DOUBLE HEADER
J.S. Bach, Buxtehude, J. Christoph Bach, and Zelenka
Julie Andrijeski | Director and Concertmaster
in collaboration with
Kinnara, J.D. Burnett | Artistic Director
7:30pm, March 3rd | Peachtree Road United Methodist, Atlanta
3:00pm, March 4th | Roswell Presbyterian Church, Roswell
3:00pm, March 5th | Lassiter Concert Hall, Marietta
The ABO welcomes a vibrant new team to Atlanta! Recently relocated from Princeton, New Jersey, Kinnara, a “breathtakingly beautiful” (ArtsATL) professional chamber choir, joins the ABO in a program featuring contemplative yet powerful music for strings, winds, and voices. Open your hearts and minds to this immersive experience of cantatas by D. Buxtehude and J. Christoph Bach, J.D. Zelenka’s Miserere, and J.S. Bach’s exquisite double-choir motet, “Komm, Jesu, Komm.” With double ensembles, double Bachs, and a double motet, this concert is sure to double your pleasure!
Heralded as "luxurious, lush, and verdant" (New York Classical Review), and "breathtakingly beautiful" (Atlanta Journal Constitution), Kinnara is one of America's premier professional chamber choirs. Under the direction of J.D. Burnett, who also serves as Director of Choral Activities at the University of Texas at Austin, the choir performs a wide variety of standard choral repertoire from all eras. Grounded in the belief that communal singing is inherently connective for singers and listeners, Kinnara crafts exemplary musical experiences that speak to the modern soul and creates space for professional ensemble work in America.
Now in its fourteenth season, Kinnara commissioned its first major work from composer Heather Gilligan in 2020. Drawing texts from famous Georgian civil rights activists, including MLK, Alice Walker, John Lewis, Jimmy Carter, and Stacey Abrams (including the first ever choral setting of her now famous “non-concession speech”), with an opening text by Langston Hughes, Southern Dissonance: Portraits of a New South compactly and impactfully comments on the social issues facing the current and future America. The work premiered in January 2022 in Atlanta in a performance described by ArtsATL as “clear and lovely” and sung “with ear-catching directness”.
Kinnara released its first commercially recorded album, “Provenance”, in September 2017 on the Affetto label, distributed internationally by Naxos. Including Johannes Brahms’ double choir motets, Fest- und Gedenksprüche, selections from Francis Poulenc’s Sept Chansons, and Alberto Ginastera’s Lamentations of Jeremiah, "Provenance" is available for streaming on Spotify, and for sale on iTunes and Amazon.
J.D. Burnett
J.D. Burnett enjoys a varied career as a conductor, singer, and teacher. He is the founding Artistic Director of Kinnara, Atlanta’s premier professional chamber choir, and Artistic Director of Orpheus Chamber Singers. Additionally, Burnett serves as the Director of Choral Activities at The University of Texas, Austin.
Formerly, he served as Associate Director of Choral Activities at The University of Georgia, Assistant Director of the Dallas Symphony Chorus, conductor of the New Jersey Youth Chorus Young Men’s Ensemble, Associate Conductor of the Masterwork Chorus of New Jersey, and Acting Director of Choral Activities at Montclair State University. Earlier posts include Interim Director of Choral Activities at San Jose State University, Artistic Director of the New Jersey Chamber Singers, Music Director of the Houston Masterworks Chorus, Founder of Men’s Consort Houston. He also served as Choral Editor at McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Burnett did undergraduate study at Stanford University and Oklahoma State University. He holds advanced degrees in choral conducting from Westminster Choir College and the University of North Texas.
As a professional choral singer, Burnett has performed seasons, concerts, and recordings with the Stillwater Chamber Singers, Cantare Houston, Fuma Sacra, Robert Shaw Festival Singers, Choir of Trinity Church Wall Street, Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and Conspirare.
