Sunday, January 11 at 3:00 pm: Seattle Bach Festival – From Vivaldi’s Venice to Leipzig: Bach’s Italian Inspiration
On The Boards Theater, 100 W Roy St, Seattle
While Bach never left Germany, his musical world was shaped by the vibrant sounds of Venice, particularly through the works of Antonio Vivaldi. Bach studied many of Vivaldi’s works from the inside out, making arrangements of Vivaldi concertos to suit his own musical purposes. Experience the expressive power of Bach and Vivaldi arias and Venetian gondola songs as Jacob Perry weaves together soaring melodies and dramatic storytelling. Feel the chill and exhilaration of Vivaldi’s iconic “Winter” from The Four Seasons, danced by Tshedzom Tingkhye and Alejandro Frederickson in new choreography by Anna Mansbridge. The concert also features dazzling works for trumpet and strings, featuring baroque trumpet virtuosa Kris Kwapis. Light up your New Year with this program exploring song, dance and the enduring spirit of baroque Venice – La Serenissma – which so inspired Bach. Details Here
Saturday, January 17 at 7:30 pm: Meany Center presents Broken Branches
Meany Hall, 4100 15th Ave NE, Seattle
Karim Sulayman — lauded for his “velvety tenor and pop-star charisma” (BBC Music Magazine) — joins guitarist Sean Shibe, whose “music-making is masterful, beautiful and convincing in every way” (The Times, UK), for an intimate recital of music ranging from the Middle Ages to the present. This compelling musical journey examines the close cultural and musical ties between East and West, reflecting the artists’ personal experiences with roots in Lebanon and Japan. Details Here
Saturday, January 17 at 7:30 pm (candlelight): Gallery Concerts presents Coffee Break
The Chapel at Good Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside Ave N, Seattle
Yes, Seattle loves its coffee. So did J.S. Bach. And Telemann. And so many others. Ingrid Matthews, Josh Romatowski, Nathan Whittaker, and Jillon Stoppels-Dupree bring us to Leipzig’s favorite caffeination station, Zimmerman’s Coffeehaus, where Bach and Telemann premiered many of their most famous chamber works to an eager public. So grab a mug, grind some beans, and take a coffee break to feel the buzz of some great music! Details Here
Sunday, January 18 at 3:00 pm: Gallery Concerts presents Coffee Break
Blessed Sacrament Church, 5050 8th Avenue NE, Seattle
Same program as January 17
Sunday, February 8 at 4:00 pm: Recorders in Recital
Faith Lutheran Church, 8208 18th Ave NE, Seattle
Please join Vicki Boeckman and her students playing solo sonatas, trio sonatas, and duets by baroque masters. Composers represented will be Bach, Corelli, Telemann, Loeillet, Handel and Sammartini as well as an original work by Jack Bye. Guest harpsichordist Jillon Stoppels Dupree. Free admission.
Saturday, February 14 at 7:30 pm: Infusion Baroque – East is East
The Chapel at Good Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside Ave N, Seattle
With guest artists Amir Amiri (santur), Hamin Honari (tombak and daf), and Vidita Kanniks (soprano), “East is East” brings together music with ancient roots in Persia, India and Europe, performed on traditional and period instruments. In the 17th and 18th centuries, colonialism resulted in the exoticism and appropriation of Eastern music and culture. What was considered “Oriental” musical style had little to do with actual music performance traditions in the East and was based on particular idiosyncrasies defined by European composers. A postmodern response to colonisation, this program highlights shared commonalities and a convergence of Eastern and Western performance practice. From shared improvisations on a ground bass to exploring the Persian Radif system, “East is East” features works composed by Amiri, Fux and Monteverdi, and inspired by Persian, Indian, and European traditional dances. Details Here
Sunday, February 15 at 2:00 pm: Constantinople – Bach & Khayyam
Town Hall Seattle, 1119 8th Ave, Seattle
Constantinople: Kiya Tabassian, setar/director; Didem Başar, Kanun; Patrick Graham, percussion; Tanya Laperrière, baroque violin & viola d’amore
Guest artists: Hana Blažíková, soprano; Neva Özgen, kemençe; Michael Angers, theorbo & baroque guitar; Johanna Rose, viola da gamba; Tineke Steenbrink, organ
Even if more than 600 years separates the life of John-Sebastien Bach (1685 -1750) and Omar Khayyam (1048 -1131), these two genius were made to meet each other. Their visions of the world, as a perfect match of mathematics mastery and a super high level of spirituality, bring these two men in a delightful dialogue and traces a clear path to the sublime. In this program Constantinople brings these two artists into a dialogue, where the sacred and spirituality transcend borders. For this new creation Constantinople proposes arrangements of some of the most beautiful spiritual songs and arias of JS Bach in dialogue with poems of Omar Khayyam sung in Persian and responding to Bach’s songs. Details Here
Friday, March 6 at 7:30 pm: Seattle Bach Festival – ‘Til Death do us Part
Christ Church, 310 N. K St, Tacoma
Music for beginnings and endings, for a wedding and a funeral, from the Bach Family Archive. JS Bach descended from a long line of gifted musicians, and considered Johan Christoph Bach to be a “profound composer”. This emotionally rich repertoire features a tapestry of solo voices, viola da gamba consort, violin and continuo. Note this concert includes Vicki Boeckman on recorder. Details Here
Saturday, March 7 at 10:00 am: Seattle Bach Festival – The Cantata Trail Session 3: ‘Til Death do us Part
ArtLove Salon at the Conru Art Foundation, 110 Union St Suite 500, Seattle
The Cantata Trail The Cantata Trail is an exploration of Johann Sebastian Bach’s music, with special focus on his cantatas and other vocal works. This session focuses on the program “Til Death do us Part” with BWV 106 “Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit” and works by Johann Chrisoph and Johann Michael Bach. FREE REGISTRATION for this event! Donations accepted. Details Here
Saturday, March 7 at 7:30 pm: Seattle Bach Festival – ‘Til Death do us Part
Trinity Lutheran, 6215 196th St SW, Lynnwood
Same program as March 6.
Saturday, March 7 at 8:00 pm: Byrd Ensemble present Flemish Masters – Josquin, Gombert, Crecquillon
Holy Rosary Church, 4139 42nd Ave SW, Seattle
Featuring music by three seminal Renaissance composers from the 15th and 16th-century Flemish School: Josquin des Prez, Nicolas Gombert, and Thomas Crecquillon. Accompanying these works are two contemporary pieces by British composers Kerensa Briggs and Gabriel Jackson, whose music draws inspiration from Renaissance masterpieces. Details Here
Sunday, March 8 at 3:00 pm: Seattle Bach Festival – ‘Til Death do us Part
First Baptist Church Seattle, 1111 Harvard Ave, Seattle
Same program as March 6.
Sunday, March 8 at 3:00 pm: Gallery Concerts presents Happy Hour
Blessed Sacrament Church, 5050 8th Avenue NE, Seattle
A hard day’s work deserves a particularly nice reward. And is there a better reward than drinking in an hour of watching virtuosic music for the violin?!? In this year’s Solo Spotlight, Brazilian phenomenon Edson Scheid returns to Gallery Concerts with his special brand of elegant and tasteful, yet irrefutably virtuosic, fireworks in a Solo Sonata of J.S. Bach, Caprices of Nicolo Paganini, and the famous Grand Caprice on Schubert’s Erlkönig by Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst. Details Here
Sunday, March 15 at 3:00 pm: Seattle Bach Choir – Myths
Trinity Parish Episcopal Church, 609 8th Ave, Seattle
Tales of Greek myth have fascinated musicians since ancient times. Not the least of these is Johannes Brahms in his setting of Schiller’s poem Nänie. This funeral song makes nameless reference to three especially familiar myths, including that of Orpheus. The program also includes works by Bach, Handel, Beethoven, and more. Details Here.
Sunday, April 19 at 3:00 pm: Sound Salon presents Temple de la Gloire
Washington Hall, 153 14th Ave, Seattle
Guillermo Salas-Suárez presents a sumptuous program of French Baroque music joined by Caroline Nicolas, Joshua Romatowksi, and Byron Schenkman. While undeniably influenced by the drive and energy of their Italian neighbors, French composers like Couperin, Rameau, Leclair, and Jacquet de la Guerre remain unsurpassed in their search for ecstasy and tenderness. Telemann also tried his hand at the French style, and the Chaconne that ends his Sixth Parisian Quartet, and this program, is among the most glorious music he ever wrote. Details Here
Thursday, April 30 at 7:30 pm: Philippe Jaroussky and Artaserse – La Gelosia
Town Hall Seattle, 1119 8th Ave, Seattle
Recognized for the pyrotechnic character of his vocal art, Philippe Jaroussky has also recently joined the field of orchestral conducting. With his own ensemble founded in 2002, he takes on this double role of soloist and conductor and offers a bouquet of 18th century Italian cantatas on the passionate theme of jealousy. Featuring the music of Scarlatti, Durante, Galuppi, Porpora, and Vivaldi. Details Here
Saturday, May 2 at 7:30 pm: Lindsey Strand-Polyak – Sei sola
The Chapel at Good Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside Ave N, Seattle
Violinists in the 17th century often led lives along borderlines— traveling across political and religious boundaries in search of work and recognition. They sought to distinguish themselves as artists, not merely common fiddlers. They began to find that recognition through displays of ingenuity, marvel and virtuosity. Their most inventive compositions were not exposed to the public through printed copies. They began life with intimate performances to royal or religious patrons at private court presentations. In this unusual and exhilarating program, baroque violinist Lindsey Strand-Polyak brings these emotionally complex tiny masterpieces to the public stage. These rarely performed pieces for solo violin—from Westhoff’s Suite from Mercure galant performed for King Louis XIV, to Colombi’s “Tromba” performed for Duke Francesco II of Modena—challenge our perception of early baroque music. Biber’s timeless Passacaglia, dedicated to Archbishop Khuenberg of Salzburg, concludes the program.
Interspersed throughout the music are short pieces of creative nonfiction written by Lindsey Strand-Polyak. These flash-fiction tales combine scholarly research, archival work and historical recreation, and complete the picture of these artist-composers as human beings navigating court politics, religious differences, social class, and foreign lands. Through these manuscript pieces, we can immerse ourselves in the lives of these virtuosi violinists and witness them expanding the instrument’s capabilities while discovering what it meant to be a musician in the seventeenth century. Details Here
Saturday, May 2 at 7:30 pm: Byrd Ensemble presents Handel – Dixit Dominus
Town Hall Seattle, 1119 8th Ave, Seattle
The Byrd Ensemble and players present a program inspired by the Carmelite Vespers of 1707. The program features Handel’s Dixit Dominus, Laudate pueri, Nisi Dominus, Saeviat tellus inter rigores, and chant, for baroque orchestra, choir, and soloists. The program features guest concertmaster and internationally acclaimed violinist, Augusta McKay Lodge. Details Here
Sunday, May 3 at 3:00 pm: Byrd Ensemble presents Handel – Dixit Dominus
Holy Rosary Church, 4139 42nd Ave SW, Seattle
Same program as on May 2.
Sunday, May 3 at 2:00 pm: Twelfth Night Ensemble – Elemental
Town Hall Seattle, 1119 8th Ave, Seattle
Rachell Ellen Wong & David Belkovski, artistic directors
Julie Roset, soprano; Xenia Puskarz Thomas, mezzo-soprano
Influenced by the sounds of today, and with a vision for the future, the New York–based Twelfth Night Ensemble was formed “with the firm belief that art is best explored as a meeting place of the past, present, and future.” Timeless works by Handel, Vivaldi, Marais, J. S. Bach, and Destouches offer an illuminating vantage point and thoroughly rewarding musical experience in this unique exploration of humanity’s relationship to nature. Details Here
Saturday, May 9 at 10:00 am: Seattle Bach Festival – The Cantata Trail Session 4: The Triumph of Love over Fear
ArtLove Salon at the Conru Art Foundation, 110 Union St Suite 500, Seattle
The Cantata Trail The Cantata Trail is an exploration of Johann Sebastian Bach’s music, with special focus on his cantatas and other vocal works. This session focuses on the program “The Triumph of Love over Fear.” (see May 10 below). FREE REGISTRATION for this event! Donations accepted. Details Here
Sunday, May 10 at 3:00 pm: Seattle Bach Festival – The Triumph of Love over Fear
First Baptist Church Seattle, 1111 Harvard Ave, Seattle
Join us for a program of profound beauty and uplifting spirit at the Seattle Bach Festival, as we explore “The Triumph of Love Over Fear.” Featuring Bach’s powerful motet BWV 228, “Fürchte dich nicht” (Be not afraid), this program journeys through the dark nights of the soul to emerge in radiant hope and love. Experience the comforting embrace of Cantata BWV 6 “Jesu bleib bei uns” (Jesus, stay with us) and the resolute faith of Cantata BWV 97 “In allen meinen Taten” (In all my deeds). The lyrical voice of the oboe d’amore adds layers of tender reflection, reminding us that even in uncertain times, love’s light prevails. Let Bach’s timeless genius inspire your heart and renew your spirit. Details Here