Flutist finds 'something very special' in Bach Week

A specialist on modern and historical flutes, Anita Rieder has performed with the Chicago and Milwaukee Symphony orchestras, Washington Bach Consort, Madison Early Music Festival, and many other ensembles.

She returns regularly to the Bach Week Festival for an atmosphere she finds nowhere else:

"I truly love playing in Bach Week, and I look forward to it every year! There is something very special about this group of musicians: every one is highly energized and at the peak of their form and also respectful and joyful. So the result is that we have so much fun together.

"I am soloing on April 30 in the Bach Suite No. 2 in B Minor for Flute and Strings, which I have performed for Bach Week before. I have also played it with period instruments on a wooden flute, and that is a totally different experience. One thing that is true of Bach’s music is that it can be interpreted many different ways, with different instruments, different phrasing, different tempos – and the music is meaningful each time.

"The Suite No. 2 is in the French baroque style and makes me think of courtly dances with a king and queen leading in stately procession, wearing gowns of thick brocade and tall wigs. I think today everyone enjoys listening to this music because it's simply beautiful, and we all need beauty and peace in our lives.

"It's also fun to watch the musicians work tightly together, especially in the last part, which goes dangerously fast!"