UMassGives 2022 Thank You!

The biennial UMass Bach Festival and Symposium will celebrate its fifth iteration in April 2023. Since its inception in 2015, the event has expanded to attract regional, national, and international attention to UMass and the Department of Music and Dance. The 2017 event was reviewed in The New York Times by James Oestreich. In 2019, the main festival concert drew close to 1,000 people, and the 2021 Symposium, which was held entirely online, had a record number of participants (close to 500).  

The project is unique, in that it fosters collaboration and involvement from all areas of the department. Both the Festival and the Symposium offer important and unique opportunities for our students to collaborate with and be mentored by UMass faculty and esteemed guest performers and scholars. In the case of the Festival, our students benefit enormously by performing alongside acclaimed guest artists, faculty, and alumni. At the Symposium, graduate students have the opportunity to present their research and receive direct feedback from internationally-renowned scholars in the field. 

Plans for the 2023 Festival and Symposium are beginning to take shape, as are the efforts to raise funds to support this massive undertaking. The Festival events will culminate with a performance of the great Mass in B Minor by current students, alumni, and faculty under the baton of guest artist Andrew Megill, one of North America’s leading interpreters of Bach’s choral works. The 2023 Symposium, titled “Bach and Timbre,” will bring scholars of international stature to our campus to join in a robust series of presentations. Although the works of J.S. Bach have been considered from many different perspectives, the topic of timbre has been little explored in relation to his compositions.

Donations received through this UMassGives campaign will go directly to fund production costs related to the Festival concerts, particularly the Mass in B Minor performance, as well as appearance fees and travel expenses for both the Festival and Symposium events.