"A joy and a great privilege": Nic joins forces with Berkeley's Cantata Collective in Bach's Mass in B Minor

You may sing "Happy Birthday" when celebrating a friend or family member's special day. But in the case of Nic and the members of the Cantata Collective, a more substantial work was needed to celebrate J. S. Bach's 338th birthday this month: the Mass in B Minor.

On March 20, Nic led the Bay Area-based Cantata Collective in a moving account of Bach's beloved testament to the human spirit, which also featured soloists Sherezade Panthaki, Rhianna Cockrell, Thomas Cooley, and Paul Max Tipton. In addition to Early Music America's preview of the performance, San Francisco Classical Voice's Janos Gereben sat down with Nic to discuss his affinity for Bach's choral music — and the B Minor Mass in particular. 

"I first played the B Minor Mass nearly 50 years ago under Roger Norrington at the Utrecht Festival in the Netherlands," Nic tells Gereben. "It is a work that never fails to amaze me. The range of musical styles ... is truly astonishing. … For me, it is a joy and a great privilege once again to conduct this glorious masterpiece."

Spending time in St. Louis with Beethoven, Mendelssohn — and Goethe

This month also brought Nic back to Missouri to lead the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in a program inspired by one of Germany's greatest writers, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. From the stormy first chord of Beethoven's Overture to Egmont to the final moments of the radiant chorale that brings Mendelssohn's cantata The First Walpurgis Night to a close, musicians and audiences alike were thrilled by the ways these musical masterpieces speak to the ideas of liberty and resilience Goethe championed.

Revisiting Nic's recordings of Mozart with Gil Shaham and Zsolt Kalló

With warm breezes on the horizon and flowers beginning to bloom, spring is the perfect time of year to spend with Mozart's sunniest works.

If you're in the mood for the delicate playfulness of the composer's violin concertos, be sure to give Nic's recording with the SWR Symphonie Orchester and the fabulous Gil Shaham a spin.

And if you're looking to create more of a party atmosphere, be sure to turn to a pair of Mozart's delightful serenades performed on period instruments. Featuring Nic leading the Capella Savaria — where he is principal guest conductor — and solo violinist Zsolt Kalló, this album beautifully evokes the opulent grandeur of court life in 18th-century Vienna.

Coming up this summer …

• Aspen Music Festival
  Aspen Chamber Symphony (July 7)

• Aspen Music Festival
  A Baroque Evening with Nicholas McGegan (July 13)

• Blossom Music Festival
  The Cleveland Orchestra (August 12)

• Hollywood Bowl
  Los Angeles Philharmonic (September 5)