Bach Concert

Friday, February 26, 2010 - 8PM
Our Lady of Guadalupe Church
3900 Wisconsin Street
Anchorage

Saturday, February 27, 2010 - 8PM
St. Andrew Church
16300 Domain Lane
Eagle River

Douglas Schneider, organist



ACS continues its celebrated Bach series, featuring the jubilant motet for double chorus, Singet dem Herrn, BWV 225; the profound Easter cantata Christ lag in Todesbanden, BWV 4; and virtuosic solo organ works performed by guest artist Douglas Schneider.

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Douglas Carl Schneider is the Organist at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Portland, Oregon. He previously was the Assistant Organist/Conductor at Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral, having also served as the Organist/Director of Music at Chicago’s St. Alphonsus Church. He has performed as an organ soloist across the country, as well as with many ensembles, including the Portland Symphonic Choir, the Portland Chamber Orchestra, and the vocal ensemble Seraphim. He has collaborated with the renowned Cantores in Ecclesia in dozens of performances of the major choral works in a liturgical setting, including the two-organ Langlais Messe Solennelle with Westminster Abbey organist James O’Donnell. A specialist in early music, Mr. Schneider performs the complete Bach organ works. Mr. Schneider has appeared as harpsichordist at Bach Week in Evanston and with the gamba ensemble Second City Music on WFMT. He is a founder of and harpsichordist/organist with the chamber ensemble Urban Baroque. He has conducted, often from the harpsichord, many baroque operatic and oratorio works with various ensembles. With degrees from Lawrence University, Mr. Schneider’s teachers include Sal Soria, Principal Organist at the Cathedral of the Angels in Los Angeles, and Olivier Beaumont, teacher of harpsichord at the Paris Conservatoire.

Mr. Schneider teaches organ and is also the principal opera coach at Portland State University, previously having served as staff accompanist at Northwestern and DePaul Universities. He has worked as principal accompanist and coach for Portland Opera, Chicago Opera Theatre, Da Corneto Opera and Bowen Park Opera. He has coached over forty operatic productions, ranging from the Baroque to Mozart to Puccini, Verdi and twentieth century opera. He has performed over a thousand recitals as an accompanist, including collaborations with all the major instruments and voice. Sherrill Milnes, George Shirley, Steven Jordheim, Richard Zeller and Patrice Michaels are among the world-renowned musicians Mr. Schneider has accompanied in recital. Mr. Schneider records for GIA and OCP recordings, and also can be heard on the compact disc recording American Breath with saxophonist Russell Peterson. An unusually versatile musician, Mr. Schneider rounds out his role at Portland State University by teaching classical saxophone.