The internationally renowned Oregon Bach Festival (OBF) and the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance are pleased to announce the 2024 lineup of concerts and artists. The upcoming season, which runs June 28 through July 14, continues the long-standing tradition of presenting the finest choral-orchestral works, extraordinary new music, illuminating lectures, and captivating community events. The Festival will be 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 2024 Festival – themed “Ascending Voices” – invites audiences to explore the universal experiences of grief, healing, acceptance, and joy.
The festival opens on June 28 with Bach’s biblical and poetic “Ascension Oratorio.” The cantata, not performed at OBF in more than a decade, features trumpet-driven choruses and exquisite vocal solos. The sure-to-be sold out event will go on the road for an encore performance at Mount Angel Abbey on the afternoon of June 29. Both performances are led by the legendary John Butt.
On July 2, John Butt joins forces with the lauded OBF Berwick Academy Orchestra for a new spin on the iconic festival Discovery concert. Berwick Academy also offers an afternoon of chamber music led by London Haydn Quartet Catherine Manson on July 8, and a Classical era program led by Portland Baroque Orchestra artistic director Julian Perkins on July 10.
Composer and conductor Eric Whitacre – one of today’s most popular musicians – serves as an artist-in-residence during OBF 2024. The grammy-winning multi-hyphenate presents this year’s Hinkle distinguished lecture and a community sing on July 6. Whitacre conducts the OBF Chorus in a performance of his “heartbreaking” (Los Angeles Times), hauntingly beautiful, and intimate, “The Sacred Veil” on July 12.
Paul Jacobs returns to Oregon Bach Festival to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the OBF Organ Institute. The centerpiece of the anniversary celebration is the co-commission and west coast premiere of a new organ concerto from Lowell Liebermann on July 11 in Silva Concert Hall. Liebermann, renowned as one of the most distinguished living American composers, will have his work brought to life by Jacobs and the OBF modern orchestra. The program, which also includes the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony and new Bach transcription from composer Damien Geter, is conducted by 2023 OBF standout Gemma New.
Rising violin and piano stars Claire Wells and Pualina Lim partner for Vaughan Williams’ “The Lark Ascending” on July 1.
OBF continues its tradition of Saturday crossover events at the Hult Center. On June 29, Portland Cello Project brings their signature mix of classic and modern sound to an evening of Bach, Led Zepplin, and Taylor Swift.
Praised for his “traditional sound with a sophisticated contemporary spin” (The Guardian), pianist Aaron Diehl presents a jazz program featuring Sir Roland Hanna’s 24 Preludes on July 6.
Sandbox Percussion, called “pure as magic” by the New York Times and “jaw-dropping” by The Washington Post, joins OBF for the world-premiere weekend of John Luther Adams’ “Prophecies of Fire.”
Following his sold-out performance in 2023, Grammy-winner Craig Hella Johnson returns with Sarah Kirland Snider’s “Mass for the Endangered” – a prayer for voiceless animals and the imperiled environments in which they live. “Imaginative and spontaneous” (New York Times) Dutch conductor Jos Van Veldhoven follows his triumphant 2023 OBF debut with a turn at Mozart’s iconic, unfinished “Great” Mass, and Russian conductor Alevtina Ioffe, known for her “admirable precision” (The Washington Post), leads the OBF modern orchestra in Gustav Holst’s epic and cinematic “The Planets” – an HD odyssey accompanied by stunning NASA footage of the cosmos.
OBF ends the “Ascending Voices” season when the “fearless [and] bold” (San Diego Union-Tribune) Ken-David Masur conducts the unmistakably joyful Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
Additional artists and events will be announced in the coming weeks. Tickets go on sale to the public May 1, with season subscription packages and the annual Friends of the Festival exclusive presale beginning March 19.