Wednesday, May 28, 2014 8:00 PM, Berkeley City Club Members Lounge An elegant preview of the Mendocino Music Festival's July Bachfest will be presented at the historic Berkeley City Club, an architectural masterpiece by Julia Morgan.
Sunday, July 13, 2014, 3:00 PM Tent Concert Hall J. S. Bach enjoyed life enormously, and this certainly included beer drinking. He was often paid in beer. Find out more interesting and seldom considered facts in a multi-media lecture with historian Bob Winn, noted beer authority Jay R. Brooks, and scholar/pianist Susan Waterfall.
Monday, July 14, 2014, 3:00 PM Preston Hall Pianists Susan Waterfall and Carolyn Steinbuck will consider Bach’s role as father and teacher, and will explore the international influences on his music. The concert consists of the Two-Part Inventions, the Italian Concerto, the C minor Partita, and the 6-Voiced Ricercare from the Musical Offering.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014, 3:00 PM Mendocino Presbyterian Church Sanctuary Bach’s keyboard works are often played, but there are not so many opportunities to hear the wonderful suites for other instruments, and even more rare, to hear them in the lovely setting and gorgeous acoustics of the sanctuary of the historic Mendocino Presbyterian Church.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014, 8:00 PM Tent Concert Hall Susan Waterfall will describe the history and significance of Bach's Musical Offering, and perform canons and the Trio Sonata from that work, with Jeremy Cohen, violin; Mindy Rosenfeld, flute; Burke Schuchmann, cello. Brilliant Bach interpreter Stephen Prutsman will play and conduct the Festival Chamber Players in Bach's Clavier Concerto in D minor.
Bachfest!
This Susan Waterfall Production is a four-day celebration and exploration of the Life and Art of J. S. Bach. Why was the greatest musical genius of all time often paid in beer? Why did he care so much about counterpoint? The four programs will include historian Bob Winn, noted beer authority Jay R. Brooks, pianist Carolyn Steinbuck, violinist Jeremy Cohen, cellist Burke Schuchmann, flutist Mindy Rosenfeld, and pianist and conductor Stephen Prutsman with the Festival Chamber Players.
Each year for the past decade, pianist and scholar Susan Waterfall has produced a multimedia “narrated chamber music” program, in which she has covered everything from Argentine composers to music of the Holocaust to the Parisian music scene to contemporary Chinese music, and to last year’s tribute to Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu. This season she is focusing her lively and curious mind on J. S. Bach. Audiences can be certain that they’ll be led into a fascinatingly deeper understanding of this beloved composer’s music and historical setting.
The Bachfest celebration will begin with an overview of Bach’s life and times, then explore the keyboard music, sample some unaccompanied suites, and culminate with Stephen Prutsman playing and conducting the D minor Concerto. A complete performance of Bach’s “Musical Offering” and a look at its fascinating historial significance will be spread over the four days.
Regarding Stephen Prutsman’s “Bach and Forth” at Alice Tully Hall: “Such a program could have been gimmicky. But the musical connections Mr. Prutsman made were so intriguing, and his playing so earnest and sensitive, that you never doubted the integrity of this musical adventure.” Anthony Tommasini,, New York Times
“Innovative, reflecting deep research and consideration of the music, she endeavors to place music in context with a narration and projected artwork and photographs. ‘Like Proust’s madeleine, music can transport us,’ Waterfall said, ‘We can conjure the era of the music, the sources of the composers’ creativity.’” Ken Bullock, The Berkeley Daily Planet
Audience responses to Susan Waterfall’s production Degenerate Music:
“It’s such a treat to be able to have something like this here. It is intellectually stimulating, exciting, and beautiful.” Henrietta, Mendocino, CA
“This was one of the most extraordinary concerts I’ve heard anywhere in my life.” Yvonne, Comptche CA
“We are so lucky to have a chance to hear and see something like this.” Carolyn, Fort Bragg, CA