Bach Around the Clock 2025
March 22 @ 9:00 am - 9:00 pm
A free community-wide marathon celebration of the music and majesty of Johann Sebastian Bach. From sunup to sundown, you’ll hear superb string soloists, renowned organists, guitarists, pianists, choirs, & brilliant ensembles, performing the inspiring and moving works of “the immortal god of harmony.“
VENUE & DIRECTIONS
Christ Lutheran Church — 2807 North Augusta Street Staunton, VA 24401
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE
We invite you to be a vital part of Bach Around the Clock! As a free event that attracts everyone from Baroque music connoisseurs from across the state to local families eager for cultural programming, we rely on supporters like you to underwrite each performance segment. You can sponsor a programming segment, helping us bring this inspiring event to life and ensuring that world-class performances remain accessible to all. As an Hour Sponsor, you will be recognized in event materials and during your sponsored hour—demonstrating your commitment to music, community, and artistic excellence. Claim your segment today and help keep Bach’s brilliance alive for all to enjoy!
SCHEDULE
9:00 AM – Preludio
The day begins with an hour of Bach’s “Beginnings” – Preludes and other opening movements for both solo strings and keyboard
PERFORMERS: Heifetz Institute Ensemble In Residence, Faculty, & Guests
10:00 AM – Bach: Keyboard Journeys
From the intimate clavichord to the mighty King of Instruments, Benjamin K. Roe examines the many keyboard instruments explored, imagined, and utilized by JSB
PERFORMERS: Benjamin K. Roe, speaker; Lawrence Quinnett, piano
11:00 AM – The Staunton Thursday Morning Music Club
Members of Staunton’s Thursday Morning Music Club offer a sampling of delights for voice, flute, and recorder.
PERFORMERS: Nancy Dennis, soprano; Ruth Chodrow, recorder; Sarah Grove-Humphries, continuo; Laura Jean Brand, flute
12:00 PM – The Bach Suites, Pt. 1
Renowned Heifetz Institute faculty cellist and renowned Bach interpreter Colin Carr explores the world of the Bach Unaccompanied Suites for Cello.
PERFORMERS: Colin Carr, cello
12:45 PM – Laments & Redemption: A Journey Through Bach’s Sacred Music
BATC veterans Kaitlyn Townsend and Sarah Hamilton offer a program of Bach’s sacred arias and duets for mezzo-sopranos, tracing a soul’s journey from sorrow to hope through the powerful beauty of his vocal music
PERFORMERS: Kaitlyn Townsend, mezzo-soprano; Sarah Hamilton, mezzo-soprano; Tracey Schimmel Reed, piano
1:30 PM – Preludes, Fugues, and Adagios
Heifetz Institute Artistic Director and violinist Nicholas Kitchen, joined by his father, keyboard veteran Joseph Kitchen, offer an alternating program of the three “Adagios and Fugues” from Bach’s masterful solo violin sonatas, while Joseph explores preludes and fugues from JSB’s well-loved “Well Tempered Clavier.”
PERFORMERS: Nicholas Kitchen, violin; Joseph Kitchen, keyboard
2:30 PM – Violin & Organ
Heifetz Ensemble in Residence violinist Jihyun Baik joins forces with special guest organist Nicole Keller to explore the unusual sonorities of the combined instruments.
PERFORMERS: Jihyun Baik, violin; Nicole Keller, organ
3:00 PM – Charlottesville AGO
Members of the Charlottesville-Albemarle chapter of the American Guild of Organists join in our day-long celebration with a selection of Bach’s memorable works for the King of Instruments.
PERFORMERS: Gabriel Rhys Simerson, Matt Thomas, Alex Johnson, Florence Jowers, Roger Daggy, Joel Vanderzee
4:00 PM – Coffee & Cake Break!
Details tba…
4:15 PM – Sinfonias and a Concerto
Livingstone University pianist and professor Lawrence Quinnett explores the marvelously inventive Sinfonias (Three-part Inventions) of JSB, and then is joined by Wanchi and the Heifetz Ensemble in Residence for a romp through Bach’s infectious Keyboard Concerto No. 2 in E Major, BWV 1053.
PERFORMERS: Lawrence Quinnett, piano; Wanchi, violin, with the Heifetz Ensemble in Residence
5:30 PM – The Bach Cello Suites, Pt. 2
Renowned Heifetz Institute faculty cellist and renowned Bach interpreter Colin Carr explores the world of the Bach Suites for Cello.
PERFORMERS: Colin Carr, cello
6:00 PM – Ciaconna
Celebrated JMU and Heifetz Institute violinist Wanchi plays Bach’s riveting Ciaconna in the glorious acoustics of Christ Lutheran Church
PERFORMERS: Wanchi, violin
6:15 PM – Celebrating the Taylor & Boody Op. 24
Taylor & Boody co-founder John Boody offers a 30th-anniversary builders-eye-view of CLC’s Op. 24 organ, installed by the renowned Staunton-based firm in 1994.
6:30 PM – Featured Guest Organ Recital: Nicole Keller
2025 Christ Lutheran Church Endowed Organist
Hailed as a “skilled and stylish player with a keen ear for orchestration” (The American Organist Magazine) Nicole Keller has earned a reputation for colorful, virtuosic performances praised by audiences and presenters as unique concert experiences. The University of Michigan faculty member makes her Staunton debut with this stimulating selection of Bach’s organ works from all phases of his career.
7:45 PM – Horn of Plenty
Four part Chorales by JSB, played by four heavenly horns!
PERFORMERS: Shenandoah Horn Quartet – Catherine Creasy, Carrie Blake, Jeremy Loy, Benjamin K. Roe
8:00 PM – Grand Finale: The Cantata Hour
Music Director Paul Weber once again leads the combined forces of the Staunton Bach Orchestra, the BATC Chamber Choir, soloists, and guest artists in an inspiring final hour, the centerpiece this year being Bach’s Cantata No. 21: “The concluding chorus is a veritable coup de thêatre. In a dazzling declamatory outburst Bach suffuses his canvas in a radiance of colour, unleashing three trumpets and timpani for their first and only appearance in the cantata. This hymn of praise is in the form of a prelude and fugue whose jubilant, even heroic character brings one of Bach’s most powerful cantatas to a resonant concluding ‘Alleluia!’” – Author Nicholas Anderson
PERFORMERS: Staunton Bach Orchestra, BATC Choir, and soloists; Paul Weber, Music Director
PREVIOUS HIGHLIGHTS
This concert is sponsored by:
