Bach to Bach — Music Worcester will present 132 concerts over 11 years

In a development that could put Worcester in the center of a world-wide cultural map for a decade or more, Music Worcester will perform all of 18th century German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach's more than 1,000 compositions during the course of 132 concerts over the next 11 years, culminating on March 21, 2035, the 350th anniversary of his birth.

This will be one the first occasions, if not the first, that all of Bach's works have been performed live and in-person in a complete cycle. A project like this is possible in Worcester because of its unique musical resources and traditions, organizers said.

The Complete Bach project will be officially announced from the stage at a performance of Bach's Mass in B Minor by the Worcester Chorus and the Orchestra from Emmanuel Boston in Mechanics Hall on May 5. The majestic choral work will be a beginning and end point. In a piece of symmetry, Bach's Mass in B Minor will be the final work to be performed at the conclusion of the project in 2035.

Chris Shepard, artistic director and conductor of the Worcester Chorus, will be the Ruth Susan Westheimer artistic director of the Complete Bach Project under the auspices of Music Worcester. The project will get underway with concerts in the fall.

Shepard said that as far as he knows, "I think we will be the first do a complete cycle like this live ... We have a real desire to make Worcester a cultural destination for this and bring all of Bach's music to Worcester."

'Total engagement with the works of Bach'

Twelve annual concerts a year for 11 years will mostly take place over the course of two special weekends each year in October and March. The 12 concerts will be seven vocal, three keyboard (two organ and one piano or harpsichord), and two instrumental concerts yearly. A special BACHtoberfest Choir will be formed for concerts in October.

Music Worcester said it will bring together a wide range of musical organizations to be known as the Worcester Bach Collective to collaborate on the project. This includes the Handel and Haydn Society and Emmanuel Music from Boston; the Worcester Chamber Music Society; and Worcester area singing choruses such as the Salisbury Singers, church choirs, and college choirs.

Mechanics Hall, an artistic partner for The Complete Bach project, will host many of the concerts. Other performances will be at Tuckerman Hall, the Worcester Art Museum and area churches, and also in the city’s newer and more cutting-edge venues such as local breweries and coffeehouses, including Worcester’s Redemption Rock Brewing. 

Concerts for the Complete Bach project will take up to half of Music Worcester's season each year, said the organization's executive director Adrien C. Finlay. However, Music Worcester will also stay true to presenting seasons that include its usual mix of classical, jazz, world music and more, he said.

With The Complete Bach, Music Worcester saw an opportunity it felt it could successfully explore.

“This multi-year, total engagement with the works of Bach celebrates exactly what makes Music Worcester unique,” Finlay said.

Bringing the pieces together

“In recent years our artistic planning discussions here at Music Worcester have increasingly focused on how can we leverage our assets, both internal and environmental, to further the arts and culture sector. Those assets include our 165 year tenure presenting concerts, often at historic Mechanics Hall ... the Worcester Chorus, which has been a central component of Music Worcester since our founding in 1858, Chris Shepard’s remarkable journey with the Chorus, leading them to new artistic heights over his 15-year tenure, and his encyclopedic knowledge of Bach. Music Worcester has never truly explored how to bring these components together,” Finlay said.

It is very early to estimate how much the totality of the project will cost, and Finlay said an initial figure of $5 million would probably be lower than the actual amount.

Shepard is also director of CONCORA (Connecticut Choral Artists), Connecticut’s oldest professional choir in Hartford, which will be part of the Worcester Bach Collective. Shepard is an expert on Bach, and his doctoral thesis for the University of Sydney in Sydney, Australia, examined the performance history of Bach’s B Minor Mass in America.  He led BACH2010, a project in which his Sydneian Bach Choir & Orchestra presented all of Bach’s choral cantatas in Sydney.

Eighteen months ago, Shepard said Finlay approached him with the idea of Music Worcester performing all of Bach's choral cantatas. Shepard countered with "why not all of them (Bach's compositions)?"

Shepard said "Adrien's idea was audacious. My idea was crazy. To his credit, he didn't bat an eye."

The idea quickly caught on. For example, Kathleen M. Gagne, executive director of Mechanics Hall, saw the significance immediately, Shepard said.

"One of the most exciting things is everyone has grasped instantly how extraordinary this is. The community of musicians get it right away. They all want to be part of it. I hope that people will want to flock to Worcester," Shepard said.

Suffice it to say that Shepard knows what he's going to be doing for the next 11 years.

"Everyone's comment is, 'I hope I'm alive at the end of this.' To which I say, 'I hope I'm alive at the end of this,'" Shepard said.

A titan of classical music

JS Bach (1685-1750) was a prolific composer of more than 1,000 works varying in length across a variety of instruments and forms including orchestral music, solo instrumental, keyboard, organ works and choral compositions.

“As we approach the 350th anniversary of Bach’s birth, we are committed to honoring this titan with a celebration befitting his place in history,” Shepard said. “Such is the giant of his genius that all Western composers after him have had to grapple with his legacy, whether they embraced it or rejected it.  The legacy of Western music up to his era flowed into Bach’s enormous musical intellect, and it was refracted through the lens of his genius to all composers who followed him.”

From the beginning The Complete Bach project "was conceived to be community based," Shepard said.

With Worcester in the center, ripples in a pond could also reach internationally renowned musicians who want to be a part of this as well, which is what has happened, Shepard said.

For the next 11 years, the last weekend of October will be celebrated as Bachtoberfest. The inaugural weekend celebration Oct. 25 to 27 includes five concerts highlighted by an Oct. 26 Mechanics Hall performance of the Six Cello Suites by one of the preeminent cellists of his generation, Zlatomir Fung.

The Bach Birthday Bash, celebrated on the closest weekend to March 21 until 2035, offers four concerts, scheduled March 21-23, 2025, that include acclaimed pianist Jeremy Denk playing the Keyboard Partitas Friday March 21 and the Handel and Haydn Society with Ian Watson performing the Concertos for Two Harpsichords on March 22.

These festival weekend concerts will be part of Music Worcester’s 2024-25 season.   Also on the schedule next season will be the Worcester Chamber Music Society performing Bach's Christmas Cantatas on Dec. 6, and Mark Mummert and Wesley Hall will give a joint organ recital of Bach compositions on April 27.

In addition to the New England-based partner ensembles who will give repeat performances throughout the project, The Complete Bach will generate a "new lens" for Music Worcester in its programming at-large, providing an opportunity for guest artists and ensembles to incorporate Bach into the programs they bring to Worcester.  Shepard said that “this project was partly inspired by the spectacular Music Worcester performances in recent years of Bach’s music by such ensembles as The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, A Far Cry, The Knights and Apollo’s Fire.  Our audience’s enthusiasm for their performances showed us that there is a real hunger for Bach’s music here in the heart of New England."

While still very early in the planning process to name all of the many vocal and instrumental soloists who will take part in the project, Shepard said "three instrumentalists who have had long associations with Music Worcester —pianist and former Music Worcester artist-in-residence  Simone Dinnerstein (and her Brooklyn-based chamber orchestra Baroklyn), violinist and also Music Worcester's most artist-in-residence Vijay Gupta, and conductor/keyboardist Ian Watson — will play an important role in helping to present all of Bach’s music in Worcester.”

'Quirky history' makes program possible

Reflecting Bach’s own career working with both professional and avocational musicians, The Complete Bach project will also provide opportunities for choral singers around the country and beyond to participate in this historic project.  Individual choral singers can come to Worcester for Bachtoberfestand be part of the BACHtoberfest Choir each year that will present a concert of choral cantatas.  Shepard said, “We hope to involve other Bach choirs from America and around the world who will put Massachusetts on their tour itinerary and present a concert as they travel here.  We are also in discussions with several international festivals about ways in which we might place The Complete Bach in a global context in our own tours as well.”

Music Worcester’s "quirky history is what makes this extraordinary project possible,” Shepard said. “Yes, we are well-known as a presenter of first-rate performers, but we also have the Worcester Chorus, which I love to refer to as the 'vestigial arm' of the organization, since it was founded as a fundamental part of the original Festival.  With more than half of each years’ concerts showcasing Bach’s choral works, it is impossible to present The Complete Bach without a choir that can handle a good chunk of the cantatas and major choral works."

Furthermore, the Worcester Bach Collective brings together ensembles from Worcester’s rich choral community, including community, church, and college choirs, as well as the Worcester Children’s Chorus. And Worcester also boasts a number of beautiful churches whose historic organs will showcase the organ repertoire in a wide variety of performance styles in addition to the historic Mechanic s Hall organ, Shepard said.

The Complete Bach will include the podcast "Unlocking Bach," and Destination Bach will enlist travel and tourism affiliations throughout Central Massachusetts. Throughout the project, Music Worcester will engage with area schools

More information can be found at THECOMPLETEBACH.ORG.

The Worcester Chorus: Bach B Minor Mass. Presented by Music Worcester

When: 4 p.m. May 5

Where: Mechanics Hal, 321 Main St., Worcester

How much: $45 to $55; students, $17.50; youth, $7.50. musicworcester.org

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Complete Bach — Music Worcester to present 132 concerts over 11 years