Festival Concerts

Department of Music and Dance, UMass Amherst

April 21-23, 2023

Also see Bach in the Subways and Prelude Concerts, March/April

Organizers: Elizabeth Chang, William Hite, & Amanda Stenroos

Link to online pdf program book =>

Featured concert:

Saturday, April 22, 7:30pm, Tillis Hall (formerly FAC Concert Hall)
Bach’s Mass in B Minor, BWV 232
Andrew Megill, guest conductor
With the UMass Bach Festival Orchestra & Chorus,
Lindsay Pope, chorus master
Kristen Watson & Ava D’Agostino, sopranos; Meg Bragle, mezzo-soprano; Brian Giebler, tenor & Andrew Garland, baritone
Tickets on sale Online or at Box Office, 413-545-2511
$25 general; $20 seniors; Free for students w/ ID & children under 18

Other Concerts & Events:

Friday, April 21, 4pm, Bezanson Hall, Free
Faculty Concert: Steven Beck, piano
J.S. Bach: The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
Link to YouTube Livestream =>

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Friday, April 21, 7:30-9pm (Free Panel Discussion) and
Saturday, April 22, 9:00am – 5:30pm, Bromery Center, Rm. 419
Bach Symposium: J.S. Bach and Timbre, paper presentations
$25 in-person attendees; $5 students (lunch included), cash or check accepted; Free for remote participants

Sunday, April 23, 11:30am, at Amherst Coffee, 28 Amity St., Free
(Please note: Space is limited!)
Bach’s Coffee Cantata BWV 211
With an all-alumni cast of singers: Brendan Buckley, John Salvi & Corrine Byrne, plus local & alumni instrumentalists

Sunday, April 23, 3:30pm, Bowker Auditorium
Codemakers: Vijay Iyer, Hyeyung Sol Yoon & Texu Kim
(Bach violin sonata plus world premieres of Bach-related works)
Co-presented with the UMass Asian & Asian American Arts & Culture Program  (Details =>)

Also see Bach in the Subways and Prelude Concerts, March/April

Scholarly Symposium

Department of Music & Dance, UMass Amherst

Organizers: Ernest May, Evan MacCarthy, and Erinn Knyt

Link to online pdf program book =>

Friday, April 21, 2023, 7:30-9pm, Free, Bromery Rm. 419
Presentations & Panel Discussion: “What Do We Talk About When We Talk About Bach and Timbre?”  Details =>

Saturday, April 22, 2023, 9:30am-5:30pm, Bromery Rm. 419
Symposium Presentations  Details =>

Panel Discussion & Remote Sat. attendees: Free
In-person attendees (Sat.): $25 general; $5 students (lunch included)
Cash or check accepted, day of Symposium
REGISTRATION FORM (both remote and in-person attendees) =>

J.S. Bach and Timbre

Isabella van Elferen, Keynote speaker

Symposium Overview:
Although the works of J.S. Bach have been considered from many different perspectives, the topic of timbre has been little explored in relation to his compositions. Timbre is a complex and multi-faceted concept that involves both the sounding musical object and the aesthetic experience of the listener. It brings together scientific, aesthetic, and artistic considerations.

This conference seeks to bring together scholars exploring timbral issues in relation to Bach’s compositions from material, philosophical, theoretical, or historical perspectives. Topics could include, for instance, an exploration of Bach’s expertise with selecting and combining organ stops, the innovative scoring of his orchestral works, his transcription practices, instrumental/timbral word painting in the vocal works, architectural spaces or timbral environments in which Bach’s music has been performed, the timbres of diverse instrument choices by performers, the timbral effects in recording Bach’s compositions, or timbral color choices involved in the re-working, performance, and reception of the Bach repertoire in its various manifestations throughout the late eighteenth, nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries in diverse locations and contexts around the globe.

Presenters

Isabella van Elferen, Keynote speaker (Kingston University, London)
Christine Blanken (Bach-Archiv Leipzig)
Daniel Boomhower (Dumbarton Oaks, Director of Research Library)
Rachel Gain (Yale University)
Erinn Knyt (University of Massachusetts Amherst
Emily Kraine (Northeastern University)
Joel Lester (CUNY Graduate Center, Mannes College of Music)
Ernest May (University of Massachusetts Amherst)
Jeana Melilli (University of Florida)
Markus Rathey (Yale University)
Joshua Rifkin (Boston University)
Mary Barres Riggs (Dancer, Dance History Scholar)
Robert Riggs (University of Mississippi)
Yo Tomita (Queens University Belfast)

Moderators:

Emily Dolan (Brown University)
Evan MacCarthy (University of Massachusetts Amherst, Five College Visiting Asst. Professor)
Ernest May (University of Massachusetts Amherst)

(See the Schedule and/or the Presenters/Moderators pages for details)

ONLINE REGISTRATION FORM (both remote and in-person) =>

Symposium Presenters & Moderators

2023 Bach Symposium at UMass Amherst

Please click on any name for Presenter/Moderator/Panelist biography.

Isabella van Elferen, Keynote speaker
Kingston University, London

 Bach’s Tone-Pleasure
(Abstract)

Presenters:

Christine Blanken
Bach-Archiv Leipzig

Cantatas with changes in instrumentation: The reception of Cantata (early) versions with obbligato organ

Daniel Boomhower
Dumbarton Oaks

The Social Significance of Changing Choral Timbres: Evidence from the Performance History of Bach’s B-minor Mass
(Abstract)

Rachel Gain
Yale University

Hearing Emotion, Feeling Key: Timbre, Technique, and Tonality in J.S. Bach’s Flute Obbligati
(Abstract)

Erinn Knyt
UMass Amherst

Acoustic Resonances: New Timbres, Sounds, and Colors in the Bach-Busoni Transcriptions, Arrangements, Editions, and Interpretations (Abstract)

Emily Kraine
Northeastern University

Wendy Carlos and Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier
(Abstract)

Joel Lester
CUNY Graduate Center, Mannes College of Music

Timbre and the Music of J.S. Bach-Thoughts from Centuries Later (Abstract) (Handout)

Jeana Melilli
University of Florida

Gamba, Flute, and J.S. Bach’s Right Hand: Examples of Timbral Flexibility of the 18th Century Trio and Accompanied Sonatas in BWV 1027/1039  (Abstract)

Markus Rathey
Yale University

Timbre, Space, and Texture in Bach’s Cantatas for Open-Air Performances
(Abstract)

Joshua Rifkin
Boston University

Timbre in Bach: No Compromise
(Abstract)

Mary Barres Riggs
Dancer; Dance History Scholar

Bach’s St. Matthew Passion: Ballet by John Neumeier
(Abstract)

Robert Riggs
University of Mississippi

Bach’s St. Matthew Passion: Ballet by John Neumeier
(Abstract)

Yo Tomita
Queens University Belfast

Bach’s Concept of Timbre and The Well-Tempered Clavier
(Abstract) (Handout)

 

Session Moderators:

Emily Dolan
Brown University

Evan MacCarthy
University of Massachusetts Amherst (Five College Professor)

Ernest May
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Friday panel, Bach & Timber: A View from the Organ Loft
(Abstract) (Handout)

Prelude Events

Department of Music & Dance

Bach Festival Prelude Concert: Exploring Bach’s Voices

There is a Bach Festival prelude concert at the Drake in Amherst on Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at 7:30pm. Hosted by UMass music history professor Evan MacCarthy, it features selections from Bach’s vast output, including music from the Mass in B Minor, the highlight of the 2023 Festival. Tickets are $20 general admission; students/children free.

Bach in the Subways performances
March 31 – April 2, 2023

Since 2015, local western Massachusetts musicians, professionals and students alike, have participated in the international Bach in the Subways (BitS) movement, which celebrates Bach’s birthday, as a prelude to the UMass Amherst Bach Festival. In 2023, free “BitS” performances in downtown Amherst include (times subject to change):

Friday, 3/31: Collective Copies @ 12:30pm; Unnameable Books @ 1:30pm; Amherst Books @ 3pm
Saturday, 4/1: Amherst Books @ 11:15am; Stamell Strings @ 1pm; Unnameable Books @ 2:15pm
Sunday, 4/2: The Drake @ 4pm featuring musicians from the area and a performance of Bach’s Concerto in C Minor for Violin and Oboe and Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major

Additional Prelude Concerts:

Bach in Bezanson – Violin Studio
Elizabeth Chang, faculty coordinator
Sunday, March 26 @ 7:30pm in Bezanson Hall, Free

Bach in Bezanson – Cello Studio
Edward Arron, faculty coordinator
Sunday, April 9 @ 9pm in Bezanson Hall, Free

Five College Early Music Collegium
Michael Barrett, director
Thursday, April 20 @ 5:30pm in Bezanson Hall, Free
Altbach: J.S. Bach’s 17th-century predecessors and influences