Carmel Bach Festival announces 86th Season | July 15-29, 2023

Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif. — The Carmel Bach Festival is thrilled to present its 86th season titled, “beginnings,” July 15-29, 2023. General ticket sales open April 1. 

 Enjoy more than 50 events including Main Concerts, Chamber Concerts, pre-concert talks, open masterclasses by the Virginia Best Adams Masterclass and Baroque & Classical Academy, the Family Concert, and more.  

“The Festival's theme, ‘beginnings,’ will reveal how composers and performers are innovative, creative, and affirming,” said Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Grete Pedersen. “They can show us paths, familiar and unknown, outwards to the world and inwards to ourselves.  

I am delighted and humbled to become a part of Carmel Bach Festival's rich and fascinating tradition. Together with our highly skilled musicians, staff, and volunteers, I very much look forward to meeting you this summer in a soundscape of old and new ‘beginnings.’” 

“This is not just another production of Haydn’s Creation,” says Artistic Director Grete Pedersen. In this inspired rendition of Haydn’s Creation featuring the Festival Orchestra, Chorale, Chorus, and Vocal Soloists, Pedersen highlights Haydn’s brilliant work with elements of modern-day technology and scientific discovery.  

Artistic Advisor and Director of Choral Activities Andrew Megill leads a program titled “Father and Son” in special Sunday afternoon performances inspired by C.P.E. Bach’s 1786 concert in Hamburg honoring his father, J.S. Bach. The concert celebrates the Bach family’s legacy and the musical bond between father and son.  

Concertmaster Peter Hanson presents Bach’s miniature comic opera “Coffee Cantata” featuring Soprano Clara Rottsolk, Tenor Thomas Cooley, and Bass-Baritone Enrico Lagasca. Also featured are an organ concerto performed by Andrew Arthur, a double trumpet concerto, and the delightful Brandenburg Concerto No. 4. 

Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Grete Pedersen will direct “Bach Dialogues” on Tuesday nights at the Sunset Center. This concert pairs J.S. Bach’s masterpiece Magnificat with stunning music by Helmet Friedrich Lachenmann, Franz Schubert, Mahler, and others.  

Andrew Megill directs “In the Beginning: Hymns, Psalms, and Spiritual Songs,” a program featuring the Festival Chorale on Wednesday evenings at the historic Carmel Mission Basilica. 

“This year, the theme is exploring the history of sacred music by American composers,” says Andrew Megill. “The centerpiece of the program is Aaron Copland’s In The Beginning, which is an American masterpiece that sets the creation story. It’s a wonderful counterpoint to opening night’s Haydn Creation. It will feature Mezzo-Soprano Meg Bragle, and the fantastic artistry of the Festival Chorale.” 

Edwin Huizinga, violin, and William Coulter, guitar, (Fire & Grace) return with another in their series of wildly popular, sold-out concerts with a program entitled “The Human Voice” featuring the famous San Francisco Girls Chorus (Valérie Sainte-Agathe, Artistic Director).

“The concerts will be joyous and transcendent experiences for the musicians and patrons!” says Fire & Grace violinist, Edwin Huizinga. “The stellar San Francisco Girls Chorus, my dear colleague Guitarist William Coulter, and talented CBF Musicians will take center stage for a program of unforgettable songs celebrating music throughout the ages, from the 13th century to the present, through the lens of the human voice.”  

In this orchestra-focused program, Maestra Pedersen and the Carmel Bach Festival Orchestra present “Mozart, Rehnqvist, Mahler: Breaking the Ice” featuring Mozart’s Overture to The Marriage of Figaro, Breaking the Ice by groundbreaking Swedish composer Karin Rehnqvist, and two charming works by Gustav Mahler: Blumine (Flower) from Symphony No. 1 and his tuneful and engaging Symphony No. 4.  

Grete Pedersen presents favorite selections from the 2023 Festival in this traditional closing night concert that celebrates music, Carmel, the musicians of the Bach Festival, and the Festival’s loyal patrons. The program is a sampler of favorites from throughout the two-week Festival. The concert is followed by a celebratory reception on the Sunset Center Terrace toasting the conclusion of the 86th Festival. 

The Family Concert returns to the Sunset Center on Saturday, July 22 at 11 AM featuring The Epic Adventures of Leonard and Rasmus: The Hidden Forest.

The Young Artists’ Showcase takes place on Sunday, July 23 at 12 PM in the Sunset Theater presenting outstanding student musicians from the Central Coast Section of the California Music Education Association. Young Artists chosen to perform during the Festival will be selected by audition and one distinguished performer will earn a cash prize. Barbara Priest, instrumental music teacher at Pacific Grove Middle School, directs the competition.

The Youth Chorale will present a free showcase performance Thursday, July 27 at 5 PM at the Church of the Wayfarer. This is an intensive choir program designed for young singers from 6th to 12th grade. These budding vocalists will have the opportunity to work with award-winning director Tom Lehmkuhl and world-class vocalists from the Festival’s professional Chorale in masterclass sessions all while immersing themselves in the Festival atmosphere and concert-going experience.

Edwin Huizinga directs the second annual Baroque & Classical Academy Showcase Concert at Carmel Presbyterian Church Friday, July 28 at 1 PM. Four outstanding string musicians (2 violins, viola, cello) will participate in a series of free public masterclasses, receive private lessons and chamber music coaching, and be featured in a Showcase concert.

Michael Beattie returns as director of the Virginia Best Adams Masterclass, a Festival training program for young vocalists. The VBA program selects four vocal musicians from hundreds of applications. There are six free and open working sessions and a special Showcase Concert Saturday, July 29 at 12 PM. This year's VBA participants are Soprano Emily Donato, Countertenor Nicholas Burns, Tenor Matthew Newhouse, and Bass-Baritone Christopher Talbot.