The Boulder Bach Festival presents a multitude of thought-provoking concerts and education events, exploring performance practice from diverse perspectives and programming in meaningful ways.
TESTIMONIALS and ACCOLADES include:
USA Today Top 10 on Pearl Street (2015)
Colorado Public Radio Top 15 in 2015 studio sessions
(Bach on electric baroque violin)
2015 Year in Music Highlights on SharpsAndFlatIrons
(singling out our Brahms chamber music performance that unveiled
a 19th century concert piano recently brought from Amsterdam to Boulder)
"noble … revelatory … an overwhelming experience"
-Daily Camera
The Boulder Bach Festival has undergone a sea change ...
every musician on stage … was inspired ... an amazing
range and depth of mood which was absolutely exhilarating."
"The best Boulder Bach Festival Orchestra I have heard
to date … The choir seemed to be full of energy and excitement."
-Opus Colorado
"The choral singing was immaculate, the orchestra
superb, and the five soloists were as well matched as any
oratorio soloists you are likely to hear."
The intonation among the singers and the orchestral
players was exquisite, lending a clarity and transparency
to Bach's counterpoint that is only rarely achieved.
In its accumulated impact, this may have been the most
complete realization of the B-minor Mass I have heard."
"Creative, provocative, and sensational … It is this kind
of creative rethinking that keeps the great masterpieces alive in our times."
-Sharps and Flatirons
"Sophisticated. Magnificent."
The Denver Post
"BBF...sets the standard for artistic excellence and superb taste in the community."
Boulder Daily Camera
"Zachary Carrettin, who arrived in 2011, has been dazzling audiences with his sensitive but exciting and daring baroque violin technique."
Daily Camera
"Carrettin's first festival week as (music) director has been a sensational triumph."
Daily Camera
"Zachary Carrettin alternately played and led the ensemble with a panache and enthusiasm that was contagious."
examiner.com
"If you are not familiar with the Boulder Bach Festival, you really need to make a point of discovering them…they are consistently excellent."
Opus Colorado
"Zachary Carrettin is a wonderful violinist…his tone was incredible and his sense of phrasing and voicing would surely have pleased Bach. It was a fantastic performance. "
Opus Colorado
The mission of the Boulder Bach Festival is to celebrate the music of Johann Sebastian Bach by providing high quality performances and educational opportunities that will not only satisfy those who already love Bach's music, but will also introduce Bach's music to others.
The Boulder Bach Festival (BBF) began in 1981, celebrating the life and music of J.S. Bach. Since that first season, BBF has evolved from a weekend of concerts to a full season of five or more diverse concert programs, an array of free outreach activities (30+ annually), lecture presentations, and collaborative events at a variety of venues in Boulder, Denver, Longmont, Broomfield and elsewhere on the Front Range. This is our fifth season presenting a robust educational and outreach series of events that are free to the public. For the past 38 years, Boulder Bach has built on the founding vision to offer focused presentations of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and his contemporaries, making it unique among Colorado's performing arts organizations and worldwide, in that the perspectives being offered and the stylistic questions being raised, make the BBF one of the most if not THE most diverse, progressive, and thoughtful Bach festival anywhere, certainly for its size and budget. Examples include Vivaldi on electric instruments, Bach on saxophone, Barbara Strozzi on historical instruments of the baroque, Brahms and Berg on historical instruments of the 19th century and the turn-of-the-century, and grand orchestral/choral programs on both the instruments in today's set up as well as original instruments of the time of Bach. This dialogue is what is distinct about our presentations.
The Boulder Bach Festival board has a 38-year proven track record for ensuring financial backing for the organization. BBF has zero-debt history and is driven and monitored by a strategic plan that reflects the commitment and interests of its stakeholders.
It is a 5-member, mission-driven, working board, focused on raising the funds needed to support the strategic plan.
BBF continues to provide a platform on which riveting solo artists from Colorado may collaborate with their colleagues from across the U.S. and Europe. Bringing these musicians together results in a rich conversation between the artists, further fulfilling their lives as well as contributing to the richness of the concert presentation. University graduate students and young professionals develop their skills in a variety of experiences offered, in part due to the artists BBF brings: students and graduates perform alongside these acclaimed musicians. Additionally, our Fellowship Artist Initiative provides gut-strung instruments and Italian baroque bows for recent DMA and MM recipients to use in their post graduate studies. The Fellows use these instruments in outreach concerts and education events, and on stage in main season concerts. Guest artists teach lessons, sectionals, master classes, and in some cases deliver lectures or participate in symposia.
Aligned with this approach is the ongoing development of rich partnerships with regional arts centers, dance troupes, youth orchestras, and educational institutions.
Organization name
Boulder Bach Festival
other names
BBF
1981
Tax id (EIN)
84-0861185
Category
Arts, Culture & Humanities
Address
3300 Arapahoe Avenue Suite 206Other
Post Office Box 1896Boulder County, CO, US