Festival Bachcelona

El País - Xavier Pujol, 27/07/2015Set to be held with loads of fresh imagination, originality and bold programming, and taking full advantage of available resources, the third Bach Festival of Barcelona will be filling the city with the great composer’s music.

Bachcelona is a festival with an unwavering commitment to quality. Over the course of its history, it has hosted the foremost international artists specialised in Bach, including such prominent figures as Ton Koopman, Juan de la Rubia, Catherine Manson, Klaus Mertens, Stephan Macleod, Leila Schayegh, Bertrand Cuiller, Shunske Sato, Václav Luks y Petra Müllejans.

Innovation is another of the Festival’s characteristic traits. In all the activities that we host within the framework of Bachcelona, we seek to reach beyond the concert format. We always foster artistic interaction with other disciplines such as theatre (featuring La Fura dels Baus) contemporary dance (Lorena Nogal), cinema (yearly film cycle at the Filmoteca) and visual arts (complete set of prints by Eduardo Chillida “Hommage à Johann Sebastian Bach”).

Likewise, at Bachcelona we present proposals of musical fusion with other styles such as jazz (Llibert Fortuny and Manel Camp), African percussion (Virginie Robilliard and Thomas Gueï), Cuban music (Roberto Fonseca and its Cubach concert), or the Brazilian tradition (Sambach project).

We also strive to heighten the Festival experience with the concerts and participatory activities of the BZM project, which have been held at the Palau de la Música (in the Petit Palau building), and with recreational activities like Swing Bach.

Other important goals of the Bachcelona Festival are the dissemination of music through the organisation of conferences, round tables and guided tours (such as those of the Music Museum with Joan Vives), and family activities aimed to acquaint children with classical music (Ton Koopman). 

And last but not least, at Bachcelona we support young talent through grants awarded to singers (Salvat Beca Bach), the Bachcelona Special Prize and masterclasses held by different well-known musicians.