Music Worcester to Launch Year 2 of THE COMPLETE BACH

Music Worcester is set to launch Year 2 of its unprecedented initiative, THE COMPLETE BACH, an 11-year undertaking to present live performances of every known work by Johann Sebastian Bach. The project is believed to be the first intentional festival to present all of Bach's known works within a defined period of time.

This second year will feature more than 40 different works from Bach's expansive catalog over the course of 11 concerts, primarily during two festival weekends: BACHtoberfest Weekend (October 24-26, 2025) and Bach's Birthday Bash Weekend (March 20-22, 2026). The full schedule and details can be found at thecompletebach.org or musicworcester.org.

In Year 2, THE COMPLETE BACH includes two different concerts featuring pianist Simone Dinnerstein during BACHtoberfest Weekend. The first features her conducting debut, with her ensemble Baroklyn and Connecticut-based professional choir CONCORA; the second features Bach's Inventions, Sinfonias, and Viola da Gamba Sonatas with cellist Alexis Gerlach. New York-based ensemble The Sebastians headline Bach's Birthday Bash Weekend in the spring with the Brandenburg Concertos.

THE COMPLETE BACH was announced in May 2024 and launched that fall during the first BACHtoberfest Weekend. Over the course of the inaugural season, audiences experienced choral, organ, and orchestral pieces, as well as the complete Cello Suites performed by Zlatomir Fung, winner of the XVI International Tchaikovsky Competition; and the complete Keyboard Partitas played by McArthur “Genius” fellow Jeremy Denk. 

The project has national and international reach, as well as strong local ties, attracting both renowned performers from around the country, as well as individual singers who come together for the annual BACHtoberfest Choir. Singers from anywhere in the country or the world are invited to come together for rehearsals and a performance at Worcester's Mechanics Hall during the fall festival weekend. In 2024, 144 singers from 11 states participated, with 2025's numbers climbing even higher and singers traveling from as far away as Arizona. Several international choirs have expressed interest in participating in the future.

Locally, the project highlights the talents in the Greater Worcester area, providing opportunities for local groups to perform on the stage at Mechanics Hall, widely considered one of the best performance and recording venues in the world for its acoustics. The Worcester Bach Collective includes choirs from local churches, universities, and performing organizations. Every spring throughout the duration of THE COMPLETE BACH, Bach's Birthday Bash weekend will close with Cantatathon, featuring different members of the Collective each year.

In addition to THE COMPLETE BACH, Music Worcester, under the leadership of Executive Director Adrien Finlay, presents 18 other concerts during the 2025-2026 Season, bringing renowned artists from across classical, jazz, folk, and world music, as well as Dance Theatre of Harlem, to venues throughout Central Massachusetts. Chris Shepard, who has served more than 15 years as the Artistic Director of The Worcester Chorus and now as the Artistic Director of THE COMPLETE BACH, has lent his experience and expertise to help launch this ambitious project.

Shepard, a conductor, keyboard player, teacher, and musicologist, authored an award-winning PhD thesis from the University of Sydney examining the performance history of Bach's B Minor Mass in America. He also led BACH2010, a project in which his Sydneian Bach Choir & Orchestra presented all of Bach's choral cantatas.

This extraordinary project also features three separate podcast and video series led by Chris Shepard: Bach 101, an introduction to Bach's music; ChatJSB, a series of conversations between Shepard and the musicians who are participating in TCB; and Unlocking Bach, audio program notes for each concert posted in advance of the performances. The podcasts have garnered more than 20,000 views to date and continue to gain new audiences.

TCB's partnerships extend beyond performers and include Tidepool Bookshop, an independent Worcester-based store which features a display of Bach-related books and hosts small special events related to the project. Other partnerships include GBH and Mechanics Hall, which has committed to hosting all of the festival weekends over the course of the project. 

“The performances were so exciting, and the palpable sense of community in the beautiful Mechanics Hall was indescribable,” said Shepard. “We are 9% through everything that Bach ever wrote, already an incredible achievement.  By the end of the 11 years, the rings from this rock thrown into the water will hopefully go worldwide, because that's the power of the music of Bach.”