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BERKSHIRE BACH rings in the New Year with the SIX 'BRANDENBURG' CONCERTOS in Northampton, Great Barrington, and Troy



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 11, 2024

 

Great Barrington, December 11, 2024: The Berkshire Bach Society (BBS) returns with Bach at New Year’s—The Six ‘Brandenburg’ Concertos and Artistic Director Eugene Drucker leading the Berkshire Bach Ensemble on Monday, December 30 at 7pm at the Academy of Music (Northampton, MA), Tuesday, December 31 at 6pm at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center (Great Barrington, MA); and Wednesday, January 1 at 3pm at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall (Troy, NY). The Northampton performance is co-presented by Berkshire Bach and Classical NEPM; the Troy performance is co-presented by Berkshire Bach and WMHT.  Tickets for the performances are available through the box office at each venue. 

 

“Bach at New Year’s is a holiday tradition that began in 1993 as a marathon of Bach's six ‘Brandenburg’ Concertos,” said Terrill McDade, Executive Director of The Berkshire Bach Society. “In our 35th anniversary season we return to these iconic works and delight in showing off their remarkable character to our audiences.  Whenever we play the six concertos back-to-back, we marvel at Bach’s inventiveness, his command of form, and the ingenious way he creates six wonderful and totally distinct orchestral works that run the gamut of artistic expression.  They are quintessential Bach:  joyous, innovative, complex, satisfying—and a darn good musical work out for everyone!”

 

The ’Brandenburgs’ use a full orchestra of strings, winds, and harpsichord, with a touch of brass and were written over a period of years when Bach had highly skilled professional musicians at his disposal.  In fact, although they share a famous dedication to the Margrave of Brandenburg (and hence the moniker), Bach grouped and called the works a set only after the fact to satisfy a commission from the Margrave, probably choosing to recycle rather than create new works because the nobleman’s orchestra was more aspirational than real. In the event, the presentation manuscript was accepted, put in a drawer, and never used at the Margrave’s court.  It was rediscovered--and celebrated--in the 20th century.

 

Berkshire Bach audiences will recognize many of the virtuosi who have performed in Bach at New Year’s over the years (many since the beginning) and will be introduced to dazzling new players who continue to refresh the ensemble.  Our returning soloists include Artistic Director Eugene Drucker, Laura Lutzke, Brunilda Myftaraj, and Joel Pitchon, violin; Kenneth Weiss, harpsichord; Alison Hale and Judith Mendenhall, flute; Jessica Warren and Keve Wilson, oboe; Roberta Cooper, Ronald Feldman, and Alistair MacRae, cello; Ronald Gorevic and Liuh-Wen Ting, viola; Peter Weitzner, bass; and Maximilian Morel, high trumpet, who renders the clarino part in ‘Brandenburg’ No. 2 with thrilling aplomb. Newcomers Yevgeny Kutik, violin, Marka Gustavsson, viola, Charles Huang, oboe, Gina Cuffari, bassoon, and Karl Kramer Johansen and Zohar Schondorf, horn, round out the ensemble for their first ever Bach at New Year’s.

 

Join us in Northampton, Great Barrington, or Troy (NY) to celebrate the New Year with Berkshire Bach and hear the power, the beauty, and the triumph of Bach at New Year’s—The Six ‘Brandenburg’ Concertos.

 

Tickets for children under 18 and students with valid ID are always free. Visit www.berkshirebach.org for more information and follow us on Facebook.  Berkshire Bach is a 501(c)(3) non-profit membership organization that brings world-class performances of Baroque Music to the Berkshires and beyond.  

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