The internationally renowned Oregon Bach Festival (OBF) and the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance announce the 2022 lineup of concerts and artists. The upcoming season, which runs June 17 through July 5, continues the long-standing tradition of presenting the finest choral-orchestral works, extraordinary new music, illuminating lectures and captivating community events. The Festival will be held in Eugene, with events at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts, historic Beall Concert Hall on the University of Oregon campus and local churches.
After a two-year hiatus from live performance, OBF returns to Eugene stages with A Celebration of Voice. The season — built around ambitious performances and milestone events — honors the Festival’s award-winning choruses and long-standing tradition of presenting the highest-quality vocal performances.
At the center of this celebration is the final phase of the Festival’s search for its next artistic director. The three finalists for the position — Julian Wachner, Eric Jacobsen and Miguel Harth-Bedoya — will each conduct a major Bach work and an intimate chamber concert. Wachner will helm Mass in B Minor on June 21, with Jacobsen leading St. John Passion on June 28, and Harth-Bedoya closing the season on July 5 with St. Matthew Passion. This is the first time in more than 35 years that all three works will be performed in their entirety during a single OBF season.
In addition to the major Bach works, the Festival Chorus will honor the past, present, and future of its vocal legacy in an unforgettable choral event on June 25. The sentimental and joyous program highlights the voices of the Grammy-winning OBF chorus, the internationally acclaimed University of Oregon Chamber Choir, and some of the best high school choral singers in the nation — participants in the Festival’s Stangeland Family Youth Choral Academy (SFYCA).
OBF patrons can expect brief residencies from three industry-leading musicians during the 2022 Festival. Simone Dinnerstein returns to OBF on June 19 with her Grammy-nominated performance of An American Mosaic. The piece from Richard Danielpour, commissioned by the Festival in 2020, commemorates segments of the American population that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including those who have lost their lives to the virus. Dinnerstein will join forces with pianist-activist Lara Downes for a celebration of trailblazing American artists called Variations on a Dream, performed on June 22. The concert includes the world premiere of OBF commission, Let Me See the Sun, from Paola Prestini. Dinnerstein goes on to collaborate on a Bach, Beethoven, and Glass concert with cellist Matt Haimovitz on June 23. Haimovitz is also featured during the second week of the Festival in an event designed to reframe Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time.
The Festival is equally pleased to announce the return of three OBF favorites. Grammy-winning organist Paul Jacobs offers audiences a recital of Handel oratorios, violinist Monica Huggett leads Bach’s Musical Offering and baritone Tyler Duncan performs Schubert’s Winterreise.
Finally, OBF is delighted to welcome the Viano String Quartet. Praised for their “huge range of dynamics, massive sound and spontaneity” ( American Record Guide), Viano is the First Prize Winner of the 2019 Banff International String Quartet Competition and the current Nina von Maltzahn String Quartet-in-Residence at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music. The Quartet will be joined by beloved clarinetist David Shifrin.
The Festival schedule rounds-out with performances from the elite Berwick Academy for Historically Informed Performance, Organ Institute and SFYCA.
Additional artists and events will be announced in the coming weeks. Exclusive presale tickets are available beginning today (February 23), and tickets go on sale to the general public in early May. More information can be found at oregonbachfestival.org.
Watch the sneak peak here: vimeo.com.
Oregon Bach Festival has presented the masterworks of J.S. Bach, and composers inspired by his work, to audiences in Eugene and throughout the State of Oregon for five decades. In addition to traditional choral-orchestral masterworks, the festival also presents internationally renowned guest artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Midori, Pink Martini and Joshua Bell, and offers educational opportunities, children and family programming and community events.
The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon’s flagship public university. The UO School of Music and Dance presents more than 300 concerts and events during the academic year featuring scholars, guest artists, faculty artists and student ensembles. The incredible wealth of concert material ranges from contemporary dance to African dance, early and classical music to contemporary music, world music and jazz.