Kendra Colton has been singing Bach cantatas on a weekly basis for more than twenty years in Boston with oboist Peggy Pearson and Emmanuel Music. After decades of performances it was time to record the repertoire that has been a regular part of their professional careers. Reviews from The New York Times have said that Ms. Colton “sang radiantly and vividly” and that her Bach was “touchingly musical”. Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe referred to Ms. Colton as an “imaginative musician” and that “Peggy Pearson has probably played more Bach than any other oboist of her generation; this is music she plays in a state of eloquent grace.” BWV 202 “The Wedding Cantata” (Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten – Dissipate, You Troublesome Shadows) is for solo soprano with each aria featuring different instrumentalists. The opening soprano aria is set with evaporating strings supporting the beautiful, long arching phrases of the solo oboe obbligato. A brief recitative is followed by a romping aria with solo cello. The cantata continues with another short recitative followed by an aria with solo violin that speaks of love’s nighttime stealth. There is another quick recitative and then a delightful aria with solo oboe. The cantata closes with a final recitative and a very elegant Gavotte with soprano, strings and oboe. BWV 32 (Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen – Dearest Jesus, My Desire) is a so called “Dialogue Cantata” that features Jesus, a baritone, and the Soul, a soprano. The cantata opens with wafting, ascending chords in the strings and poignant lines interweaving in the soprano and solo oboe parts. The baritone, Jesus, enters with a very short recitative followed by a comforting aria with solo violin. The next movement is an accompanied recitative for Jesus and the Soul who sings an awe-inspired, soaring line over pulsing strings midway through the dialogue. The fourth movement is a lively duet for Jesus and the Soul and the cantata closes with a simple four-part chorale. BWV 84 (Ich bin vergnügt mit meinem Glücke – I Am Content with My Fortune) is a solo soprano cantata for strings and oboe. The resigned and contented opening soprano aria features a solo oboe obbligato with strings. The second movement is a long secco recitative that is followed by a yodeling aria for soprano with a bubbling duet for solo violin and solo oboe. A string accompanied recitative precedes the closing four-part chorale that summarizes the cantata’s theme of contentment with one’s lot. Translations and program notes for the cantata texts can be found at on the Emmanuel Music website. Kendra Colton, soprano solo Thea Lobo, mezzo-soprano Matthew Anderson, tenor Sumner Thompson, baritone solo Peggy Pearson, oboe solo Heather Braun, violin solo Heidi Braun-Hill, violin solo Rafael Popper-Keizer, cello solo Michael Beattie, organ Ryan Turner, conductor of Emmanuel Music violins: Sarah Atwood, Colin Davis, Rose Drucker, Randy Hiller, Dianne Pettipaw, Guiomar Turgeon, Lena Wong, violas: Mark Berger, Anne Black, Joan Ellersick, double bass: Randall Zigler bassoon: Tom Stephenson Recording engineer: Tom Stephenson Producer: Frank Kelley Venue: Emmanuel Church, Boston, MA Kendra Colton is a versatile singer who enjoys a career of great variety. Described by Opera News as a soprano who sings "with beauty, brightness and poise", she has been soloist with leading orchestras including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Houston Symphony, National Symphony, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa under conductors including Bernard Haitink, Sir Neville Marriner, Nicholas McGegan, John Nelson, Seiji Ozawa, Helmuth Rilling, Christopher Hogwood, Harry Bicket, Pinchas Zuckerman, and Bruno Weil. Particularly sought-after for Baroque and Classical repertoire, Miss Colton has sung nearly all the 200+ Cantatas of Bach in addition to the Passions and Masses; Handel oratorios and operas including Acis and Galatea, Admeto, Alexander’s Feast, Ariodante, Israel in Egypt, Judas Maccabaeus, Messiah, Ode to St. Cecilia, Solomon, Saul, Susanna, Orlando, Terpsicore, Tolomeo, and The Triumph of Time and Truth; Mozart concert arias and masses, Exsultate Jubilate, Mass in C minor, Coronation Mass, Requiem, the role of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Servilia in La Clemenza di Tito, and Aminta in Il Re Pastore; and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Creation, and Seasons. In addition to Symphony and appearances she performs regularly with modern and period- instrument orchestras which specialize in this repertoire including the Handel & Haydn Society in Boston, Washington Bach Consort, Music of the Baroque in Chicago, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Bethlehem Bach Society, the Carmel Bach Festival and many others. Miss Colton has also been praised for her performances of later repertoire, including concert works of Barber, Berg, Brahms, Canteloube, Fauré, Mahler, Orff, Poulenc, Richard Strauss, and Vaughan-Williams. Among her recordings are the title role in Lukas Foss’ Griffelkin with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and three solo CD’s of art songs. He Brought Me Roses - 25 songs by Joseph Marx; Le Charme - a collection of French art songs by Fauré, Debussy, Chausson, and Poulenc; and The Reckless Heart - a collections of songs by Barber, Britten, Gurney, and Vores which is available on the Oberlin Music label. Another recent release that features both Ms. Colton and Ms. Pearson is John Harbison’s Crossroads for soprano, oboe, and strings. It is available on the Winsor Music website. In addition to her performing career Ms. Colton teaches at Oberlin College Conservatory. She also teaches at the Bach Institute in Boston during January which is a collaboration between Emmanuel Music, Winsor Music and Oberlin College. On a completely different note, Ms. Colton has a personal goal of visiting all of the National Parks in the United States. Oboist Peggy Pearson is a winner of the Pope Foundation Award for Outstanding Accomplishment in Music. Lloyd Schwartz, who received the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism, called her “my favorite living oboist.” Peggy has performed solo, chamber, and orchestral music throughout the United States and abroad. She is solo oboist with the Emmanuel Chamber Orchestra, an organization that has performed all of the cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach. She is also a member of the Bach Aria Group.  According to Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe, “Peggy Pearson has probably played more Bach than any other oboist of her generation; this is music she plays in a state of eloquent grace.” Ms. Pearson is the founding director of, and oboist with, Winsor Music, Inc., and also a founding member of the chamber group La Fenice.  She has toured internationally and recorded extensively with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and has appeared with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s as principal oboist, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and Music from Marlboro.  In addition to her freelance and chamber music activities, Peggy Pearson has been an active exponent of contemporary music. She was a fellow of the Radcliffe Institute in contemporary music, and has premiered numerous works, many of which were written specifically for her. As artistic director of Winsor Music, Inc., Ms. Pearson organized the Winsor Music Consortium (a project to commission works for oboe) and has premiered over 20 works in her chamber music series.  She has been on the faculties at Songfest, the Tanglewood Music Center (Bach Institute), Boston Conservatory, MIT, the Conservatory of Music (University of Cincinnati), Wellesley College, the Composers Conference at Wellesley College and the Longy School of Music of Bard College.  She is currently on the faculty of the Bach Institute, a collaboration between Winsor Music, Emmanuel Music and Oberlin College.