Oregon Bach Festival Announces Celebratory 50th Anniversary Season

The Grammy Award-winning Oregon Bach Festival (OBF) is pleased to announce the lineup for its celebratory 50th anniversary season, featuring guest appearances from some of the world's top classical musicians, and the rare opportunity for audiences to enjoy three of Bach's greatest choral-orchestral masterworks performed in sequence.

The Festival will be held in Eugene from June 26 - July 12, 2020, with events at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts, historic Beall Concert Hall and Berwick Hall on the University of Oregon campus, and local churches.

Three celebrated guest conductors, who have been selected as the final candidates to become the Festival's next artistic director, will lead three Bach choral masterworks with the OBF Orchestra and Chorus to commemorate the musical cornerstone of the Festival.

a-? Julian Wachner - Mass in B Minor (June 26)

a-? Eric Jacobsen - St. John Passion (July 1)

a-? Miguel Harth-Bedoya - St. Matthew Passion (July 12)

Numerous critically-acclaimed musicians make appearances throughout the Festival in concerts and productions. Holes in the Sky (July 9 & July 11) - a major collaboration that received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts - features pianists Lara Downes and Simone Dinnerstein, soprano Alicia Hall Moran, OBF Chamber Orchestra, and UO Chamber Choir Women, conducted by Jeri Lynne Johnson. The contemporary work for solo piano and chamber orchestra Let Me See the Sun has its world premiere within this project, composed by Paola Prestini, one of the "top 100 composers in the world" (NPR).

The Festival also features performances from Virtuosi Strings (June 30); a solo recital with baritone Tyler Duncan (July 2), who recently performed at the Metropolitan Opera in Puccini's Madama Butterfly; the Organ Institute Showcase (July 4); OBF Choral Legacy Concert: Voices Past, Present and Future (July 5); a chamber music recital Dinnerstein/Haimovitz: Beethoven/Glass, with cellist Matt Haimovitz and Sony-recording pianist Simone Dinnerstein (July 10); Berwick Academy Classical Orchestra with guest director Catherine Manson (July 6); and Stangeland Family Youth Choral Academy (July 8).

Other highlights include Journey to Bach (June 27) with acclaimed early music violinist Monica Huggett; the Turtle Island String Quartet performing Bird's Eye View: The Legend of Charlie Parker (July 11); and Little Red Riding Hood (June 27), a children's opera arranged and directed by Kathleen Van de Graaff and nationally syndicated classical music radio presenter Peter Van de Graaff.

The OBF Chamber Orchestra (June 28, July 3, July 7) will perform three special chamber orchestra concerts with guest conductors Julian Wachner, Eric Jacobsen and Miguel Harth-Bedoya, where each maestro has curated a program designed to showcase their unique style. As part of these special presentations, the conductors will address the audience on the musical, historical and personal significance of the pieces they have chosen to present. Grammy Award-winning organist Paul Jacobs (June 29) returns for an organ solo concert Fantasia and Fugue and John Steinmetz (June 30) will deliver the Hinkle Distinguished Lecture.

Additional artists and events will be announced in the coming weeks. Gold Tickets that give holders unlimited access to all shows and preferred seating options are available now. Friends of the Festival presale runs March 21 - April 24 and tickets go on sale to the public on May 1. More information can be found at oregonbachfestival.org

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