Cast and Crew

Johann Sebastian Bach  (31 March 1685  – 28 July 1750) was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, voice, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity. Although he did not introduce new forms, he enriched the prevailing German style with a robust contrapuntal technique, an unrivaled control of harmonic and motivic organization, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France.

Revered for their intellectual depth, technical command and artistic beauty, Bach's works include the Brandonburg Concertos, the Goldberg Variations, The Well-Tempered Clavier, The Mass in B Minor, The St. Matthew Passion, The St. John Passion, The Magnificat, The Musical Offering, and the endearing "Schweigt Stille Plaudert Nicht" (B.W.V. 211) simply known in English as "The Coffee Cantata" 

Bach's abilities as an organist were highly respected throughout Europe during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognized as a great composer until a revival of interest and performances of his music in the first half of the 19th century. He is now regarded as the supreme composer of the Baroque, and as one of the greatest of all time. 

Bach was an avid coffee drinker, but in the original painting, he was actually holding a sheaf of music.

David Klassen is noted for his "rich baritone" (Minneapolis Star Tribune) and praised for his savvy stagecraft. He holds a Masters degree in vocal performance from the University of Minnesota.

His operatic performance highlights include a Minnesota premier performance as Valmont in Susa's Dangerous Liaisons, an award-winning performance of the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Demetrius in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream and Georg in the premier of Michael Matthew's Prince Kaspar. Most recently, Mr. Klassen has been engaged by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet singing Papageno in Mozart's Magic Flute and by Saskatoon Opera as Jacob in Dean Burry's children's opera, The Brothers Grimm. Currently residing in Manitoba, Mr. Klassen has been featured as a soloist in several provinces as well as throughout Manitoba and Minnesota. He has appeared with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, the Chamber Players of St. Paul, Eastman Choral Society, and as the Premier Artist for Steinbach Arts Council's Young Artists in Concert series, which highlights local artists who have successfully emerged as professionals in their field.

His varied career includes a position on the voice faculty at Providence College, Canadian Mennonite University and the University of Manitoba. Besides voice, he has had several years of conducting experience specializing in junior high and high school choirs and has been engaged numerous times as a stage director in and around his hometown of Steinbach, Manitoba.

A no-nonsense guy, David takes his coffee black.

Pianist Verna Wiebe is well known in the Winnipeg community for her fine work as a collaborative artist with singers, instrumentalists, and choirs.   She holds a degree in Piano Performance from Brandon University, where she has served as faculty accompanist and instructor.

Verna is the pianist for the Winnipeg Singers.  She also collaborates regularly with organist Lottie Enns-Braun in Orgiano, a Keyboard Duo performing an eclectic mix of repertoire and with pianist Cheryl Pauls in a Piano Duo.  Verna has been involved with many other musical groups including the Winnipeg Philharmonic Choir, Pembina Trails Voices, Mennonite Festival Chorus, and Mennonite Oratorio Choir.

Currently she is a member of the faculty at the School of Music of Canadian Mennonite University where she teaches piano and theory, coaches chamber music and coordinates the Collaborative Music program.

Verna drinks her daily cup of coffee in her favourite mug at home.