February 18, 2025 – [Eugene, OR] – The internationally renowned Oregon Bach Festival (OBF) and the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance are pleased to announce the 2025 festival lineup of concerts and artists.
The upcoming season, which runs June 27 through July 13, continues the long-standing tradition of presenting the finest choral-orchestral works, extraordinary new music, illuminating lectures, and captivating community events. The festival is held in Eugene, with events at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts, historic Beall Concert Hall on the University of Oregon campus, and local churches. The festival also travels to Mount Angel Abbey, Kaul Auditorium and First United Methodist Church in Portland, and Town Hall in Seattle.
OBF artist partner, the “imaginative and spontaneous” (The New York Times) Dutch conductor Jos van Veldhoven, opens the 2025 festival on June 27 with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 – the piece that catapulted the composer onto the elite music scene. Van Veldhoven also conducts the Bach magnum opus, Mass in B Minor, on July 3.
On Saturday, June 28, the festival presents the Grammy-nominated Considering Matthew Shepard, composed and conducted by OBF artistic partner and Grammy winner, Craig Hella Johnson. The evocative and compassionate piece is a musical response to the 1998 paradigm-shifting hate crime and murder of a University of Wyoming student. Johnson next conducts a sunset concert on July 2 at the Mount Pisgah Arboretum in honor of the 500th birthday of the Renaissance “prince of music,” Giovanni Palestrina. Johnson concludes his inaugural year of OBF artistic leadership on July 10 with an evening of music exploring peace and conflict, including Arvo Pärt’s Credo and works from Bach, Vaughan Williams, Jessie Montgomery, and more.
The theme of “peace” is also prevalent on the July 6 performance of Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem, conducted by Stephanie Childress. The beloved 19th century choral masterpiece deviates from a tradition requiem by emphasizing peace and solace over fear and judgment.
Bach virtuoso and “musical force” (South Florida Classical Review), Shunske Sato, makes his OBF debut as the festival partners with Chamber Music Northwest to present all six of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos on June 29. Sato also helms this season’s edition of the iconic “Discovery” lecture-concert series on July 5, as the festival examines works from the first Leipzig “collegium.”
A flurry of renowned guest artists return for OBF 2025. On July 7, perennial festival favorite, Grammy-winner Paul Jacobs offers Bach’s love letter to counterpoint, The Art of Fugue, while Mezzo Fleur Barron and Chamber Music Northwest co-artistic director Gloria Chien present an evening of song and solo piano on July 1. On July 9, the festival is thrilled to welcome back violinist Rahel Rilling – daughter of the festival’s distinguished co-founder, Helmuth Rilling. The younger Rilling leads a diverse crossover performance of music from Bach and Ravel to Sting and Dizzy Gillespie.
The final weekend of the festival is marked by two unique and sizable projects. On July 11, OBF presents a staging of the lost Bach Passion, based on the gospel according to Saint Mark. Markus Passion, an OBF commission and collaborative project with Concert Theatre Works tours the UK and US, featuring beloved TV and film actor Joseph Marcell (Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) in the role of the evangelist. Portland Baroque Orchestra artistic director Julian Perkins conducts.
Imani Winds returns to OBF on July 12 with Passion for Bach and Coltrane. The Grammy-winning oratorio, a surprising confluence of classical and jazz, is full of inspiration from the eponymous musical giants, and includes spoken word poetry of A.B. Spellman.
The festival closes on July 13 when OBF partners with Eugene Ballet for a thrilling performance of the electrifying Carmina Burana. From the instantly recognizable opening chorus to the evocative tales of love and fate, the Orff masterpiece, conducted by the “fearless [and] bold” (San Diego Union-Tribune) Ken-David Masur, delivers raw emotion and dazzling energy.
The Festival schedule rounds-out with performances from the elite Stangeland Family Youth Choral Academy and Organ Institute, a liederabend concert, and an OBF Family Series presentation of Ravel’s Mother Goose Suites.
Tickets go on sale to the general public April 8, with the annual Friends of the Festival exclusive presale beginning March 11.