The festival, founded by EMU professor , has become a Valley tradition. The weeklong event begins at 3 p.m. on Sunday, June 8, in Lehman Auditorium of ��ݮ���� and closes one week later with The Leipzig Service, a musically oriented worship experience in Lehman. The festival allows both musicians and audiences the opportunity to explore the music of Bach, those who influenced him, and those he inspired.

Bach is just the beginning

Since 2012, the festival’s tagline has been “Bach is just the beginning.” The theme of Bach as a starting point or base for the festival’s exploration will be on display again this year as the program features pieces by Bach contemporaries like Handel, Telemann, and Vivaldi, as well as instrumental sections from an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau and more recent pieces by Gwyneth Walker and Kyle Lane.

, executive director of the Bach Festival and an EMU music professor, said the musical diversity of the Bach Festival makes it exciting. As an example, she cited “phenomenal featured artists” performing Mendelssohn’s Elijah, “a masterpiece in choral and orchestral literature.” That performance is set for Saturday, June 14, at 7:30 p.m. in Lehman Auditorium.

Despite the festival’s musical diversity Bach is always at the center. The performances of three Bach Cantatas, 51, 82, 180, along with several of his organ pieces, will keep the festival solidly grounded in the musician who inspired it.

Quality performers

In over two decades, the festival has become a gathering place for acclaimed national talents. This year’s featured performers will include prodigy flutist , who at age 14 has already soloed at the Dallas, National, and Pittsburg Symphonies and on the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center. She has been reviewed by the New York Times, and is the youngest member of the program.

Other notable performers include Maryland-based organist , who has been a featured performer at three national conventions of the ; harpsichordist , sought-after performer and teacher of Baroque music across the United States; and .

The festival also features more local, though no less dynamic, talent in violinist and EMU professor . An extraordinary musician, Griffing has previously performed with the AIMS festival orchestra in such non-local destinations as Austria and Italy. She also completed a three-week performing tour in Taiwan and is a founding member and regular performer with Musica Harmonia, a group which seeks to promote peace and culture through music.

Tickets and information

Discounted tickets for the festival can be purchased in advance from the EMU box office (540-432-4582), or from . Tickets will also be available for purchase at the door at a non-discounted rate.

For those wishing to experience the festival outside of the ticketed concerts, a lunch-hour chamber music series will be held at First Presbyterian Church on June 9-14 at noon. Organizers of the Chamber music series will request donations, but tickets are not required. In addition, the annual Baroque workshop will be held from June 8-14, giving participants the opportunity to study Baroque music and dance under the instruction of several acclaimed artists. More information is here (emu.edu/bach/baroque/).

All information about the festival can be found here (emu.edu/bach/).

One of the soloists, Canadian bass Daniel Lichti, sang in the first performance of Elijah at the Bach festival in 1995. This year’s Elijah is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 14, in Lehman Auditorium.

The oratorio about the Old Testament prophet will be conducted by , a long-time EMU professor who helped establish the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival in 1992.

The festival honors the music of prolific 18th-century German composer Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as works by other composers.

Among them this year is Mendelssohn, another German composer who worked a century after Bach. He wrote Elijah for the 1846 Birmingham Music Festival in England, where it premiered to an enthusiastic audience and glowing reviews.

Lichti, singing the title role in Elijah, has established himself as one of Canada’s finest bass-baritones, performing with many of North America’s major orchestras and choirs. He appears regularly at festivals and performs oratorio and opera internationally.

This year, he is celebrating 40 years of professional performing with concerts in Canada, the United States and Europe. His debut was in an opera in 1974 at the Stratford Festival in Ontario. Lichti is a voice professor at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. During a recent sabbatical from his teaching, he performed Franz Schubert’s epic Winterreise in Paris, Vienna and Lyon.

The other soloists for Elijah this year at EMU are soprano Sharla Nafziger (no relation to Ken J. Nafziger), who performs throughout her native Canada and the United States; mezzo-soprano Barbara Rearick, a performer who teaches voice at Princeton University; and tenor Kenneth Gayle, the producing director for an innovative musical non-profit organization in Houston.

While the orchestra is made up of professionals invited to the festival, the choir is composed of volunteers from near and far. (Anyone interested in singing in this year’s choir should contact at mathewsl@emu.edu.)

The 2014 festival begins on Sunday, June 8, at 3 p.m., with organist Marvin Mills performing Bach’s “Prelude and Fugue in A Minor.” That afternoon’s concert will also feature music by composers like Handel, Rameau, Telemann, Zelenka and Bach’s son, C.P.E. Bach.

“In our 20^th season, we unveiled a new tag line – ‘Bach is just the beginning’ – as a way of understanding more completely what this Bach festival is all about,” said Ken J. Nafziger.

From June 9-14, the festival includes daily noon chamber music concerts at First Presbyterian Church on Court Square in Harrisonburg. No tickets are required, but donations are requested at the door. A complete schedule is available on the .

The noon concert on Monday, June 9, will feature the faculty of the annual , which is part of the Bach festival. The academy, held June 8-14, offers solo master classes and ensemble coaching by internationally acclaimed artists Arthur Haas, harpsichord; Martha McGaughey, viola da gamba; and Linda Quan, baroque violin.

A second major concert on Friday, June 13, at 7:30 p.m. will feature the festival orchestra performing two of Bach’s cantatas and music by Maurice Ravel. Emma Resmini, an acclaimed 14-year-old flutist from Fairfax, Va., will also play a concerto by Jacques Ibert.

Yet another component to the festival is the Road Scholar Program, which offers classes throughout the United States. From June 11 to 15, participants will enjoy the history and culture of the Shenandoah Valley while attending the festival’s concerts and interacting with the musicians, conductor and musical scholars. More information is available from .

On Sunday, June 15, at 10 a.m., Nafziger will lead the annual Leipzig service, inspired by the worship services at Bach’s church in Germany. He will be joined by the festival orchestra and choir as well as the featured vocal soloists and organist Marvin Mills. The homily will be delivered by Lara Steinel, music director at a progressive Jewish congregation – Kol Ami – in Kansas City, Mo.

The final event of the festival is a Father’s Day brunch in EMU’s Northlawn dining hall. must be made by June 1.

Advance tickets to the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival are available at the EMU box office – 540-432-4582 or-. They will also be available at the door at slightly higher prices.

For more details, visit .����