25.11.2022 – 08:00

Bach Festival 2023: Tickets Available for 300th Anniversary

Bach Festival 2023: Tickets Available for 300th Anniversary

Advance sales for the Bach Festival Leipzig 2023 started on 22 November 2022. Tickets are available online and in the Bach Museum shop. The music festival will take place from 8 to 18 June 2023 and will focus on the 300th anniversary of Bach’s appointment as Thomas Cantor. On the 1st Sunday after Trinity, the Feast of the Trinity, in 1723, Johann Sebastian Bach took up his post as Thomas Cantor. Under the motto "BACH for Future", Bach's masterpieces will be presented in new, exciting contexts. Leading international performers and ensembles will celebrate the composer in over 150 events and Bach interpreters will be joined by young ensembles.

Bach's Arrival in Leipzig 300 Years Ago

In his first year of service, Johann Sebastian Bach presented his audience in Leipzig with a complex musical cosmos, which will open up widely in numerous facets at the Bach Festival Leipzig 2023 at the original venues and in the interpretation of renowned artists. As the new Thomas Cantor, Bach performed exclusively his own works in the services: 63 cantatas, of which Bach composed 38 pieces from scratch. In the cycle "Best of Year 1", four of the best experts on Bach's cantata works will perform their favourite pieces from the year with their own ensembles and explain what fascinates them so much about them.

Highlights of the Program “BACH for Future”

"BACH for Future" also presents Bach's music in fresh formats and new interpretations of well-known works. The venues range from the St Thomas Church and St Nicholas Church to the Main Station and the large auditorium of the Anatomical Institute. An open-air anniversary gala on the market square will bring together leading musicians from the worlds of classical music, jazz and pop on 9 June 2023.

In keeping with tradition, the Thomanerchor (St Thomas Boys Choir) and the Gewandhausorchester will perform the opening concert of the festival. Alongside Bach's works, a commissioned composition by Jörg Widmann will be heard, which will enter into dialogue with Bach's inaugural music of 1723. The well-known boys' choir will also perform a motets program in St Thomas Church on 15 June 2023 and will conduct the service in St Thomas Church on 18 June 2023.

Many of the most famous Bach interpreters will perform at the Bach Festival Leipzig 2023, including many international ensembles such as the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir or Bach Collegium Japan. The ensembles will be supported by soloists. Several successful pianists will also perform in chamber and organ concerts.

The Mendelssohn House and the Schumann House as well as the Gewandhausorchester, the MDR Symphony Orchestra and the Oper Leipzig are also contributing to the festival program with their own productions. Scholars from the Bach Archive, international guest speakers and the "Quartet of Critics" accompany the festival with free lectures and discussion rounds.

Bach from Home and Bach Forest

For those who will not be able to attend the Bach Festival Leipzig 2023 in person, the streaming platform www.bachfromhome.live is a great alternative. Together with the Thuringia Bach Festival and the Bach Days in Koethen, the Leipzig Bach Festival makes the authentic places where Bach worked resound. The platform presents the most interesting concerts from Bach’s homeland as a common experience with Bach fans from around the world.

Last but not least, Bach lovers can do something for climate protection and support the heart project of the Bach Festival: the planting of the Bach Forest – 72 acres of mixed forest at Lake Störmthal, near the historic Bach place of Störmthal in the Leipzig Region.

Further Information

Exclusive travel offers for the Bach Festival 2023 can be booked via Leipzig Tourismus und Marketing GmbH, for example there is a travel package for the opening weekend as well as the closing weekend.

Are you interested in a media trip to get an authentic impression of the Leipzig Region and its diverse facets? Please feel free to contact us and let us know about your topics. Further information is available at www.leipzig.travel/press

Dana Marschner
International PR Manager
 
Phone +49 341 7104-333 • Fax +49 341 7104-344
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