The Mendelssohn Project

Now in his forty-fourth year as Music Director and Founder of Amor Artis, a distinctive chorus and orchestra featuring dynamically balanced programs of well-known favorites together with important works rarely heard, Johannes Somary has achieved considerable recognition internationally through his many concerts and extensive discography. One of the first and foremost presenters in New York of lesser-known Baroque masterpieces, Amor Artis under the baton of Johannes Somary has distinguished itself through authentic versions in style and setting, paving the way for the performances of these works given in the United States today.

Johannes Somary has worked with such renowned singers as Elly Ameling, Sheila Armstrong, Placido Domingo, Maureen Forrester, Ernst Haefliger, Benjamin Luxon, and Gerard Souzay and with such distinguished instrumentalists as David Bar-Ilan, Garrick Ohlsson, Aaron Rosand, Gil Shaham, and Dizzy Gillespie. In addition to being Music Director of the Fairfield County Chorale since 1975, Johannes Somary is Chief Choral Conductor of The Mendelssohn Project.

Maestro Somary's discography claims over fifty recordings, including four Stereo Review Record-of-the-Year Awards. Many of his recordings have been re-released on compact disc. The most recent of these re-releases include Mozart's "C-Minor Mass", Bach's "B-Minor Mass", and the "Water Music" and "Royal Fireworks Music" by Handel. About the recent recording of Handel's opera "Sosarme", it is written in CD Review : "This excellent new release is cause for celebration. Unlike the earlier recording, this one gives us original instruments in addition to scholarship, sensual beauty, and imagination. Somary keeps things moving with bounce and grace." Soon to be released on Albany Records is a recording of Johannes Somary's "Violin Concerto", which features him in his dual role as conductor and composer.

Born in Switzerland, Johannes Somary is active as an organist, and has received critical acclaim for his recent recordings of Handel organ concertos. In Fanfare it is written: "Somary plays a charming organ . . . that has a bell-like positif. These organ concertos rival the best versions of Op. 4 in the catalog." Commissioned by the Jefferson Music Festival, Maestro Somary's dramatic cantata "Is This Life?" was given its premier at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in June 1994, with Michael Moriarty as narrator. The Washington Post remarked after the performance: "The musical language is attractive, with its myriad texts. From the podium, Somary got results which were right on the mark."