草莓社区

A German Bach specialist once observed that the music of Johann Sebastian Bach can be played successfully on modern or on period instruments, 鈥渂ut what you can鈥檛 recreate is the audience of the time.鈥�

, artistic director and conductor for the , notes the weeklong, mid-June festival at 草莓社区 is blessed with enthusiastic and faithful audiences. At the conclusion of its 20-year anniversary festival this month, he said, 鈥淭he community has claimed this festival as an important part of life here.鈥�

Events included on-campus, ticketed festival concerts, and daily, free noon concerts downtown. In addition, Nafziger notes, 鈥淎nyone can sit in on any rehearsals all week long.鈥�

Bach 鈥渏ust seems indestructible. You can do anything with him,鈥� said 2012鈥檚 featured composer and cellist , a Berklee College of Music professor in Boston and artist-in-residence at New York鈥檚 Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

The Saturday night concert featured the world premiere of Friesen鈥檚 鈥淕lory鈥� 鈥� commissioned to honor the Bach Festival鈥檚 20-year history. The 20-minute cantata used Jean Janzen鈥檚 poem, 鈥淎 Catechism.鈥� Friesen and Janzen are cousins. The music incorporates Cuban and Latin rhythms along with compositional techniques that Bach used in his cantatas. The cantata was personalized for Friesen who found the words in Janzen鈥檚 poem to be an appropriate memorial to a young family friend.

Friesen鈥檚 touring, children鈥檚 鈥淐ello Man鈥� show was received enthusiastically in a noon concert. For reasons of the cello鈥檚 resemblance to the human voice and its versatility, the lifelong cellist said 鈥淚 schlep the cello鈥� rather than more portable instruments. He accompanied comic stories with pantomime and paired masks with music. After demonstrating cello blues and bluegrass, Friesen electrified the instrument for a haunting duet with a recording of humpbacked whales.

The orchestra for the concerts includes approximately 60 professional musicians from around the United States. The choir, 50 in number, is a volunteer, mostly local choir. Many return yearly.

Rehearsals are intense. Choral rehearsals began on the Saturday evening one week prior to the concert. Practice had to start earlier for 鈥淕lory,鈥� says tenor soloist , who has performed in 18 of the 20 festivals. He found 鈥淕lory鈥� 鈥渧ery, very challenging鈥� and also 鈥渁 highlight for me.鈥� Helmuth and were the soloists in Friesen鈥檚 work. The first rehearsal of the new piece for the orchestra was on Wednesday prior to the Saturday concert.

The Bach 鈥淢ass in B Minor鈥� opened the season. Nafziger described the work as the musical equivalent to the challenge of scaling Mount Everest. Conducting the piece for his 14th time, he said, 鈥淚 learned so many new things this time around that influenced tempo and dynamics.鈥� He reflected, with a slightly ironic smile, 鈥淚 felt I figured out 鈥� anew 鈥� what Bach had in mind!鈥�

Soloists for the 鈥淢ass in B Minor鈥� included Bender, , , and .

A large crowd attended the noon performance of Igor Stravinsky鈥檚 tragicomic 鈥淪oldier鈥檚 Tale,鈥� featuring and , along with a chamber music ensemble. Stravinsky鈥檚 work is a Faustian morality play in which a soldier returning home is tricked into trading his soul for power and possessions. There is no happy ending.

Each Bach Festival culminates in a Sunday Leipzig service (named for Bach鈥檚 primary job as cantor for the Leipzig churches, where duties included composing a new cantata weekly). This year鈥檚 service was centered on the Pentecost story, with one of Bach鈥檚 Pentecost cantatas (No. 34).

In addition to the cantata, there was a Baroque concerto for two trumpets and strings as the prelude, two hymn accompaniments arranged by Eugene Friesen, organ music played by , and abundant congregational singing.

, dean of , delivered the homily. In response to King鈥檚 suggestion that we ask forgiveness for our trespasses rather than debts. one attendee said King鈥檚 words 鈥渁dded understanding to the Pentecost theme and closed the week with a power I was not expecting.鈥�

The festival drew diverse participants, including high school students for an early-spring Young Artists鈥� Concert and learners for both a Baroque Workshop and the 鈥淩oads Scholar鈥� (formerly Elderhostel) program, which organizer Phyllis Coulter reported brought 14 this year from homeplaces as distant as California.

Over the decades, Festival themes have paired Bach with such fellow-notables as Mozart and Mendelssohn, while connecting with Russian and Cuban traditions and American jazz and bluegrass. This season included music of Dvorak, including his beloved 鈥淪ymphony No. 9: From the New World.鈥� Next year鈥檚 theme, 鈥淒ramatic Connections: Bach, and Some Britten and Verdi,鈥� will celebrate the anniversaries of Benjamin Britten鈥檚 100th birthday and Giuseppi Verdi鈥檚 200th.

As to theme ideas for the future, Nafziger says 鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine ever running out.鈥�