henry Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas” on April 5 at the First Congregational Church. James Bagwell will conduct the BBS chorus, orchestra, and soloists.
When the Society presented “Magnificat” in May 2024, the vocal soloists nearly stole the show. But it was the combined power of soloists and chorus that truly exceeded expectations and made the performance unforgettable.
Now we seem poised for an encore of that stunning May performance. The Society has once again engaged professional soloists, along with choral director James Bagwell. “Dido and Aeneas”—the most significant work by one of England’s greatest composers, Henry Purcell—culminates in the final aria, “When I Am Laid in Earth.”
“Dido and Aeneas” is Virgil’s story of Queen Dido of Carthage, who falls in love with the Trojan hero Aeneas but is abandoned by him due to a plot by evil sorceresses that leads to her heartbreak and death.
As professor of music and director of performance studies at Bard College, James Bagwell is familiar to Berkshire audiences as the leader of the Berkshire Bach Society’s annual Messiah Sing. Read his full bio to see a list of the American and international orchestras whose choruses he has prepared. Highlights include the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and Los Angeles Philharmonic. Prominent conductors with whom Bagwell has worked as a preparer of choruses include Andris Nelsons, Alan Gilbert, Zubin Mehta, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Robert Shaw. Most notably, he prepared the Concert Chorale of New York for performances of Leonard Bernstein’s “Kaddish Symphony” with the New York Philharmonic.
Bagwell regularly guest conducts the Tulsa Symphony, having led performances of Mozart’s Requiem, Brahms’ “Ein deutsches Requiem,” Benjamin Britten’s “War Requiem,” and Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony. In 2011 and 2012, he conducted the Amici New York Orchestra at the OK Mozart Festival, and in December 2014, he led the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in Handel’s “Messiah.”
Mr. Bagwell recently assumed the associate conductor post at The Orchestra Now and is principal guest conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra. No stranger to pop music, Bagwell has collaborated with singer and composer Natalie Merchant, conducting orchestras for her shows with the San Francisco and Seattle Symphonies and others.
James Bagwell holds degrees from Birmingham-Southern College, Florida State University, and Indiana University. He is professor of music and music program director at Bard College, as well as director of performance studies in the Bard College Conservatory of Music and co-director of the Bard Conservatory Graduate Program in Conducting.
Hear James Bagwell conduct the Berkshire Bach Society’s soloists, chorus, and orchestra in Henry Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas” on Saturday, April 5, 4 p.m., at the First Congregational Church, 251 Main Street, Great Barrington, directly across the street from Yellow House Books. Tickets are available here or at the door.
