For the third consecutive year, a classical music festival that has routinely sold out since its New York debut will return to the Upper West Side in May, drawing world-class performers from across the country to two neighborhood churches.
The Bach Virtuosi Festival (BVF) runs May 12 through 19, bringing some of the finest interpreters of Johann Sebastian Bach’s music worldwide to the Upper West Side for performances of many of the composer’s most beloved works.
The festival opens Tuesday, May 12 at St. Ignatius of Antioch Episcopal Church (264 West 87th Street) with a program featuring Bach’s Concerto for Three Violins in D Major, Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor, and A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.
On Friday, May 15, the festival moves to the intimate Good Shepherd-Faith Presbyterian Church (152 West 66th Street) for a rare performance of The Goldberg Variations, widely considered one of the greatest keyboard works ever written. The piece will be performed by harpsichordist Arthur Haas, recipient of Early Music America’s 2023 Howard Mayer Brown Award for Lifetime Achievement and one of the most sought-after performers and teachers of Baroque music in the United States. Haas has given seven performances of The Goldberg Variations across the country since 2021.
The festival closes Tuesday, May 19 back at St. Ignatius with a staged performance of Bach’s “Coffee Cantata” (Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht), directed by award-winning director Annette Jolles. Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major is another closing night highlight.
“J.S. Bach is a foundational figure in music, as vibrant today as he was over the past three centuries. Hearing this sublime music in intimate surroundings within our New York communities has been a dream fulfilled,” said BVF founder and conductor Lewis Kaplan, a Juilliard School faculty member and former longtime director of the Bowdoin International Music Festival, where he led programming for 50 years. “With sold-out concerts and incredible support from the community, we have all created something special in New York.”
Tickets are on sale now, with free admission for students with valid ID. The complete concert schedule and additional festival information are available at bachvirtuosifestival.org.
