“Portland is getting a double dose of Bach, back to back,” writes Bob Keyes in Monday’s (2/12) Portland Press Herald (S. Portland, Maine). “Creative differences between artistic leaders has led to the dissolution of the 2-year-old Portland Bach Festival, and each artistic director is emerging with a new Bach festival…. The Portland Bach Experience, with conductor Emily Isaacson as artistic director, will be June 8-17 … in a variety of formal and casual settings. The Bach Virtuosi Festival, under the direction of Lewis Kaplan, will be June 17-24 with concerts in churches and synagogues…. Alice Kornhauser, executive director of the Portland Chamber Music Festival … compared the two Bach festivals to Portland’s two ballet companies. Both create valuable work, but take different approaches … The Bach Virtuosi Festival will present many of the musicians who came to Portland to perform in the inaugural Bach festivals…. Kaplan, a violinist, also will teach a masterclass…. The Portland Bach Experience will present music in many settings in and around Portland…. There will be salon-style house concerts and performances…. In addition to the June festival, the Portland Bach Experience is partnering with the Maine Office of Tourism to create mini-festivals in May and September.”
Posted February 14, 2018
