Bach in the City: Inaugural Concert

Friday, March 21, 2025 | 7:30 PM

St. Vincent de Paul Church, Chicago

Ticket Pricing:

• General Admission: $30

• Senior Admission (65+): $25

• Student Admissions (with valid ID): $10

• VIP Admission (Reserved seating + limited edition Bach in the City tote bag): $45

✥ Free parking will be available in the parking lot behind the church and also at Clifton Parking Deck (2330 N. Clifton) or the Sheffield Parking Deck (2331 N. Sheffield) with validated vouchers that will be handed out at the concert! ✥

Program

Performers

Gaudete Brass
Bach in the City Chorus
Jacob Reed, organ
Nomin Zolzaya, cello
Ian Hallas, contrabass
Richard Webster, conductor

Get to know our Artists!

Jacob Reed

Jacob is Renate M. Thilenius Memorial Scholar in Piano and Organ at the University of Chicago’s Rockefeller Memorial Chapel and Lecturer in Harpsichord at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He plays basso continuo on organ and harpsichord with the Newberry Consort, Haymarket Opera, Bella Voce, and other ensembles across the Chicagoland area.

In 2023–24, Jacob performed Bach at Bond, a weekly series presenting the complete organ works of J.S. Bach following the liturgical calendar. The previous year, he performed the complete organ works of César Franck.

Jacob received a simultaneous BA/MA in music (double-major in mathematics) from Yale, where he studied organ with Thomas Murray and harpsichord with Arthur Haas. He then graduated with an MM in organ performance from Yale’s School of Music/Institute of Sacred Music, studying with Martin Jean and serving as Organ Scholar at Grace Church in New York City. He was awarded the ISM's 2018 Robert Baker Scholarship and the YSM's 2019 Julia R. Sherman Memorial Prize for excellence in
organ playing.

In addition to organ recitals across the U.S., Canada, and Europe, Jacob has performed widely on other keyboards, including as artist-in-residence on organ and piano at the Uncommon Music Festival in Sitka, Alaska. A piano accompanist for the Yale Opera Program, he also played in the Yale Temperament Viol Consort and harpsichord continuo for the Yale Baroque Opera Project.

Jacob received the 2023 Cathy Heifetz Memorial Award from the University of Chicago, where he is a PhD candidate in Music Theory and History and a Neubauer Family Distinguished Doctoral Fellow. jacobreedorgan.com

Nomin Zolzaya, Cello

Nomin Zolzaya is a Mongolian cellist based in Chicago, Illinois. Since 2019, Nomin has served as the Principal Cellist of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, substitute cellist at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, regularly performing as both a soloist and chamber musician with her fellow orchestra members.

Passionate about non-classical and classical music alike, Nomin has collaborated with renowned artists and bands including Renée Fleming, Ben Folds, Midori Goto, and Mannheim Streamroller. As a previous member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago from 2017-2018, Nomin performed alongside musicians including Yo-Yo Ma, Jaap van Zweden, and Christoph Eschenbach.  

Born in Arkhangai, Mongolia, Nomin’s transition from a nomadic Mongolian lifestyle to the United States was recently chronicled in season two of PBS’s Classical Behind The Scenes. The daughter of a violinist, her love for cello began at age five while developing her talents at the Music and Dance College in Mongolia. During her upbringing, she won top prizes at major competitions including the Mongolian International Music Competition and the International Heran Violoncello Competition in the Czech Republic.

Following her immigration to the United States at age sixteen, Nomin continued competing and collaborating with her peers, receiving prizes from esteemed competitions including the Rising Stars Concerto Competition. In 2012, her string quartet, the Camerton String Quartet, won first prize at the Discover National Chamber Music Competition and was featured on NPR’s “From the Top” radio program, hosted by Christopher O’Reilly. 

Nomin received her Performer’s Diploma from Southern Methodist University in 2014, studying under Andrés Díaz, her Bachelor’s Degree at the Eastman School of Music in 2017, studying under Steven Doane and Rosemary Elliott, and her Master’s Degree at the DePaul School of Music in 2019, studying under Brant Taylor.

Ian Hallas, ContraBass

 Ian Hallas joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in the summer of 2023 after auditioning for Music Director Emeritus for Life Riccardo Muti. He previously held principal positions in both the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Santa Fe Opera. He holds a bachelor’s degree with distinction in research and creativity from Rice University and a master’s degree from the University of Southern California. His principal teachers include Paul Ellison and David Allen Moore.

Hallas has performed with many of the top orchestras around the country. He is an award-winning fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, being recognized with TMC’s prestigious Maurice Schwartz Prize in 2013. He was an invited guest chamber musician at the Spoleto Festival USA, where he performed with the St. Lawrence Quartet and members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Other festivals he has attended include the Aspen Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, and Domaine Forget Summer Music Academy. 

As an educator, Ian serves on the faculty of Northwestern’s Bienen School of Music and maintains a private studio out of Evanston, where he lives with his family. He has previously taught at the National Music Festival and the National Orchestral Institute. 

About Gaudete Brass

Gaudete is made up of five musicians who believe strongly in the expressive and communicative power of brass chamber music. Since 2004 the quintet has engaged in creatively expanding the brass quintet repertoire, developing unique programs that have resonated with chamber music audiences all over the country. 

The group has engaged in live performances at venues such as Symphony Space and Merkin Hall in New York City and Millennium Park in Chicago, commissioned new works from noted composers such as Stacy Garrop, David Sampson, Jonathan Newman, Kile Smith, John Mackey, and Alice Jones, and appeared on radio broadcasts on WFMT in Chicago, WQXR in New York, and Nashville Public Radio. In the 2020-2021 season Gaudete received a grant from Chamber Music America for a series of online concerts broadcast live from our homes using the open source software Jacktrip. 

Gaudete has also presented educational programs and concerts at prominent institutions including The Juilliard School and the Eastman School of Music, community outreach concerts for the Quad City Arts and the Virginia Arts Festival, and has enjoyed multi-year ensemble-in-residence positions at Carthage College and Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts. 

While keeping this rigorous performance schedule, Gaudete has recorded four albums: Brass Outings (2006), winner of the CDBaby Editors’ Choice distinction and nominee for Just Plain Folks Best Classical Chamber Album; Conversations in Time with organist R. Benjamin Dobey (2011, Pro Organa); Chicago Moves, produced by Grammy winner Judith Sherman and featuring several of its commissioned works (2012, Cedille Records) and sevenfive (2017, Cedille Records) featuring five new works commissioned for Chicago’s John Corigliano 75th birthday festival. 

Gaudete (gow-day-tay) is a form of the Latin word for “Joy.” We support the idea that chamber music, even (and perhaps especially) the serious kind, can powerfully communicate both the poignant and the exuberant. To learn more about the Gaudete Brass, please visit www.gaudetebrass.com.