Thu 1/25-Sun 1/28
The annual Baldwin Wallace University Bach Festival was founded in 1932, the oldest Bach festival in the U.S. It has continued through thick and thin, including, going virtual for two years during the pandemic. And for 2024, it’s made another change, presenting the festival in three parts it’s calling “inventions, with events taking place in October, January and its usual April time slot (this year April 12-14).
The January segment kicks off on Thursday January 25 with a master class by tenor Nicholas Phan with BW voice students at 10-11:40am that’s free and open to the public to observe. That afternoon Swathmore College music history professor professor emeritus Michael Marissen will give a lecture on “Troubling Voices in Bach’s Sublime St. John Passion.
There’ll be concerts in BW’s Gamble Auditorium Friday through Sunday, with a program blending Bach’s music with American fiddle tunes on Friday, and Cleveland baroque chamber ensemble Les Delices backing Phan on a progress on Bach arias and chamber music on Saturday. Sundays’ concert will feature BWV: Cleveland’s Bach Choir and Professor Rob Kovacs on piano, juxtaposing Steve Reich’s Proverb and Piano Phase with Bach’s cantata “Christ lag in Todesbanden.”
Go here for more information and tickets.