KONTRAPUNKTUS returns this August with five summer performances of its longest, most ambitious production yet, “BACH & TELEMANN: Collegium Musicum.” This season also marks the long awaited return of soloist, Aubree Oliverson, who headlined last March at SOKA for the Pacific Symphony and currently resides in Berlin, Germany, where she is making a name for herself in Europe as one of the most promising young soloists in all classical music.
Even though Leipzig did not enjoy the same illustrious reputation of Dresden, Venice, Paris, or Vienna during the Baroque era, it was a burgeoning musical scene that would eventually be recognized over time because of two composers who started and continued a tradition of performing music for the benefit of its townsfolk. These two composers were none other than Georg Philipp Telemann and Johann Sebastian Bach. And this orchestra that performed under their direction would come to be known as Collegium Musicum.
Telemann, who at the time was the most famous composer in Europe, would later recall, "This collegium, despite the fact that it consisted mainly of university students, could be listened to with great appreciation and pleasure." For his part, Bach wrote some of his most beloved violin concertos for the collegium when he began performing in earnest with the orchestra in 1729.
Incidentally, Telemann and Bach were dear friends and fostered a mutual respect for each other's ingenious ability as composers. The Collegium Musicum became a creative outlet for each to musically express the inspiration they drew from the distinctive styles of their European contemporaries, and the result of some of these works have stood the test of time.