Symposium Schedule

Department of Music & Dance, UMass Amherst
Friday evening & Saturday, April 25-26, 2025

Symposium events take place in the Bromery Center for the Arts, Bezanson Recital Hall, and will also be live-streamed.  See fee info below.
Registration form =>

Friday, 4/25/25 

4:00 – 5:15pm: Steven Beck, piano – Goldberg Variations Concert (Bezanson, free)

5:30 – 7:00pm: Dinner (Campus Center)

7:30 – 9:00pm: Panel Discussion – J.S. Bach and the 21st Century Canon (Bezanson, free)
Moderated by Ernest May (UMass Amherst)
Panelists: Walter Frisch (Columbia University), Wendy Heller (Princeton University), Christoph Wolff (Harvard University), Daniel R. Melamed (Indiana University), Evan MacCarthy (UMass Amherst)

Saturday, 4/26/25     Symposium (Bezanson Hall)

8:45-9:10am: Breakfast and registration (Bezanson Lobby)
9:10-9:15am: Welcoming remarks (Matthew Westgate, Music & Dance Department Chair)
9:15-10:45am: “Performance”
  • Mark Kroll (Boston University), “The Harpsichord Music of François Couperin and Johann Sebastian Bach: Influences, Connections and Transformations”
  • Edward Klorman (McGill University), “Bach’s Cello Suites before Pablo Casals: Three Case Studies”
  • Melanie Lowe (Vanderbilt University), “Rudolf Serkin’s Rolls with the Punches”

10:45-11am: Coffee/Tea (Bezanson Lobby)

11:00am-12:00pm: “Pedagogy”
  • Chiara Bertoglio (Conservatory of Cuneo): “Quantity and quality? Evolving approaches to Bach’s works in the programs of Italian Conservatories” (remote presentation)
  • Stephen Crist (Emory University), “Global Bach vs. Local Bach: Pedagogical Reflections”
12:00-1:00pm: Lunch (Location TBD)
1:15-2:15pm: Keynote Address: Daniel R. Melamed (Indiana University)
“Historical Bach Performance in the 21st Century”
Introduction by Lupe Davidson, Dean of the College of Humanities & Fine Arts
2:15-2:30pm: Break (Bezanson Lobby)
2:30-3:30pm: “Scholarship”
  • Yo Tomita (Queen’s University Belfast), “‘AI Kobayashi’: building a new AI-driven system for Bach Source Studies for the future”
  • Adrian So (Royal Holloway University of London), “Out of the Canon: The revival of J.S. Bach’s predecessor Johann Kuhnau in the 21st Century”
3:30-3:45pm: Coffee/Tea (Bezanson Lobby)
3:45-5:15pm: “Global Bach Reception”
  • Erinn Knyt (UMass Amherst), “J.S. Bach in Ghana”
  • Ruth Eldredge Thomas (Durham University), “Making Bach British: Bach and English Masculinity, ca. 1860”
  • Bogumila Mika (University of Silesia), “The Bach Festival in Swidnica (Poland) In the Context of New Cultural Challenges”
5:30-6:30pm: Closing Reception (Location TBD)
 
Sat. 7:30pm & Sun. 3pm: Festival Concert at Grace Episcopal Church, 14 Boltwood Ave, Amherst

 

Symposium Fees:
Remote attendees: Free; In-person attendees: $25; Students: $5 (lunch included)
Cash or check accepted on the day of the event.
Friday evening Panel Discussion is free to all.

Registration form =>

Skip to toolbar