Boston Bach Birthday 330

On March 21, the 330th anniversary of the birth of Johann Sebastian Bach will be celebrated throughout the world with performances of his music. In Boston this celebration centers in Boston Bach Birthday 330, the 7th annual, all-day (morning to late afternoon) series of Bach concerts, presented free and open to the public. Please join us on Saturday, 3/21, at the First Lutheran Church of Boston, 299 Berkeley St., in Back Bay. You may attend any or all of the concerts, from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Use Eventbrite to purchase tickets to the annual Bach Birthday German Lunch, served by First Lutheran and/or for prime seating in the balcony. Also your contributions for BBB330 expenses are truly welcomed.

Arguably the greatest composer this world has known (see New York Times, 2011), Bach’s fame during his lifetime was primarily as an organist. Too, he was admirably proficient on violin and surely on other string and wind instruments. Boston Bach Birthday 330 presents music for these solo instruments: organ, violin, cello, harpsichord, and also a flute and harpsichord duo and a recorder trio. The organ recitalists—they hail from Hungary, Germany and Russia and also from Oberlin Conservatory and Boston University—will play the Richards/Fowkes (builders, 2000/2010) Baroque-style pipe organ, acclaimed as superb for Bach.

In the 8-plus hours of concerts, our BBB330 musicians will treat listeners to the beyond-time realm of hearing Bach’s music today and, simultaneously, to inspiring wonderment at Bach’s compositional feats three centuries ago.

The opening event at 9:00 a.m. is Peep the Piper, especially for children. This story with musical accompaniment was written to introduce children to the wonderful, varied sounds of the pipe organ. BBB330 is sponsored jointly by the Boston Chapter, American Guild of Organists and the First Lutheran Church of Boston, with thanks to WCRB Classical Music/99.5.