Violinist Joseph Lin Leads Performance of Brandenburg Concertos in Cooperstown

Violinist Joseph Lin will lead the Cooperstown Summer Music Festival Chamber Ensemble in a performance of four of Bach's Brandenburg concertos at 7:30pm on Sunday, August 26 at the Otesaga Resort Hotel ballroom.

Mr. Lin, the former first violinist of the Juilliard String Quartet and a musician known for his passionate music-making and dazzling virtuosic skill, delighted Cooperstown audiences with his Vivaldi/Piazzolla Four Seasons performance last season. He will be joined by Linda Chesis, flute and the Festival's artistic director, and Bradley Brookshire, harpsichord, leading an ensemble comprised of some of today's most illustrious chamber musicians. The concert is a highlight of the 20th anniversary season of the Cooperstown Summer Music Festival.

Bach's Brandenburg concertos are among the best-loved pieces in the classical music repertoire, so it is surprising to learn that they were almost lost to history.

Brookshire, who is also a musicologist, explains that Bach, a German composer, only started writing concertos (music for a soloist accompanied by a larger group) after encountering the concertos of Italian composers Vivaldi and Corelli. "Bach responded with a flurry of his own concertos," says Brookshire, "in which he strove to unify the strongest traits of this new Italian style with his native German tradition."

Bach sent the manuscript for these concertos to a member of the German nobility in Brandenburg hoping that they would entice him to hire Bach as a court composer. The nobleman never responded, Bach didn't get the gig, and the pieces remained in obscurity for nearly 130 years.

While learning about Bach's unsuccessful job application makes this revered composer seem a little bit more like the rest of us, hearing these exquisite concertos reminds us of his unparalleled genius.

Don't miss this opportunity to experience a world-class performance of these remarkable pieces, and don't forget to take a moment to marvel at how close we were to never hearing them at all.

Tickets are $25 for adults, $15 for students.

Purchase online at www.cooperstownmusicfest.org; by phone through Brown Paper Tickets, (800) 838-3006, or at the door.

There is no service charge for tickets purchased online or by phone.

Founded in 1999, the Cooperstown Summer Music Festival has been bringing world-class chamber music performances to the Cooperstown area for 20 years. The festival has featured performances by the Tokyo String Quartet, the American String Quartet, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, Kurt Elling, Tim Fain, Bill Charlap, Hilary Kole, Simone Dinnerstein, Mark O'Connor, the Sonia Olla Flamenco Dance Company, and many more.

Cooperstown is home to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, the Glimmerglass Festival, and the Fenimore Art Museum as well as many galleries, restaurants, and a historic Main Street.

Concerts are held in venues across Cooperstown, including Christ Church (the church of author James Fenimore Cooper) and the ballroom of the grand Otesaga Hotel.

Celebrated graphic artist Milton Glaser (best known for the I Y NY campaign) has created a series of 17 posters for the Festival featuring violins and cows, a nod to Cooperstown's rural character. Performance Today host Fred Child has said, "Not only do they do interesting concerts, they have great posters."

The Cooperstown Summer Music Festival is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.