Newswise — World-renowned soloists, Cleveland Orchestra musicians and Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory faculty and students will gather to perform some of the world’s greatest music at the 79th Annual Bach Festival being held on Friday-Sunday, April 15-17, at Kulas Musical Arts Building, 96 Front St., Berea.
Acclaimed throughout the world, the Baldwin-Wallace College Bach Festival features the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and his contemporaries. The Festival, established in 1932, is the oldest collegiate Bach Festival in the United States.
Dwight Oltman, in his 36th year as Festival music director, will welcome to campus international vocal soloists: Suzie LeBlanc, soprano; Juliana Gondek, mezzo-soprano; Benjamin Butterfield, tenor; and Daniel Lichti, bass-baritone. This year’s Festival also will include Musica Pacifica, harpsichordist Jory Vinikour, and other esteemed Baldwin-Wallace and guest performers.
Also participating in the event are B-W Conservatory of Music students, who will join with this year’s internationally respected soloists in performing Bach’s major works. The Festival rotates Bach’s four major works for choir and orchestra, thereby allowing students the opportunity to experience each type during their four-year stay at B-W.
In addition to the Festival concerts, there will be preview recitals held on Sunday, April 10, and on Monday, April 11. A free concert will be held on Sunday, April 17.
Guest Performers Bring Artistic Excellence to the Kulas StageOn Friday, April 15, 4 pm, members of the Opera Cleveland Orchestra and B-W’s Motet Choir (conducted by Dirk Garner) will perform works by Bach and Buxtehude. Dwight Oltman will lead guest vocalists LeBlanc, Butterfield and Lichti in a staged version of Bach’s “Coffee” Cantata, BWV 211.
At 8 pm that day Musica Pacifica will perform. Hailed by the press as being among the "finest baroque musicians in America," Musica Pacifica is a group of high-energy musicians who bring exuberant vitality to their work. They combine recorder, oboe, violin, cello/gamba, harpsichord and percussion in creating music that is beautiful, intense and expressive.
On Saturday, April 16, at 4 pm, harpsichordist Jory Vinikour, a past guest artist for the Festival, will perform Bach’s Goldberg Variations, BMV 988.
The 7:30 pm concert that day will feature the Mass in B-minor, BWV 232. Guest performers include LeBlanc, Gondek, Butterfield and Lichti. Joining them will be the Festival Choir and Festival Orchestra conducted by Oltman.
Following tradition, each of the four concerts will be preceded with chorales held at the Marting Hall Tower, 50 Seminary St., Berea. John Brndiar will conduct the Festival Brass. The Festival Brass will perform on Friday at 3:15 pm and 7:15 pm and on Saturday at 3:15 pm and 6:45 pm.
Additional Events Complement the FestivitiesNew to the Festival this year are two preview performances featuring two new members of the B-W Conservatory faculty. The first event will be held on Sunday, April 10, 3 pm., at the Federated Church, 76 Bell St., in Chagrin Falls. Duo Amaral (Jorge Amaral and Mia Pomerantz-Amaral, guitar) will present a recital of Baroque guitar works. On Monday, April 11 at 7:30 pm, organist Jonathan Moyer will recreate “Mendelssohn’s 1840 Bach Recital at St. Thomas, Leipzig” at Church of the Covenant, 11205 Euclid Avenue, in Cleveland.
The Bach Festival again will offer two free concerts this year. A preview concert will be held on April 10, 10 am at Church of the Covenant. It will feature the B-W Singers, orchestra and organ, conducted by Melvin Unger. They will perform the Bach cantata Sehet, Welch eine Liebe, BWV 64, with Jonathan Moyer and Margaret Scharf, organists; Nanette Canfield, soprano; and student soloists Marissa Chalker, soprano; and Alec Donaldson, bass. This concert will be repeated Sunday, April 17, 11:15 am, at the Berea United Methodist Church, 170 Seminary St.
A master class with Juliana Gondek, mezzo-soprano, will be held Friday, April 15, at 2 pm for B-W students. On Saturday, April 16, at 2 pm a lecture by Dr. George B. Stauffer, dean of the Mason Gross School of the Arts and professor of Music History at Rutgers University, will be held at the Kulas Musical Arts Building (Chamber Music Hall).
Tickets are on Sale NowSubscription sales and single tickets are available now. Groups of 10 or more can take advantage of a 25% discount.
For more information about the Bach Festival or to order tickets, contact Erika Haskell, special events coordinator for the Conservatory of Music, at 440-826-8070 or email [email protected].
Baldwin-Wallace College, founded in 1845, was one of the first colleges to admit students without regard to race or gender. An independent, coeducational college of 4,500 students, B-W offers coursework in the liberal arts tradition in more than 50 academic areas. Located in Berea, 12 miles from downtown Cleveland, B-W offers students the cultural, educational and business advantages of a major metropolitan area.
For downloadable images visit flickr page:http://www.flickr.com/photos/baldwinwallacephoto/sets/72157626064001071/
For information about this year’s Bach Festival:http://www.bw.edu/bachfest/
For a schedule of events and information about presenters:http://www.bw.edu/academics/libraries/bach/festivals/bachfest/schedule/
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