Karen Hunt has been involved with the Idaho Bach Festival for four out of the festival’s six years, and her experience is different every time.
The University of Idaho senior, majoring in music vocal performance, said although the festival centers around the same composer each year, Johann Sebastian Bach, the music is celebrated in new ways, namely through the guest artists who are invited to Moscow.
For each festival, the Lionel Hampton School of Music invites a different artist to the event — someone who not only performs, but also hosts master music classes.
“This year, they’re bringing in this world-class lutist and we never get to see a lute here, which is really cool,” Hunt said. “Last year, the artist had a vocal focus, and I’m a singer, so that was really special to me. There’s a lot of variety in that, so there’s something for everyone.”
In addition to the guest artist, Idaho Bach Festival Co-director Christopher Pfund said the festival is always a different experience for audiences because of the improvisational nature of the music being played.
“It’s very tonal music, it’s not hard to listen to, and it has a lot of improvisation,” Pfund said. “It’s not as though we’re playing exactly what’s on the page, the notes are kind of suggestions as to what to do.”
Pfund said the festival was first organized by UI Director of Choral Activities Michael Murphy, as a way to share the music the foundational composer with students and the Moscow community.
“Bach’s music is sort of the foundation of everything we do in western music, so we really had a need for it,” Pfund said. “I think it’s sort of a natural thing to have a festival to celebrate this music.”
The festival’s opening concert is at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Haddock Performance Hall of the Lionel Hampton School of Music. Tickets are available at the door and priced at $5 for adults and $3 for students and seniors.
Pfund said the opening performance features faculty members, and is not exclusive to UI faculty. Some performers are from Washington State University and one is from Boise State University.
Friday features two master classes, a guitar class at 10:30 a.m. and a continuo class at 3:30 p.m., both of which are located in the Haddock Performance Hall. A student concert will also take place at noon on Friday in the Idaho Commons.
Hunt said the concert in the Commons is among her favorite parts of participating in the festival, and not only because of the building’s good acoustics.
“It’s unique getting to perform in that space because you have people walking around and they have no idea there’s going to be a concert,” Hunt said. “It’s cool to bring what we do further into the center of campus, and it’s cool to see people get excited to see live music.”
The festival continues into the weekend with an organ concert at noon on Saturday at the First Presbyterian Church in downtown Moscow. The performance is free and open to the public.
The closing concert, which features guest artist and lute player, Lucas Harris, will be held at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Haddock Performance Hall, with tickets sold at the door and priced the same as the opening concert.
Pfund said the audience can look forward to hearing a unique instrument at the closing concert — a type of lute called the theorbo.
The instrument is so large, Pfund said, they had to buy an extra seat for it to be carried onto the airplane.
“The theorbo usually has between 16 and 20 strings, it has a very long neck and so you can strum these things and get these incredible bass sounds,” Pfund said.
Beyond the chance to see a unique instrument at work, Pfund said the festival provides students and community members with the opportunity to listen to live music of a quality that is difficult to come by in a small town like Moscow.
“It’s unusual when we have this many people come together to do this kind of quality,” Pfund said. “The opportunity to hear a theorbo player — this is one of the very best people in the world who does this, and normally you would have to go to New York City or Paris or Berlin to hear this.”
Corrin Bond can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @CorrBond