Press Release: ‘Bachtoberfest Bacchanalia’ Oct. 8 in Evanston Will Benefit Bach Week

Sommelier Mike Baker (center photo) will select wines to accompany Baroque music performed by (from top right) soprano Josefien Stoppelenburg, oboist Judith Kulb, bassoonist Lewis Kirk, and harpsichordist Jason Moy.

Fundraiser to Feature Pairings
Of Baroque Music and Wine

Performers will include soprano Josefien Stoppelenburg,
oboist Judith Kulb, bassoonist Lewis Kirk,
and harpsichordist Jason Moy

EVANSTON, Ill., Sept. 14, 2017 —  Evanston-based Bach Week Festival's second annual “Bachtoberfest Bacchanalia” fundraiser will feature expert pairings of Baroque music and international wines at 6 p.m. on Sunday, October 8, 2017, at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Ave., Evanston. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

Proceeds from the event, hosted by the Bach Week Festival board, will support the spring 2018 Bach Week Festival, which will be the festival’s 45th annual installment.

"Music of five fantastic composers, spanning the entire Baroque era, will be matched with specially selected bottles of the beverage beloved by Bacchus, Roman god of wine,” says Richard Webster, Bach Week’s longtime music director and emcee for the fundraiser. “Spirits will be high."

Music will include instrumental and vocal works by Francesco Mancini, Georg Philipp Telemann, Claudio Monteverdi, Johann Jakob Froberger, and Johann Sebastian Bach, the festival's namesake.

Performers will be soprano Josefien Stoppelenburg, oboist Judith Kulb, bassoonist Lewis Kirk, and harpsichordist Jason Moy. Stoppelenburg has sung at the Arizona Bach Festival and Boulder Bach Festival and with Chicago’s Rembrandt Chamber Players and Third Coast Baroque. Kulb is principal oboist with the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra, where Kirk is assistant principal bassoonist. Moy is principal keyboardist with the Bach Week Festival Orchestra and a frequent guest artist with Music of the Baroque and other ensembles.

They'll present Mancini's cantata for soprano, oboe, and basso continuo, "Quanto dolce è quell'ardore"; Telemann's Trio for Oboe, Bassoon, and Harpsichord, TWV 42:B7; Monteverdi's motet for soprano, "Laudate Dominum in sanctis eius"; Froberger's "Tombeau fait à Paris sur la mort de Monsieur Blancrocher" for harpsichord; and the aria "Erfüllet, ihr himmlischen göttlichen Flammen" from Bach's cantata “Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern,” BWV 1.

Mike Baker, an Advanced Sommelier in the Court of Master Sommeliers and lead buyer for Vin Chicago, will select wines that echo the personality of each musical work. In addition to consulting with harpsichordist Moy about the character of the pieces, Baker will listen to recordings and research the music before selecting the wines. He'll discuss each wine before it's poured for guests.

Along with imbibing the wines chosen to accompany the musical works, guests can dine on hearty hors d'oeuvres, including German delicacies.

A silent auction will offer original artwork, admission to wine-tasting events, and other items for music, art, wine, and food aficionados.

Tickets for the “Bachtoberfest Bacchanalia” benefit are $60 per person and are available online at bachweek.org and by phone, (800) 838-3006. For additional information, phone the festival’s office at 847-269-9050.

Benefit planning committee members include Evanston residents Michael Coleman, Cynthia Kirk, Melissa Trier Kirk, oboist Kulb, Naida Lodgaard, Mary Mumbrue, and Dorothy Scott.

On the morning of the benefit, Bach Week’s Webster will run in the Chicago Marathon to raise funds for the annual spring music festival. Webster has led Bach Week since 1975 and performed in and helped organize the 1974 inaugural festival in Evanston. He is currently director of music and organist at Boston's historic Trinity Church on Copley Square.

Bach Week Festival concerts will take place in April and May at Nichols Concert Hall in Evanston and at Anderson Chapel at North Park University, Chicago. The festival is a collaboration between Bach Week and North Park’s School of Music, Art, and Theatre.

A musical rite of spring on the North Shore, Bach Week is one of the Midwest’s premiere Baroque music festivals. The event enlists musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra, and other top-tier ensembles, while featuring some of the Chicago area’s finest instrumental and vocal soloists and distinguished guest artists from out of town.