In their most ambitious season to date, the Sebastians' 2018-19 concert series spans works for single instruments performed in intimate settings to collaborations in large-scale choral masterworks from the baroque era.

SPOTLIGHT ON THE VIOLIN
The violin is at the heart of four of the Sebastians' six programs during the 2018-19 season which opens on Saturday, October 20, 2018, with Venice to Rome, a celebration of the two foremost Italian hubs of baroque music featuring sonatas and trio sonatas by composers hailing from those vibrant cultural centers. The Sebastians' founding director Daniel S. Lee and Nicholas DiEugenio are joined by artistic director, harpsichordist Jeffrey Grossman and cellist Eric Seltzer in some of the earliest examples of the trio sonata by Dario Castello and Giovanni Picchi, solo sonatas by Arcangelo Corelli and Giovanni Battista Fontana, dance music by Giuseppe Colombi and Tarquinio Merula, and a tribute to Corelli by François Couperin.

On Saturday, November 10, 2018, the Sebastians pay homage to their namesake, with Daniel S. Lee and Jeffrey Grossman performing the complete Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord by Johann Sebastian Bach, a trailblazing set of six works that elevated the harpsichord to a role equal that of the violin. A sequel of sorts occurs on Saturday, February 23, 2019, when Nicholas DiEugenio and Jeffrey Grossman perform J. S. Bach's complete works for violin and continuo, Two Sonatas, BWV 1021 and BWV 1023, and Fugue, BWV 1026, alongside works by Bach's contemporaries.

The variety and virtuosity of the violin is on display on Tuesday, May 7, 2019, when combinations of one, two, three and four violins complement each other in The Art of the Violin, performing solos, duos and concerti grossi by the Baroque era's most eminent composers including J. S. Bach, Arcangelo Corelli, François Couperin, George Frideric Handel, Pietro Antonio Locatelli and Georg Philipp Telemann.

CHORAL MASTERWORKS
On Wednesday and Thursday, December 19 and 20, 2018, for the first time the Sebastians put their personal stamp on one of the greatest Baroque oratorios, Handel's Messiah. In collaboration with TENET Vocal Artists and with Jeffrey Grossman directing from the organ and harpsichord, this unique, conductorless take on the time-honored masterwork will combine a chorus of 12 vocalists with an ensemble of 15 instrumentalists in order to emphasize Messiah's contrapuntal textures and intimacy as well as the work's majestic moments using the full combined forces.

The Sebastians' first collaboration with TENET Vocal Artists was an April 2017 performance of J. S. Bach's St. John Passion that was singled out by The New York Times as "riveting ... compelling ... stellar." The ensembles' second collaboration of the 2018-19 season, on Thursday and Friday, March 28 and 29, 2019, is a Lenten-time performance of J. S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion. Like the St. John Passion and Messiah, the work will be performed without a conductor and directed from the chamber organ by the Sebastians' music director Jeffrey Grossman.

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For further information about the Sebastians please visit https://www.sebastians.org

For further information, image or interview requests please contact Melanne Mueller, MusicCo International, +1 917 907 2785, melanne@musiccointernational.com

THE SEBASTIANS
2018-19 SEASON

Venice to Rome: Solo and Trio Sonatas by Venetian and Roman composers, celebrating the two most important Italian centers of baroque music
Saturday, October 20, 2018 - 7:30 pm
Program to include:
Giovanni Battista Fontana (1589 - 1630) Sonata seconda (Venice, 1641)
Dario Castello (1590 - 1658) Sonata decima, from Sonate Concertante in Stil Moderno, Libro II (Venice, 1621)
Johann Jakob Froberger (1616 - 1667) Toccata for harpsichord (Vienna, 1649)
Giovanni Picchi (1571 - 1643) Canzon prima (Venice, 1625)
Giuseppe Colombi (1635 - 1694) Bergamesca (Modena)
Tarquinio Merula (1595 - 1665) Ballo detto Pollicio / Chiaccona
Arcangelo Corelli (1653 - 1713)
Sonata in G Minor, Op. 5, No. 5 for violin and continuo (Rome, 1700)
Trio Sonata in D Major, Op. 3, No. 2 (Rome, 1689)
François Couperin (1668 - 1733) Le Parnasse ou l'Apothéose de Corelli (Paris, 1724)

Daniel S. Lee, Nicholas DiEugenio violins
Ezra Seltzer cello
Jeffrey Grossman harpsichord

Good Shepherd-Faith Presbyterian Church
152 West 66th Street (between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue)
New York, NY 10023

Bach: The Complete Violin and Harpsichord
Saturday, November 10, 2018 - 3:00 pm
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750)
Sonata for violin and harpsichord in B Minor, BWV 1014
Sonata for violin and harpsichord in A Major, BWV 1015
Sonata for violin and harpsichord in E Major, BWV 1016
Sonata for violin and harpsichord in C Minor, BWV 1017
Sonata for violin and harpsichord in F Minor, BWV 1018
Sonata for violin and harpsichord in G Major, BWV 1019

Daniel S. Lee violin
Jeffrey Grossman harpsichord

Venue tba

Handel's Messiah
Wednesday, December 19, 2018 - 7:30 pm
Thursday, December 20, 2018 - 7:30 pm

Jeffrey Grossman music director
Jolle Greenleaf artistic director

TENET Vocal Artists
Jolle Greenleaf, Margot Rood, Molly Quinn sopranos
Doug Dodson, Helen Karloski, Elisa Sutherland altos
Stephen Sands, Aaron Sheehan, Gene Stenger tenors
Mischa Bouvier, Charles Wesley Evans, and Sumner Thompson basses

the Sebastians
Daniel S. Lee, Edson Scheid, Chloe Fedor, Francis Liu, Katie Hyun violins
Jessica Troy viola
Ezra Seltzer cello
Wen Yang bass
Meg Owens, Caroline Giassi oboes
John Thiessen, Steven Marquand trumpets
Mike Compitello timpani
Jeffrey Grossman organ

Church of St. Vincent Ferrer
869 Lexington Avenue (between 65th and 66th Streets)
New York, NY 10065

Bach: The Complete Violin and Continuo
Saturday, February 23, 2019 - 7:30 pm
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750)
Sonata for violin and continuo in G Major, BWV 1021
Sonata for violin and continuo in E Minor, BWV 1023
Fugue for violin and continuo in G Minor, BWV 1026

Nicholas DiEugenio violin
Jeffrey Grossman harpsichord

Good Shepherd-Faith Presbyterian Church
152 West 66th Street (between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue)
New York, NY 10023

Johann Sebastian Bach's St. Matthew Passion
Thursday, March 28, 2019 - 7:00 pm
Friday, March 29, 2019 - 7:00 pm

Jeffrey Grossman music director
Jolle Greenleaf artistic director

TENET Vocal Artists
Aaron Sheehan tenor - Evangelist
Tyler Duncan bass - Jesus
Jolle Greenleaf, Teresa Wakim sopranos
Doug Dodson, Virginia Warnken Kelsey altos
Jason McStoots, Gene Stenger tenors
Charles Wesley Evans, Sumner Thompson basses

the Sebastians
Daniel S. Lee, Alana Youssefian, Chloe Fedor, Beth Wenstrom, Augusta McKay Lodge, Nicholas DiEugenio, Karen Dekker, Francis Liu, Tatiana Daubek, Toma Iliev violins
Jessica Troy, Stephen Goist, Lisa Rautenberg, Dongmyung Ahn violas
Ezra Seltzer, Shirley Hunt cellos
Shirley Hunt viola da gamba
Wen Yang, Nathaniel Chase contrabasses
David Ross, Andrea LeBlanc, Immanuel Davis, Mili Chang flutes
Gonzalo X. Ruiz, Kristin Olson, Caroline Giassi, Julie Brye oboes
Jeffrey Grossman organ

St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Chelsea
246 West 20th Street (between Seventh and Eighth Avenues)
New York, NY 10011

The Art of the Violin
Tuesday, May 9, 2019 - 7:30 pm
Works by
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750)
Arcangelo Corelli (1653 - 1713)
François Couperin (1668 - 1733)
Jean-Pierre Guignon (1702 - 1774)
George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759)
Pietro Antonio Locatelli (1695 - 1764)
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681 - 1767)

Daniel S. Lee, Nicholas DiEugenio, Edson Scheid violins
Jessica Troy viola
Ezra Seltzer cello
Jeffrey Grossman harpsichord

Good Shepherd-Faith Presbyterian Church
152 West 66th Street (between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue)
New York, NY 10023

ABOUT THE SEBASTIANS
The Sebastians (www.sebastians.org) are a dynamic and vital musical ensemble specializing in music of the baroque and classical eras. Lauded as "everywhere sharp-edged and engaging" (The New York Times), the Sebastians have also been praised for their "well-thought-out articulation and phrasing" (Early Music Review) and "elegant string playing ... immaculate in tuning and balance" (Early Music Today). I Care If You Listen praised the ensemble's "beautifully-nuanced playing and thoughtful expressivity" in their début album, calling the recording a "technical and timbral tour-de-force."

Winners of the Audience Prize at the 2012 Early Music America Baroque Performance Competition, the Sebastians were also finalists in the 2011 York International Early Music Competition and the 2011 Early Music America/Naxos Recording Competition. They have participated in the Carnegie Hall Professional Training Workshop with L'Arpeggiata, and have performed at Music Matters (LaGrua Center in Stonington, Connecticut), Friends of Music at Pequot Library (Southport, CT), St. John's Episcopal Church (Tulsa, OK), Juilliard in Aiken (SC), in the Twelfth Night Festival and Concerts@One at Trinity Wall Street (New York City), Early Music in Columbus (Ohio), the Renaissance and Baroque Society of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), and Houston Early Music (Texas). The Sebastians frequently collaborate with the vocal ensemble TENET, including recent, critically acclaimed performances of Bach's St. John Passion.

The Sebastians début recording, Night Scenes from the Ospedale (January 2015), pairs Vivaldi concerti from L'Estro Armonico with newly composed interludes by Robert Honstein. I Care If You Listen praised the "beautifully-nuanced playing and thoughtful expressivity" in the recording, calling the album a "technical and timbral tour-de-force." The group's second recording, the Sebastians a 2: Virtuoso Music of the Holy Roman Empire (September 2015), explores the rich baroque repertoire of music for violin and harpsichord written by composers from modern-day Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic. Scheduled for release in the autumn of 2018 is a new release of trio sonatas and vocal works by Corelli, Colista, Handel, and Vivaldi, with soprano Awet Andemicael.