Bach Festival Opens Sunday, October 19

Wow.  It hardly seems possible that three months have passed so quickly and the 2014 Los Angeles Bach Festival is upon us.

Since my appointment as artistic director was announced in early July, the festival board and I have been working at a fevered pace to ensure an exciting rebirth of Los Angeles Bach Festival in its new home at All Saints Church, Pasadena.

Inspiring rehearsals for the Magnificat

The chorus has been in rehearsals since mid-September on Bach’s Magnificat, an inspirational process in bringing this amazing work to life, together. Comprised of long-time Bach festival chorus members, members of All Saints choirs, singers newly-interested in the Festival, and a core of professional singers, the 50-member chorus has a rich, agile and vibrant sound — perfect for all those notes in the Magnificat.

An orchestra comes together

Orchestra Manager Steve Scharf has assembled a stellar 25-piece orchestra to perform two magnificent orchestral suites and the Magnificat. Consultations with our concertmaster, Joel Pargman, and then with our solo flutist, Gary Woodward, have been rewarding, as we have discussed all the repertoire and the directions in which we want to move in bringing all this exquisite music to life.

Bowings have been marked and the scores are in the hands of all the instrumentalists, with rehearsals beginning next week.  I know the Sunday, October 26 Choral and Orchestral Finale is going to be an exhilarating performance. The second and third orchestra suites are so full of color, contrast and beauty, and the Magnificat will sparkle as the chorus and orchestra join together.

Szymon Grab opens the festival on Sunday, October 19

Organist Szymon Grab opens the festival

I’m thrilled that my brilliant colleague, Szymon Grab, will open the festival on Sunday, October 19.  He has planned and prepared an exciting and varied program of organ works by Bach, exploiting all the resources of the grand Schlicker Organ at All Saints.

Johann Sebastian for the young

And, we have over 500 public school kids being brought to All Saints on Friday morning, October 24, to hear six movements from the orchestra suites and four vocal solos from the Magnificat. Think of the eye-opening experience this will be for all of those kids, hearing and seeing such fine musicians performing works by Bach and hearing about the different instruments. In addition, I’ll pull out all the stops to perform Bach’s most famous organ work, the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.

It has been a rich and full three months.  I am surprised and delighted (and yes, sometimes a little dizzy!) with the process, and I’m here to testify that with a group of really talented people, you can really bring life to a festival in three months.