Bach Cantata Series: Bach & Handel
![A promotional graphic for a "Bach Cantata" event. The graphic is divided into two sections. The left section features a photo of an orchestra and a choir performing in a large church. The conductor, a man in a black suit, stands facing the musicians. The choir is wearing white robes with blue stoles, and the church has ornate wooden stalls and stone walls. The right section is a solid dark blue background with the words "Bach Cantata" in white text at the top and the Duke University Chapel logo at the bottom.](/images/2026/20260426/f3c4f1085405b7add2e8299c5cc38754-CR-BachCantataCalendar_20250818114843PM.jpg "A promotional graphic for a "Bach Cantata" event. The graphic is divided into two sections. The left section features a photo of an orchestra and a choir performing in a large church. The conductor, a man in a black suit, stands facing the musicians. The choir is wearing white robes with blue stoles, and the church has ornate wooden stalls and stone walls. The right section is a solid dark blue background with the words "Bach Cantata" in white text at the top and the Duke University Chapel logo at the bottom.")
Brilliance and immediacy from George Frideric Handel meet the depth and scale of Johann Sebastian Bach in this concert. Well-loved Handel works-"Arrival of the Queen of Sheba," "As Pants the Hart," and "Zadok the Priest"-are paired with "Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis" ("I feel great suffering"], BWV 21, one of Bach's most substantial and affecting cantatas.
Free admission. Paid parking is available on a first-come, first-served basis in the Bryan Center Parking Lot at 125 Science Drive. ADA parking is available at the surface lot at the same address.
Johann Sebastian Bach's cantatas are often considered the pinnacle of German sacred music, works whose theological depth and emotional resonance touch deep places in the human soul. This year's cantata series, Bach &, features cantatas, concerti, and organ works by Bach and his contemporaries, illuminating the connections and differences between these Baroque masters.
Learn more about the music in a pre-concert talk by Chapel Music Director Zebulon Highben at 4:00 p.m. in the Divinity School's Goodson Chapel.
Families with young children, or those unable to attend the performance, are welcome to visit the dress rehearsal on Saturday, April 25, between 1:30 and 4:00 p.m. in Duke Chapel.
