COmpass REsonance: JOURNEY OF A THOUSAND PIPES featuring Christopher Holman

TICKETS

This concert takes place at Grace Commons Church: 1820 15th Street, Boulder, CO

Pre-concert lecture by the artist: in the Grace Commons Chapel at 6:30PM.

Performance: in the Grace Commons Sanctuary at 7:30PM.

Christopher Holman, Oxford Scholar and top prize recipient of the Albert Schweitzer International Organ Competition performs a solo recital presented by COmpass REsonance. This program traces the remarkable legacy of the Bach family through works for the organ, from Johann Sebastian Bach’s dramatic Prelude and Fugue in B Minor to Johann Christian Bach’s playful transcription of Joseph Haydn’s “Imperial” Symphony. Performed on the tracker organ at Grace Commons Church — an entirely mechanical instrument whose keys are directly linked to the pipes — the music speaks with exceptional clarity, with every nuance of touch shaping the sound. The result is a vivid portrait of a musical family whose influence continues to resonate across centuries.

Program:
Symphony No. 53 in D Major “Imperial” by Joseph Haydn (1732–1809), arranged for solo organ by Johann Christian Bach (1735–1782)
An Wasserflüssen Babylon, BWV 653 by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Sonata in G Major, Op. 5, No. 3 by Johann Christian Bach (1735–1782)
Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, BWV Anh. 745 by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–1788)
O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß, BWV 622 by J.S. Bach
Prelude and Fugue in B Minor, BWV 544 by J.S. Bach

Approximate run time: 65 minutes performed without intermission

After completing extensive graduate musicological and performance work at Basel’s famed Schola Cantorum, Christopher Holman completed a PhD at Oxford, where he directed ensembles and served as Lecturer. His solo organ performances have taken him across the planet, playing historic and modern organs in every context: from basso continuo to the large solo works of Olivier Messiaen at the world’s great cathedrals. Dr. Holman has given lectures at University of Oxford, Université Sorbonne in Paris, Eastman School of Music, and Trinity College Dublin, and currently serves as Director of Music at St. Gertrude’s Cathedral in Cincinnati. He performed as continuo keyboardist in the 2022 Boulder Bach Festival recording (on the Sono Luminus label) and has collaborated with COmpass REsonance in performances of dozens of composers, from 1600 onward.

CORE’s Music Director and Dr. Holman have been friends and colleagues for nearly twenty years, having performed across the United States together in duo recitals, chamber music, and larger ensemble contexts, on period and modern instruments. CORE is thrilled to offer this lecture and solo recital as the center-point of our 2026/27 season, with two orchestra concerts preceding it and two following it. This recital in context with the entire season points to CORE’s roots as a Bach festival and ongoing commitment to performance practices across time and cultures, navigating the waters of music history with Bach as our compass.