Bath Bachfest

This is the 15^th annual Bath Bachfest, a celebration of J S Bach and his contemporaries in the beautiful Roman & Georgian city.

This year is a little different, though, as it is the first to be programmed by our new artistic director, Adrian Brendel. Adrian is well known to Bath audiences as the cellist of the Nash Ensemble. He has dedicated his first Bath festival to the memory of his predecessor, the remarkable and much-missed Amelia Freedman, who sadly died in July 2025, having programmed this festival since its inception.

Adrian’s inaugural Bachfest will be made up of performances which trace several interlinking lines from the start of the English Baroque period to Gluck’s early classical works, including Orfeo ed Euridice. The works of JS Bach will remain at its heart.

Solomon’s Knot make their Bath debut with a narrated performance of early English masterpieces entitled The Birth of the English Baroque.

The Italian and French Baroque, so integral to Bach’s development, is represented by works Corelli, Vivaldi, Couperin and Rameau.

These will be interspersed with some of Bach’s most famous and beloved works including his Golderg Variations, and Books I & II of the Well-Tempered Clavier, plus solo violin works.

A specially formed group of fine musicians will come together to perform as the Bachfest Ensemble.

The Sixteen choir and orchestra, conducted by Harry Christophers, will make a very welcome return to the City for the closing concert in Bath’s beautiful Abbey. This, alongside works from Gluck’s powerful story of Orfeo descending into the underworld to rescue his wife Euridice, features Bach’s Lutheran Mass. This closing work is remarkable in that it features virtually no Lutheran material but is made up of some of Bach’s own favourite movements from his cantatas!

Image of Adrian Brendel by Peter Adamik.