College Plans Third Annual Bach Festival

This weekend, the Middlebury Bach Festival will celebrate its third year, offering a variety of events about the life and work of Johann Sebastian Bach to the community on April 26-28. The festival was started in 2011 by Associate Professor of Music Jeffrey Buettner and his wife Jessica Allen, who were inspired to bring something in classical music to the College after attending similar festivals in Philadelphia and Leipzig.

In choosing Bach as the focus of the festival, Buettner says, “Bach represents a composer of great breadth, a virtuoso performer, a community musician and a teacher.  Most important is that he was an educator as well as a performer.  A lot of his music was written to teach.”

Bach was certainly a unique force in his community, organizing music for town events and churches, and teaching whenever he found the opportunity.  Active in the Baroque period of the early 18th century, Bach left behind over 1,000 compositions and inspired countless musicians with his genius.  The festival combines student organizations with professional guests to provide three distinct days filled with Bach-inspired activities.

The Middlebury Bach Festival kicks off Friday, April 26 at 8 p.m. in the Kevin P. Mahaney ’84 Center for the Arts Concert Hall with a performance by the college choir and chamber orchestra.  Buettner, who also serves as the college’s Director of Choral Activities, is presenting Orfeo ed Euridice by Christoph Willibald Gluck, as well as other selections of choral music inspired by the story.  This free event highlights two student organizations and offers a post-concert reception in the lower lobby of the fine arts center.

Saturday offers a variety of events, starting in the morning with info sessions that encourage more in-depth learning about the behind-the-scenes process of the musicians.  Three free sessions will be offered in the Concert Hall, with a free lunch at noon available to those attending any of the sessions.  Harpsichordist Cynthia Huard will present “Daring Virtuosity in Bach’s ‘Concerto in D Minor’” at 10 a.m., followed by guest conductor Martin Pearlman’s session Performing Bach’s “Magnificat” at 11 a.m.  At 1:30 p.m., countertenor Martin Near will present “A Day in the Life of a Countertenor.”  These sessions add further insight into the performers and their methods for performing Bach, and give an idea of how Bach is interpreted today.

At 6 p.m. on Saturday, classical guitarist Eric Despard will present music by Bach and others at 51 Main at his event “Bach Unplugged.”  Also free, this performance offers a unique interpretation of Bach in a relaxed atmosphere and serves as a warm up for the festival’s main event.

The Festival Concert, held in Mead Chapel on Saturday at 8 p.m., again features the College Choir and Chamber Orchestra in a performance of Bach’s classic work, “Magnificat.”  Guest conductor Martin Pearlman has been performing Bach for over 40 years as a keyboardist and conductor.  Buettner and Allen admired Pearlman’s work after seeing him in Boston, and when thinking of a guest conductor for this year’s festival at Middlebury, Pearlman seemed the natural choice.  Pearlman founded Boston Baroque, a baroque and classical orchestra and chorus nominated for three Grammy’s that has toured at prestigious venues around the country and world. Pearlman studies Bach from a unique perspective, using only instruments available in Bach’s time when interpreting the composer’s work.  Cynthia Huard will serve as harpsichord soloist, and vocal soloists include Carol Christensen, Martin Near, Adam Hall and Erik Kroncke.

Buettner fears that students often aren’t interested in attending the festival because they hear “Bach” and automatically put him into classical category and are uninterested.

“Bach is viscerally dramatic, exciting, explosive and emotional,” he argued. “He synthesized international, operatic and dance styles into works of art.”  The performance experience is equally exciting for the musicians involved, especially students.

“Bach is always an interesting undertaking,” said College Choir tenor, Steven Dunmire ’13, who has participated in the festival since its inauguration “His music is incredibly complex and difficult to learn, but once you do get it there is a rhythm and flow that makes it really energizing and enjoyable to perform.  I’m glad that Professor Buettner has given us this chance to work with Bach.  His enthusiasm for the pieces is part of what teaches me just how important Bach is to music history.”

The festival concert is free for students with Midd ID, $10 for others in the college community and $12 for the general public.

On Sunday, the music of Bach will be featured in five area congregations, expanding the festival into the larger community.  Buettner says about the future of the festival, “Ideally, we’d like the town and college to work together much like Bach worked with education in his city.  We want this festival to be bigger than the College and broaden to the larger community.”