The 2026 Fall season is a bittersweet time for Utah Baroque Ensemble as we say goodbye to our beloved founding director, Martha Sargent, who, after 40 remarkable years, will be transitioning to a well-deserved retirement.
To mark this historic event, the choir is preparing an especially ambitious farewell concert program, to be performed in two engaging musical venues: Provo Community Church and the Cathedral Church of St. Mark in Salt Lake City.
As always, works by Johann Sebastian Bach will make up a central portion of the program, and what more appropriate choice for this concert than a work that was performed in the choir’s very first concert all the way back in 1987? Sanctus in D Major is one of Bach’s most venerated works.
We will also perform Magnificat in D Major, which, although lesser known, is especially appropriate for this concert, since Bach wrote it for performance at Christmas, and the version we are presenting has four extra movements Bach added to the traditional Magnificat text—particularly for presentation at Christmas. Instrumental accompaniment for these works will be expanded beyond our usual string ensemble, to include brass and woodwinds. Add to that, five outstanding soloists!
Also included in these concerts will be a potpourri of favorite carols and Christmas anthems from previous years. The choir has included a setting of “O Magnum Mysterium,” describing the great mystery of the birth of the Son of God, in nearly every Christmas program. This time, it is written by contemporary Venezuelan composer/conductor César Alejandro Carrillo.
The Provo Community Church Concert will be held on Sunday, November 15th at 7:30 pm, located at 175 N. University Avenue.
The concert at St. Mark’s Cathedral, 231 East First South in Salt Lake City, will be held at 7:30 pm on Sunday, November 22nd.
Also coming up is our eagerly anticipated annual Christmas Sing Along at Orem Library Hall at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, December 1. Please join us afterwards for a farewell reception for our conductor, Martha Sargent.