Carmel Bach Festival Prepares for 68th Season July 16 - August 6

Carmel Bach Festival Prepares for 68th Season July 16 - August 6

CARMEL, Calif., June 9 /PRNewswire/ -- One of the oldest and most prestigious music festivals in the West is busy preparing for its 68th Season on the Monterey Peninsula. The Carmel Bach Festival has brought the music of the Baroque to the communities of the Monterey Peninsula since 1935. The Festival is a 23 day celebration of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, his contemporaries, and musical heirs. The Festival offers its brilliant musical experience to new audiences through performances by international artists, a unique and stimulating slate of concerts, recitals, public master classes, instrumental and vocal music, lectures, informal talks as well as educational and family events.

The program for the 68th Season explores the relationship and influences of the great master Bach on the 19th-Century titan and ground-breaking romantic we know as Ludwig van Beethoven. We will enjoy discovering how Bach's music was studied and revered by Beethoven, and how inspired and informed his masterwork, the 9thSymphony, as well as his early chamber music and late string quartets were by Bach and the 18th-Century.

Attendees will have the opportunity to experience performances at six venues. Main concerts are held each evening except Wednesdays at the newly renovated Sunset Theater in Carmel. Friday's feature Beethoven's 9th Symphony; Saturdays offer a program of lesser-known Bach Cantatas; Sunday afternoons experience Bach's Mass in B Minor; Mondays showcase Vivaldi's Four Seasons, and Tuesdays are Classical Symphony Night - Beethoven, Mozart and Haydn. On Thursday evenings, starting at 5:30, all 6 Brandenburg Concertos, will be performed at Sunset Center. On Wednesday evenings, the Carmel Mission Basilica hosts the exhilarating Festival Chorale, vocal soloists and instrumental ensemble performing Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610.

Enjoy intimate afternoon performances of the Recital Series at All Saints Church, including Bach's solo cantatas, a weekly solo harpsichord recital, mixed instrumental chamber music and a program of Solo Songs from 17th Century Venice. The Church in the Forest in Pebble Beach is the spectacular location of the Twilight Series with performances of chamber music masterpieces, as well as the premier of our Youth Chorus performing choral music spanning three centuries.

A new venue for 2005 is the Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa hosting two distinct and unique programs -- Glorious Brass on July 10th and Serenade for Strings on July 24th, outside on the Upper Plaza as a part of the Concerts on the Bay Series. The Carmel Bach Festival is also taking the music "on the road", transporting the entire performance of Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 to Old First Presbyterian Church in San Francisco.

The Carmel Bach Festival continues its commitment to the community through the Discovery Series. The Discovery Series presents a rich array of more than 50 FREE events throughout the Festival. These events include pre-concert talks, instrument demonstrations, performer panels, scholarly lectures, vocal master classes, open rehearsals, outdoor brass serenades, and family-oriented youth concerts. The main purpose of the Discovery Series is to introduce new audiences to Bach and Baroque music and to develop and enrich the knowledge of current Festival attendees. In addition, the Discovery Series showcases and develops the music talent of local youth and allows the community the opportunity to interact with Festival musicians and performers.

Tickets prices range from $15 - $55. To purchase tickets or for further Festival information, log onto www.bachfestival.org or call 831-624-2046.

CONTACT: Karma Simons Carmel Bach Festival +1-831-624-1521 Fax: +1-831-624-2788 info@bachfestival.org

Source: Carmel Bach Festival

CONTACT: Karma Simons of Carmel Bach Festival, +1-831-624-1521, or fax, +1-831-624-2788, or info@bachfestival.org

Web site: http://www.bachfestival.org/

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