Cal Poly to Sponsor First ‘Bach Week’ on Campus, at Mission Jan. 20-24
The Cal Poly Music Department will present its first “Bach Week” from Jan. 20-24, with presentations and performances on campus and in Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa.
The Music Department has added events to complement its annual “Bach in the Mission” concert, including recitals by musicians of Mensa Sonora California as artists in residence.
Faculty members Thomas Davies and David Arrivée established “Bach in the Mission” in 2011 as an annual collaborative concert that would give Cal Poly student musicians the opportunity to rehearse and perform the vocal and instrumental music of Johann Sebastian Bach with faculty and local professionals.
The new “Bach Week” will feature a range of events, including a chamber music performance incorporating period instruments and a collaborative performance of large vocal and instrumental works by students and professionals. Free demonstrations and lectures will provide additional context for these performances.
The first event, “Inside Bach Week,” will be at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20, in the Pavilion of the Performing Arts Center on campus. Davies and Arrivée will take a look at the week's repertoire in the context of Bach's life and — in the case of cantatas — as it functioned in the religious context of the Lutheran church service. Musical examples and some German will be included.
The second event is a presentation titled “The Baroque Violin” at 11:10 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 22, in Room 218 in the Davidson Music Center. Guest artists Anthony Martin and David Wilson will demonstrate Baroque performance practice and discuss the Jan. 23 chamber concert, Before Bach.
“Before Bach,” set for 8 p.m. in Mission San Luis Obispo, will feature music performed on period instruments by the members of Mensa Sonora California: Anthony Martin, violin; David Wilson, violin; John Dornenburg, viola da gamba; and Charles Sherman, harpsichord.
The week’s final event will be “Bach in the Mission V” at 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24, in Mission San Luis Obispo. Cal Poly’s Early Music Ensemble, members of the Cal Poly Symphony, and faculty members will join the professional guest artists to perform the music of Bach, considered the greatest of the Baroque masters.
Admission to the campus events is free. Tickets for the Mission concerts are $18 for the public, $16 for seniors and $9 students. Discounts are offered on tickets to both Mission concerts at $32 for the public, $28 for seniors and $15 for students. Tickets are sold at the Performing Arts Ticket Office between noon and 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. To order by phone, call SLO-4TIX (756-4849). To order online, visit tickets.calpoly.edu. Tickets may also be purchased at the door the nights of the concerts.
The events are sponsored by Cal Poly’s College of Liberal Arts, Music Department, Instructionally Related Activities program, and Tevis Fund for Visiting Artists. Additional support for the Bach in the Mission concert is provided by the Handler and Steiner Family Fund.
For more information, visit the Bach Week website at bachweek.calpoly.edu or call the Music Department at 805-756-2406.