Bach Festival Society Celebrates 75 Years

In February 2010, the Bach Festival Society will host its 75th Annual Bach Festival, marking the Bach Festival Society's 75th consecutive year presenting great choral masterworks to Central Florida residents and visitors. This historic anniversary provides an opportunity to look back on the music, the conductors, and the thousands of musicians who have brought this wonderful repertoire to life. Through scheduled performances, community partnerships, and educational programs, the Central Florida community is invited to celebrate the past, present, and future of the Bach Festival Society.

The 75th Anniversary Celebration's ticketed performances include a compiled Anniversary Mass, with each movement representing a different time in the history of the Festival; Mendelssohn and Mozart, which includes two of Mozart's last pieces-his Requiem and his Clarinet Concerto, performed by GRAMMY Award-winning clarinetist Richard Stoltzman; a performance of Bach's Mass in B Minor, a massive warhorse of choral music that showcases the Bach Festival Choir's command of the unprecedented depth, musicality, and choral complexity of Bach's greatest masterwork; and a program of traditional organ music by one of the finest living Bach organists, James David Christie.

In addition to ticketed performances, the 75th Annual Festival offers FREE partnership programs to engage the community in the celebration. The Festival Preview concert is a fun program designed to sample the upcoming performances. Big Band Bach is an outdoor concert in which well-known Bach tunes are arranged for big-band instrumentation, giving a new twist to this historic music. Bach Festival History Exhibit on display at the Winter Park Historical Association will focus on the music and the people who have been a significant part of its history. The Photography Exhibition Celebrating the Spirit of the Bach Festival Society captures the spirit of the Conductor, Choir, Orchestra, and Knowles Memorial Chapel and will be displayed at the Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens.

Full Schedule of 75th Annual Festival Events
Bach Festival History Exhibit
Opening late December 2009 and extending through May, 2010 - FREE
Winter Park Historical Association
Highlighting the history of the BFS, its music, and people, using historically important
documents including photos, reel-to-reel film, audio tapes, letters, and programs, this
free exhibition will be on display December 2009 through May 2010.
Rollins College Music Faculty Salutes the Bach Festival Society
January 27 at 7:30 pm - FREE
Tiedtke Concert Hall
Rollins distinguished music faculty will present a free performance honoring the Bach
Festival Society's 75th Anniversary.
Photography Exhibition Celebrating the Spirit of the Bach Festival Society
February 2-April 25, 2010 - ADMISSION FEE
Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens
The Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens, Crealdé School of Art, and the Bach Festival Society are working together to curate an exhibition of photography by nine invited Central Florida photographers that captures the spirit of the Bach Festival
Society, its Choir and Orchestra, Conductor John V. Sinclair, and the interior and exterior of the historic Knowles Memorial Chapel.

Festival Preview
Saturday, February 6 at 7:00pm - FREE
Tiedtke Concert Hall
Join Conductor John V. Sinclair as he takes you on a charming preview of the upcoming 75th Annual Bach Festival. Learn more about the works and the composers who wrote them while listening to great music in this informal and interactive concert.

Big Band Bach
Saturday, February 13 - FREE
Winter Park's Central Park
Bach was known for his great improvisational skills, so if he were alive today, he might even be a jazz musician. This fun outdoor concert will feature some of Bach's most well-loved tunes-Big Band Style!

Festival Open Rehearsal
Anniversary Mass
Thursday, February 18 at 6:45pm - FREE
Knowles Memorial Chapel
This behind-the-scenes experience will give you a glimpse into what it takes to prepare a choir and orchestra for performance of a large-scale work.

Anniversary Mass
Saturday, February 20 at 7:30pm - TICKETED
Sunday, February 21 at 3:00pm - TICKETED
Knowles Memorial Chapel
This unique program features a Mass with each movement representing a different time in the history of the Festival. Including excerpts from Haydn's Creation, Bach's Magnificat, and many other pieces from the choral repertoire, these masterworks have been the Society's inspiration for 75 years.

Mendelssohn and Mozart
Saturday, February 27 at 7:30pm - TICKETED
Knowles Memorial Chapel
This program opens with music by Felix Mendelssohn, called "an heir of Mozart," followed by the mystery and the splendor of two of Mozart's last pieces-his Requiem and his Clarinet Concerto, performed by GRAMMY award-winning clarinetist, Richard Stoltzman.

Bach's Mass in B Minor
Sunday, February 28 at 3:00pm - TICKETED
Knowles Memorial Chapel
A soul-stirring performance brings to life what is widely considered Bach's greatest masterwork, the Mass in B Minor. The Bach Festival Society celebrates its namesake with the performance of this massive tour de force of choral music.

James David Christie, Organ Recital
Sunday, March 7 at 3:00pm - TICKETED
Knowles Memorial Chapel
Praised by many as the finest living Bach organist, James David Christie presents a program of music by Bach and his contemporaries in honor of our 75th Annual Festival.

Rollins College Music Students Salute the Bach Festival Society
Thursday, March 25 at 7:30 pm - FREE
Tiedtke Concert Hall
Rollins music students present a free program of Vivaldi's Juditha Triumphans in honor
of the Bach Festival Society's 75th Anniversary.

About the Bach Festival Society
The Bach Festival Society celebrates its 75th Annual Festival in 2010. Located in Winter Park, Florida, it is one of the longest continuously operating Bach Festivals in the country and among America's great oratorio societies. The Bach Festival Society brings the highest caliber of classical music to Central Florida. Performances are held in the intimate settings of Tiedtke Concert Hall and Knowles Memorial Chapel on the beautiful campus of Rollins College.

For more information regarding the upcoming season or to order tickets, please call the Bach Festival Society at 407.646.2182 or visit us online at www.bachfestivalflorida.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.