Boulder Bach Festival Announces 41st Season

BOULDER BACH FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 41^ST SEASON MUSIC @ its CORE FEATURING ENSEMBLE-IN-RESIDENCE COMPASS RESONANCE (CORE Ensemble) – INCLUDING PERFORMANCES THROUGHOUT THE SEASON AS WELL AS THE RETURN OF FESTIVAL WEEK

 The Boulder Bach Festival Week May 12-15 will feature four distinct programs with artists from around the globe. The festival not only explores the work of J.S. Bach but also contemporaries and later composers including women from the 17^th century to the present that were influenced by his work

 August 18, 2021: Boulder, CO: Boulder Bach Festival (BBF) celebrates its 41^st season by focusing on the musical journey of its resident ensemble COmpass REsonance (CORE Ensemble), a collective of leading baroque soloists and Colorado-based professional musicians. J.S. Bach’s music serves as the compass for the season as they navigate over 500 years of repertoire, performed on both period and modern instruments in a rich variety of stylistic and technical approaches. 

“After breaking from tradition in the upcoming October and December concerts, we tip our hats to the longevity of the BBF’s service to our community by presenting Festival Week in May, focused on J.S. Bach’s profound influence over the centuries, and the transformative nature offered in the experience of hearing his music in a live concert setting, said co-director Zachary Carrettín. Festival Week will include masterclasses, lectures, an art exhibit, an artist meet-and-greet, and four distinct concert programs in four days/evenings. “We’re bringing some of the finest interpreters of Bach’s music, artists that connect directly with the audience in a personal way, including musicians from London, Amsterdam, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and of course, Colorado. While Festival Week might become a tradition for years to come, the music interpretations are fresh and alive, embracing the individuality of the artists, just as this music did three hundred years ago!”

The season begins on October 23, 2021 at Longmont Museum in Longmont with Across Time Across Cultures featuring BBF co-directors violinist/conductor Zachary Carrettín and pianist/harpsichordist Mina Gajic performing works in romantic style with Moorish-Andalusian, Roma, and Sephardic influences including Pablo Sarasate’s Romanza Andaluza and Joseph Achron’s Hebrew Melody. Gajic continues with colorful solo piano works from her homeland Balkan Dances by Marko Tajcevic, and Carrettín performs unaccompanied Bach played in his distinctive, intimate manner.

For the second half of the program, violinist Lina Bahn joins Gajic for the seldom-heard D’un matin de printemps by Lili Boulanger. Bahn then travels back in time to perform the unaccompanied Passacaglia in G Minor for solo violin by Heinrich Ignaz Biber. Colorado Symphony Orchestra double bassist Nicholas Recuber appears in his own arrangement of music by Telemann, finally joined by the entire ensemble in the Colorado premiere of American composer Raymond Granlund. Composed for Carrettín, these passionate quartet pieces explore the tango with influences ranging from Bach to Poulenc. 

 On December 17 and December 19, 2021 at the Broomfield Auditorium, CORE, led by Carrettín, will perform his intimate rendition of George Frideric Händel’s Messiah (Part 1: Christmas). The ensemble includes a vocal quartet comprised of soprano Mara Riley, mezzo-soprano Claire McCahan (World Bach Competition winner), tenor Daniel Hutchings, baritone Adam Ewing and a one-per-part baroque orchestra. CORE opens the program with Arcangelo Corelli’s adored Concerto Noel, a masterpiece of the concerto grosso genre.  

 Festival Week takes place May 12-15 at the First Congregational Church in Historic Downtown Boulder, featuring four programs over four afternoons and evenings: Contemporaneous Concertos (May 12), Voices of the Chamber (May 13), Next Generations (May 14), and The Intimacy of J.S. Bach. While the festival explores the work of J.S. Bach and his contemporaries, it also features subsequent generation composers influenced by Bach. Principal players and soloists include top prize winners from Boulder International Chamber Music Competition and acclaimed guest artists. During the festival there will be daily lectures covering the repertoire for each program, two masterclasses, and four distinct programs that explore virtually every genre in which J.S. Bach composed, contextualized by the remarkable work of his senior, Johann Christoph Bach. 

 Contemporaneous Concertos opens Festival Week on May 12 with a solo concerto and concerto grosso genres. Carrettín leads the ensemble in works by Händel and Corelli in addition to J.S. Bach’s famous Concerto for Two Violins. Gajic presents the virtuosic and complex Harpsichord Concerto in D Minor, performing on the BBF’s double manual Flemish harpsichord. Violinist YuEun Kim, violist Jordan Bak, cellist Coleman Itzkoff, bassist Nicholas Recuber, and London-based continuo organist Christopher Holman collaborate with BBF core artists in this opening concert of Festival Week. Ysmael Reyes performs the Colorado premiere of a recently rediscovered concerto by Telemann—on the baroque flauto traverso. 

 Next Generations on May 14 explores work by later composers and features a rare 19th century Érard concert grand piano in pristine condition. The instrument traveled from Amsterdam to Boulder and offers a view into the colorful sound world that attracted many of the great turn-of-the-century pianists to the Érard piano. Pianist Mina Gajic and Dutch soprano Josefien Stoppelenburg collaborate on Clara Schumann’s lieder Lorelei, Liebeszaube, and Liebst du um Schönheit. Gajic also presents one of Mozart’s rich fantasias.  Violinist YuEun Kim, violist Jordan Bak, and cellist Coleman Itzkoff—all former prize winners and finalists at Boulder International Chamber Music Competition-Art of Duo—join Gajic for Mozart’s Piano Quartet in G Minor, which was performed by C. Schumann on an Érard piano at her final concert. The program also includes Gabriela Lena Frank’s Suenos de Chambi, influenced by the natural sounds of the Andes Mountains and Peruvian culture.

 The final concert of Festival Week on May 15, The Intimacy of J.S. Bach offers Bach in several genres, starting with the profound Cello Suite in C Minor, performed by Coleman Itzkoff. The program continues with the delightful early work Cantata BWV 196 (Der Herr denket an uns). The vocal quartet returns for a motet by J.C. Bach that reveals why the younger J.S. Bach called him “the profound Bach.” Christopher Holman offers a chorale prelude performed on the organ and then Ysmael Reyes, baroque flutist joins Carrettin, Kim, Bak, Itzkoff, Recuber, and Holman for J.S. Bach’s set of dances, the Orchestra Suite in B Minor. 

“BBF’s holistic approach to programming continues to offer audiences an insight into the world shared by the musicians on stage, said co-director Mina Gajic. “There is undeniable profundity and deep meaning in the music we present. Beyond the aesthetic experience and the visceral engagement of BBF and COmpass REsonance performances, audiences have to come expect the deeply personal, enriching internal experience such music offers. And while our mission is to present Bach’s music, exploring it in various contexts means presenting women composers of his time (and of today), Central and South American composers (of the Baroque Era all the way to today).”

 Additionally, CORE ripieno artists include some of the region’s finest interpreters of baroque music, including dynamic chamber musicians and artist faculty at several universities.

 

2021-22 Chronology of events

 Across Time Across Cultures

October 23, 2021 at 4:00pm and 7:30pm, 50% capacity

Stewart Auditorium, Longmont Museum

400 Quail Rd., Longmont, CO 80501

 

Featuring:

Lina Bahn and Zachary Carrettin, violin

Mina Gajic, piano

Nicholas Recuber, double bass

 

Repertoire:

Pablo Sarasate Romanza Andaluza

Joseph Achron Hebrew Melody

Marko Tajcevic Balkan Dances

J.S. Bach Sonata in A Minor for violin solo

Lili Boulanger D’un matin de printemps

H.I. von Biber Passacaglia in G Minor for violin solo

G.P. Telemann Fantasia No. 11 for viola da gamba solo (performed on double bass)

Ray Granlund Tango Peregrino (Colorado premiere)

Ray Granlund Tango jolie du printemps (Colorado premiere)

 

The tangos are scored for two violins, piano, and double bass, and are from a collection of tangos Granlund composed for Carrettin. Several of the tangos are featured on the next Sono Luminus CD recorded by Carrettin and Gajic, Balkan Dances and Tango Nuevo.

 

Please visit https://www.boulderbachfestival.org/about/2021-2022-season/october-23-across-time-across-cultures/ for more information

 

A Baroque Christmas—Händel's "Messiah" 50% capacity seating

December 17, 2021 at 7:30pm

December 19, 2021 at 2:00pm, family-friendly

Broomfield Auditorium

3 Community Park Rd., Broomfield, CO 80020

 

Featuring:

COmpass REsonance led by violinist Zachary Carrettín, along with vocal soloists Mara Riley, Claire McCahan, Dan Hutchings, and Adam Ewing.

 

Repertoire:

Corelli’s Concerto Noel

Händel’s Messiah (Christmas portion)

 

Performed one-per-part by instrumental and vocal soloists, Carrettin’s rendition of this adored Christmas masterpiece features thrilling tempos and contrapuntal clarity. CORE’S principal vocal artists deliver intimate arias juxtaposed with riveting choruses. (Ancient carols precede the concert in the lobby).

 

Please visit https://www.boulderbachfestival.org/about/2021-2022-season/december-17-19-a-baroque-christmas/ for more information

 

Festival Week

May 12–15, 2022

First Congregational Church, Historic Downtown Boulder

1128 Pine St, Boulder, CO 80302

 

Please visit https://www.boulderbachfestival.org/about/2021-2022-season/may-12-15-festival-week/ for more information

 

Contemporaneous Concertos

May 12, 2022

First Congregational Church, Historic Downtown Boulder

1128 Pine St, Boulder, CO 80302

 

Featuring:

Zachary Carrettin, Yu-Eun Kim, violin

Mina Gajic, harpsichord

Ysmael Reyes, Baroque flute

with COmpass Resonance Ensemble

 

J.S. Bach Concerto in D Minor for harpsichord, strings, basso continuo BWV 1052

G.F. Händel Concerto Grosso in F Major, Op. 6 No. 2

1. Corelli Concerto Grosso in D Major, Op. 6 No. 1

G.P. Telemann Concerto in G Major for flute, strings, basso continuo (Colorado premiere)

J.S. Bach Concerto in D Minor for two violins, strings, basso continuo BWV 1043

 

This program begins Festival Week with the wildly expressive concertos of J.S. Bach and his contemporaries, featuring dynamic and insightful soloists performing on violin, harpsichord, and baroque flute.

 

Please visit https://www.boulderbachfestival.org/about/2021-2022-season/may-12-contemporaneous-concertos/ for more information

 

Voices of the Chamber

May 13, 2022

First Congregational Church, Historic Downtown Boulder

1128 Pine St, Boulder, CO 80302

 

Featuring:

Claire McCahan, mezzo-soprano (a top prize winner at World Bach Competition)

Zachary Carrettin, Yu-Eun Kim, violin

Jordan Bak, viola (a finalist at Boulder International Chamber Music Competition Art of Duo)

Coleman Itzkoff, cello (a prizewinner at BICMC Art of Duo)

Ysmael Reyes, Baroque flute

Christopher Holman, organ and harpsichord

and additional vocal and instrumental artists of COmpass REsonance

 

Repertoire:

J.S. Bach Trio Sonata in G Major, BWV 1039

Johann Christoph Bach Lamento: Ach, dass ich Wassers gnug hätte

J.S. Bach Sonata in G Minor for viola da gamba and harpsichord obligato BWV 1029 (performed on viola)

Dario Castello Sonata in A Minor (Libro primo) for violin and basso continuo

Isabella Leonarda (Trio) Sonata Decima

Giovanni Legrenzi (Trio) Sonata La Cornara

G.P. Telemann Fantasia No. 1 for violin solo

J.S. Bach Motet: Komm, Jesu, komm BWV 229

 

Please visit https://www.boulderbachfestival.org/about/2021-2022-season/may-13-voices-of-the-chamber/  for more information

 

Next Generations

May 14, 2022

First Congregational Church, Historic Downtown Boulder

1128 Pine St, Boulder, CO 80302

 

Featuring:

Josefien Stoppelenburg, soprano (BBF 2022 artist-in-residence)

Mina Gajic, Érard historical piano, Paris, 1895

Yu-Eun Kim and Zachary Carrettin, violin

Jordan Bak, viola

Coleman Itzkoff, cello

 

Repertoire:

Clara Schumann selected lieder:

Lorelei; Liebeszauber; Liebst du um Schönheit

Gabriela Lena Frank Sueños de Chambi

W.A. Mozart Fantasia in D Minor, K. 397

Mozart Piano Quartet in G Minor, K. 478

 

Please visit https://www.boulderbachfestival.org/about/2021-2022-season/may-14-next-generations/ for more information

 

The Intimacy of J.S. Bach

May 15, 2022

First Congregational Church, Historic Downtown Boulder

1128 Pine St, Boulder, CO 80302

 

Featuring:

Coleman Itzkoff, cello

Christopher Holman, organ

Ysmael Reyes, Baroque flute

COmpass REsonance instrumental and vocal artists led by violinist Zachary Carrettin

 

J.S. Bach Suite in C Minor for Cello Solo

Cantata Der Herr denket an uns BWV 196

Chorale Prelude O Mensch bewein BWV 622

Johann Christoph Bach Motet: Es ist nun aus mit meinem Leben

J.S. Bach Orchestral Suite #2 in B Minor BWV 1067

 

Please visit https://www.boulderbachfestival.org/about/2021-2022-season/may-15-the-intimacy-of-j-s-bach/ for more information

 

Festival Week includes daily lectures, two masterclasses, an art exhibit, artist meet-and-greet, restaurant discounts, and recommended hiking.

 The BBF will observe precautionary measures and will communicate with ticket holders in the weeks prior to the concert, describing these protocols and what to expect. For more information and artist bios, please visit https://www.boulderbachfestival.org/

 

ABOUT BOULDER BACH FESTIVAL

Insightful and passionate musicians from across the planet collaborate in Boulder for Colorado's most unique series presenting 500 years of music.

 

ABOUT COMPASS RESONANCE ENSEMBLE

BBF's COmpass Resonance Ensemble is Colorado’s only professional chamber orchestra devoted to Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and post-Romantic period and modern instrument performance, in a variety of ensemble environments and stylistic contexts.