Music Worcester Celebrates Bach's Birthday With Concerts By Jeremy Denk, Handel & Haydn Society, And More

Pianist Jeremy Denk and the Handel & Haydn Society are the headline attractions for Bach's Birthday Bash, a four-concert weekend presented by Music Worcester at Worcester's Mechanics Hall March 21-23, 2025. 

The weekend, celebrating the 240th anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach's birth, is part of THE COMPLETE BACH (TCB), Music Worcester's 11-year project to present live presentations of all 1000+ works by the Baroque master.  Tickets and information are available at THECOMPLETEBACH.COM.

Jeremy Denk will play the complete collection of Bach's Keyboard Partitas (BWV 825-830) on Friday March 21st . 

Denk is the recipient of both the MacArthur 'Genius' Fellowship and the Avery Fisher Prize, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also known for his original and insightful writing on music, which The New Yorker's Alex Ross praises for its “arresting sensitivity and wit.” His New York Times bestselling memoir, Every Good Boy Does Fine was published by Random House in 2022 and will be available for sale at a book signing event following the concert, through a partnership with TidePool Bookshop.

On Saturday afternoon March 22nd, the Worcester Chorus, under the direction of TCB Artistic Director Chris Shepard,  will sing the secular cantatas BWV 213 and 214.  Soloists from Boston's Emmanuel Music will join the chorus.  The Worcester Chorus, under the sponsorship of Music Worcester, Inc., was founded in 1858 to sing at the first annual Worcester Music Festival in the newly built Mechanics Hall.  The 100-member group includes both amateur and professional singers from Worcester County and throughout Southern New England.

Bach's Concerti for Two Harpsichords will be performed by Boston's Handel and Haydn Society on Saturday evening, with harpsichordists Ian Watson (pictured left) and John McKean.  The multi-talented Watson has been described by The Times of London as a “world-class soloist and performer of virtuosic panache.” He is Music Director of the Connecticut Early Music Festival, and Associate Conductor of the Handel and Haydn Society.  John McKean is a harpsichordist and musicologist based in Boston, where he serves on the faculty and is chair of the Historical Performance Department at the Longy School of Music of Bard College. Critically acclaimed for his “intelligent” and “precise” playing (The Washington Post) John performs with leading American and European ensembles, including Apollo's Fire, Emmanuel Music, the Catacoustic Consort, and Habsburger Camerata among others.

The Grammy-winning Handel and Haydn Society has been captivating audiences for 209 consecutive seasons (the most of any performing arts organization in the United States), speaking to its singular success at converting new audiences to this extraordinary music, generation after generation.

Bach's Birthday Bash Weekend concludes Sunday, March 23rd with Cantatathon, a joint concert by members of the Worcester Bach Collective.  The Collective brings together a wide range of musical organizations in Worcester and beyond. This year's concert includes singers from Trinity Lutheran Choir (directed by Mark Mummert), WPI Choirs (led by Joshua W. Rohde), Master Singers of Worcester (directed by Edward Tyler),  All Saints Choir (Kevin Neel, Director of Music), and select members of The Worcester Chorus (directed by Chris Shepard). 

The Collective will perform cantatas BWV 28, 36, 40,  64, and 133, with each of the conductors leading one cantata.  Chris Shepard says “We have so many wonderful choral groups in our region, this is an exciting opportunity to bring everyone together to celebrate The Master's 340th birthday.” 

The concert on March 23rd will acknowledge J.S.Bach's birth anniversary with complimentary cake and champagne which will be available during intermission.

About THE COMPLETE BACH

Every season, beginning with 2024-2025, Music Worcester will feature a dozen concerts with music from each genre of Bach's massive compositional output. In addition to partnering with members of the Worcester Bach Collective, other music partners include Emmanuel Music, The Handel and Haydn Society, and The Sebastians, as well as individual musicians such as Jeremy Denk, pianist Simone Dinnerstein (and her Brooklyn-based chamber orchestra Baroklyn), violinist Vijay Gupta, and conductor/keyboardist Ian Watson. THE COMPLETE BACH will total 132 concerts and is believed to be the first project to present live performances of all of J.S. Bach's works since his own lifetime.

“As we approach the 350th anniversary of Bach's birth, we are committed to honoring this titan with a celebration befitting his place in history,” said Chris Shepard. “Such is the giant of his genius that all western composers after him have had to grapple with his legacy, whether they embraced it or rejected it.  The legacy of western music up to his era flowed into Bach's enormous musical intellect, and it was refracted through the lens of his creativity to all composers who followed him.”  

In addition to the live performances, TCB includes a robust online educational program, including three sets of podcasts: Bach 101, an introduction to Bach's music led by Shepard; ChatJSB, a series of conversations between Shepard and the musicians who are participating in TBC; and Unlocking Bach, audio program notes for each TCB concert posted in advance of the performances. Information about the entire project can be found at THECOMPLETEBACH.COM.

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