Schedule of Events
and Artist Information
"...rousing, committed and touching..."
~ The New York Times
"...the event teamed students and faculty members and eminent solo singers in a sensitive hybridization of Bach."
~ The Plain Dealer
The 2010 Festival is made possible by:
The Adrianne and Robert Andrews Bach Festival Fun
in honor of Amelia & Elias Fadil
Featured Work ~
St. John Passion, BWV 245
The Oldest Collegiate Bach Festival in the Nation
For 78 years, the Baldwin-Wallace Bach Festival has inspired the imagination, passion and intellect of scholars and music lovers the world over. The oldest collegiate Bach festival in America was founded in 1932 by music educator Albert Riemenschneider and his wife Selma. The couple had a noble mission: to enrich the lives of Northeast Ohio residents by bringing the world's greatest Bach soloists to the stage of Baldwin-Wallace College, while offering the school's Conservatory students in voice and instruments an unparalleled opportunity to experience the highest performance standards of their day.
Albert and Selma succeeded. To this day, the annual Baldwin-Wallace Bach Festival has come to symbolize artistic and academic excellence.
As Albert conceived it, the festival would rotate Bach's four major works ~ the B-minor Mass, the St. John Passion, the St. Matthew Passion and the Christmas Oratorio ~ every four years in sequence. Much to the joy of audiences, this year's Bach Festival showcases the St. John Passion, first performed at the afternoon Vespers Service on Good Friday, April 7, 1724. Since the inception of the Festival, Baldwin-Wallace's vocal and instrumental students perform the major choral and orchestral works with a cast of international vocal soloists, faculty and local professionals.
In keeping with the Baldwin-Wallace tradition, premier Bach soloists will command the stage at Baldwin-Wallace. This April, we welcome Suzie LeBlanc, soprano; Jennifer Lane, mezzo-soprano; Alan Bennett, tenor; Lawrence Wiliford, tenor; Tyler Duncan, baritone; and Kevin Deas, bass.
World-renowned Bach scholar, Dr. Robin A. Leaver will present a lecture, free and open to the public, on the St. John Passion.
A program of Bach trumpet works and solo compositions will feature faculty member John Brndiar '75, Faculty and Cleveland Orchestra member Jack Sutte, and Cleveland Orchestra members Michael Miller '85 and Lyle Steelman '01, Faculty member Sungeun Kim, piano; and Oberlin Faculty member and former Cleveland Orchestra member Catharina Meints, Baroque cello.
The ensemble "Musical Offering," featuring Cleveland Orchestra flutist Joshua Smith and harpsichordist Jory Vinikour, together with Baroque cellist Ann Marie Morgan, will present a concert of Bach works.
At the helm is Dwight Oltman, festival music director and conductor, who celebrates his 35th year leading the Bach celebration. Other noted Bach Festival participants are Baldwin-Wallace's Dirk Garner, director of choral activities and conductor of the Motet and College choirs; and Melvin Unger, Bach Service director, conductor of the B-W Singers and director of the Riemenschneider Bach Institute. The Festival will feature members of the Opera Cleveland Orchestra, the Baldwin-Wallace Festival Brass Choir, College Choir and Motet Choir, and the Festival Chamber Orchestra.
275 Eastland Rd.