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The American choral conductor and organist, Edwin Flath, began with choruses in Berkeley and Palo Alto, eventually expanding to San Francisco as well. In 1971 he founded the California Bach Society. Under his leadership, the California Bach Society produced many performances of J.S. Bach's Passions, motets, cantatas, Mass in B minor (BWV 232), and works by other composers. The California Bach Society was the first chorus not associated with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra to perform in Davies Symphony Hall, presenting J.S. Bach's Mass in B minor (BWV 232) in 1981. The California Bach Society performed there seven more times through 1984, including a commissioned piece dedicated to the memory of Calvin Simmons. After Flath's death in 1987, the California Bach Society reorganized under the direction of Edward Bolkovac. |