Oregon Bach Festival Celebrates Outstanding '24 Season: Venerable music institution draws largest OBF audience at the Hult Center’s Silva Concert Hall

[Eugene, OR] – Oregon Bach Festival (OBF) proudly announces the resounding success of its 2024 season, culminating in an extraordinary performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on July 14. This performance attracted OBF’s largest audience at Hult Center’s Silva Concert Hall since 2016, showcasing the festival’s enduring appeal.

Throughout 17 exhilarating days, the festival hosted more than 15,000 attendees at more than three dozen events held at 15 distinct venues across the region. "We are thrilled with the overwhelmingly positive response to this year's festival," James Boyd, OBF Director of Programming and Administration, said. "The enthusiastic reception to our diverse slate of performances reflects the widespread popularity of Oregon Bach Festival and our commitment to presenting exceptional programming."

The festival garnered critical acclaim, further highlighting its success and deep connection with the community.

Classical Voice North America’s Angela Allen praised the festival in her review of “Bach: Ascension Oratorio” on June 29, noting, “The joyful presentation and subsequent appreciation were small signs that the 54-year-old Oregon Bach Festival is fully back — and alive and thriving.”

Oregon Arts Watch’s Daryl Browne lauded the festival’s impact in her review of “Snider: Mass for the Endangered” on June 30, remarking, “The festival has gifted us with music that touches lives for over half a century.”

This year's programming was notably distinguished by two world premieres, a noteworthy West Coast premiere, and two special commissions. Among these, “Prelude and Fugue (and Riffs, too)” by composer Damien Geter, inaugurated the festival’s “New Transcriptions Project.” The initiative commissions composers from underrepresented communities to reimagine Bach for the festival’s Modern Orchestra, introducing today’s audiences to the musical genius of the eighteenth-century composer.

As the festival looks toward its 2025 season with great anticipation, excitement is building around the programming of OBF’s new artistic partners, Craig Hella Johnson and Jos van Veldhoven, who will begin in their new roles next year. The 2024 festival will run June 27 through July 15.

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Oregon Bach Festival has presented the masterworks of J.S. Bach, and composers inspired by his work, to audiences in Eugene and throughout the State of Oregon for more than five decades. In addition to traditional choral-orchestral masterworks, the festival also presents internationally renowned guest artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Midori, Pink Martini, and Philip Glass, and offers educational opportunities, children and family programing, and community events.

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The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon's flagship public university. The UO School of Music and Dance presents more than 300 concerts and events during the academic year featuring scholars, guest artists, faculty artists, and student ensembles. The wealth of concert material ranges from contemporary dance to African dance, early and classical music to contemporary music, world music, and jazz.