When the entire Bach Festival Choir and Orchestra is assembled, they provide a feast for the eye and the ear in a magnificent setting—the Knowles Memorial Chapel on the campus of Rollins College. This year, Artistic Director John V. Sinclair will mark his 36th season at the helm of the presenting organization, the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park. | Courtesy Bach Festival Society of Winter Park
Most locals can’t remember a time when anyone other than John V. Sinclair wielded the baton at the annual Bach Festival, an internationally acclaimed monthlong series of performances that feature musical extravaganzas with the full choir and orchestra as well as more intimate ensemble and choral concerts.
Presented each February by the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, the festival will mark its 91st season this year—Sinclair has been artistic director for 36 of those years—with a full slate of performances on the campus of Rollins College, where Sinclair is also a professor of music.
The festival will open with an organ recital by Colin MacKnight, (Friday, February 6, Knowles Memorial Chapel, 7:30 p.m.), who has been hailed as “a stunning player of exceptional ability.” MacKnight will be followed by acclaimed British vocal ensemble VOCES8 (Sunday, February 15, Knowles Memorial Chapel, 7 p.m.).
VOCES8 performed at the festival in 2020, during the height of the pandemic, but you may not have seen them. Their concert was held at Trinity Prep because the school had an auditorium large enough to accommodate socially distanced seating.
“They’re one of the most prominent groups in the world,” says Sinclair. “So it’s great to finally be able to showcase them in Knowles Chapel.”
Between February 9 and 13, the festival will host its second annual National Oratorio Competition. Eight finalists will be invited to participate in coaching sessions, masterclasses and rehearsals. The public is invited to attend the competition’s final concert with the full orchestra (Friday, February 13, Knowles Memorial Chapel, 7:30 p.m.).
There, in addition to the announcement of first-, second- and third-place winners, an audience favorite will be selected. Says Sinclair: “These are the stars of tomorrow in classical music.”
Concertos by Candlelight: Guilmant, Paganini, Rachmaninoff (Friday and Saturday, February 20 and 21, Knowles Memorial Chapel, 7:30 p.m. both nights) will feature organist Paul Jacobs, chair of the organ department at the Juilliard School; pianist Byeol Kim, an assistant professor of music at Rollins; and violinist Routa Kroumovitch-Gomez, a professor of music at Stetson University.
They’ll perform, respectively, Alexandre Guilmant’s Symphony No. 1, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Niccolò Paganini’s Violin Concerto No. 2, also known as “La Campanella.” Renowned for its shimmering, bell-like melody and jaw-dropping virtuosity, the Paganini piece earned the violinist and composer a nickname: “The Devil’s Fiddler.”
Notes Sinclair: “It’s three virtuoso composers and three virtuoso players.” Naturally, then, you can expect Kroumovitch-Gomez’s performance to elucidate why it was said by some that demons were behind the prowess of Paganini.
Next, immerse yourself in an evening of iconic classical-era works with Age of Enlightenment: Hayden, Mozart, Beethoven (Sunday, February 22, Knowles Memorial Chapel, 3 p.m.). The full choir and orchestra will present Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Joseph Hayden’s Cello Concerto in C and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1.
Then, returning to the festival after enchanting audiences two seasons ago will be Fuoco Obbligato (Saturday, February 28, Tiedtke Concert Hall, 3 p.m.), an eclectic Paris-based ensemble that features rising stars from Opera Fuoco’s Young Artists Program. Its repertoire spans Baroque cantatas to 20th-century art and folk songs.
The annual event will conclude with another combined choir and orchestra production, Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. John Passion (Sunday, March 1, Knowles Memorial Chapel, 3 p.m.). The work by the festival’s namesake is celebrated for its dramatic intensity and powerful storytelling.
For more information about the Bach Festival itself and other year-round programming from the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, call 407.646.2182 or visit bachfestivalflorida.org.
Colin MacKnight will open the festival with an organ choral recital, followed by the acclaimed British vocal ensemble VOCES8. The Concertos by Candlelight: Guilmant, Paganini, Rachmaninoff will feature organist Paul Jacobs, chair of the organ department at the Juilliard School, who will play Guilmant; pianist Byeol Kim, an assistant professor of music at Rollins, who will play Rachmaninoff; and violinist Routa Kroumovitch-Gomez, a professor of music at Stetson University, who will play Paganini. Returning to the festival will be Fuoco Obbligato, an eclectic Paris-based ensemble whose repertoire spans everything from Baroque cantatas to 20th-century art and folk songs. | Courtesy the Artists
