The late, great Linda Burman-Hall, Santa Cruz Baroque Festival’s founder and redhaired harpsichordist-in-chief, is a hard act to follow. But the 50-year-old festival has found its next leader in the form of exuberant German organist Jörg Reddin.
Reddin, guest director and performer for last season’s SCBF, is by any reckoning a musical virtuoso. As at home with intricate vocal work as he is surfing organ pedals at Olympic speed, Reddin is resident concert master at Bach’s former digs in Altstadt, Germany, and officially takes the directorial reins this weekend as the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival opens its 52nd season.
Channeling his inner Baroque muse, Reddin has designed a multi-concert program, Rendezvous with the Romantics, in which the works of Baroque masters (think J.S. Bach) will explore the styles, themes and melodic innovations that influenced later Romantic composers such as Schubert and Brahms.
If you think you’re not ready for pre-electronic music, you’re in for a mind-bending shock. Reddin works the pedals of the organ like a man possessed, creating a sonic landscape almost unthinkable in volume and beauty.
Reddin was captivated by Santa Cruz the minute he arrived last year. “It was so exciting for me,” he said in a recent Zoom interview. “Germans are so earnest, and here people are more open and relaxed, I can try out my musical ideas.”
Reddin, whose bass-baritone vocals will also be featured in the upcoming concerts, is impressed with the expertise of local music groups, especially the work of the Santa Cruz Chorale, with whom he occasionally rehearses.
When pressed, Reddin diplomatically refused to choose a favorite between singing and playing the organ: “With my singer’s heart I try to bring the sound of singing to the organ.” The virtuoso says he gained his astonishing keyboard abilities starting at the age of 15. “I learned good technique in the early years, and now I can focus on turning that into living music.”
Keeping up a monster professional schedule in Germany, Reddin plays church services in Altstadt on Sundays, and on Mondays rehearses his 40-voice Bach Choir, plus a smaller cantata choir with 16 top singers. He presents four cantata projects each year, and works with children weekly and seniors twice a month. But that’s not all. “In the summer I have up to 40 to 50 tourist groups for whom I do private guided tours in the Bach Church—Bach tourists from all over the world.”
Why is Baroque music relevant in the 21st century? “I think the world has something like a memory,” Reddin maintains, “and everything that once sounded continues through the generations. The traditional compositions exist as a legacy, and being committed to this heritage is a great honor. That’s what Christian Grube, Sheila Willey, Vlada Moran, Mickey McGushin and many others do in Santa Cruz.” Reddin counts himself one of those, believing that “it is a blessing for the Santa Cruz area that Linda Burman-Hall created a sensitivity for this era with her dedication and love for Baroque music.”
Here’s where the past meets the present. Starting Jan. 26, the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival plunges into four concerts of rare keyboard and vocal compositions displaying the crossover from Baroque to Romantic music.
“Baroque music is characterized by a clear structure,” the maestro says, “with a lot of counterpoint. This means that a melody has a quasi-countermelody and they unite again and again. In Romanticism, the music opens up with more freedom; emotion unfurls even more.” Reddin’s programming has been carefully designed to make clear to the listener “that the difference is not so big, and that Romantic music would not exist without the Baroque.”
Concert I will comprise Baroque organ masterworks performed by Artistic Director Reddin on the pipe organ set against the glow of candlelight at Holy Cross Church. Guest artists will join maestro Reddin for some outstanding examples of 17th-century musical thinking. Reddin is especially excited about the second program on Feb. 2, which has been programmed for a bit of fun. Two of J.S. Bach’s most well-loved cantatas, the Coffee Cantata and Cantata Burlesque, will be performed in a pop-up café setting in Holy Cross Church Hall. “The audience can drink coffee first, and then afterwards have some beer,” the Altstadt Church organist chuckles. Joining Reddin, who will be singing bass-baritone, are soprano Jennifer Paulino, harpsichordist Jonathan Salzado and the Baroque Festival Strings and Winds.
On Feb. 15, chamber music takes center stage with maestro Reddin on the Peace United Church organ, joined by violinist Shannon D’Antonio and cellist Judy Roberts. This unusual chamber concert explores works by Bach, Corelli and Vivaldi, as well as Romantic creations from Saint-Saens, Grieg and Rheinberger.
The March 1 finale to this year’s Baroque Festival provides a chance to savor the full range of Reddin’s musical dexterity. He will perform both as organist and vocalist, accompanied by the UCSC Chamber Singers led by Michael McGushin. The Bay Area’s premier early music choir, Women’s Antique Vocal Ensemble (WAVE), directed by Susan Swerdlow, will perform very early music by Guerrero and Schein, among others.
Reddin admits he’s excited about his return to Santa Cruz, now in his official capacity as music director. “The first time I came last year was difficult, with visas and paperwork, but it is a good break from my duties here in Germany.”
The chance to spend time in California, with new musical colleagues and venues, is something of a sabbatical for the man whose busy schedule has him leading choirs and performing as resident organist for various German churches. While this European master is in town, Santa Cruzans have an opportunity to go for Baroque in a big way. And we predict they’ll never look back.
Santa Cruz Baroque Festival
Jan. 26, 7:30pm—Holy Cross Church
Feb. 2, 2pm refreshments; 3pm concert—Holy Cross Church Hall
Feb. 15, 4pm—Peace United Church
March 1, 4pm—Peace United Church
Tickets: SCBaroque.org
