{"id":85421,"date":"2025-04-10T08:55:18","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T15:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=85421"},"modified":"2025-04-10T09:00:02","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T16:00:02","slug":"bach-to-the-future-and-more-at-bach-fest-this-weekend-in-la-and-long-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/art\/bach-to-the-future-and-more-at-bach-fest-this-weekend-in-la-and-long-beach","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Bach to the Future\u2019 and more at Bach Fest this weekend in LA and Long Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Welcome to Theater News, a regular column by longtime reviewer Anita W. Harris. Look for it most Thursdays. Or sign up<\/a> for our Eat See Do newsletter to get it in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laser beams with classical music? Mexican baroque? All this and more will be featured in Musica Angelica\u2019s Bach Fest this weekend, April 11-13, at the First Congregational Churches in Los Angeles and Long Beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

German composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685\u20131750) is known and celebrated for his complex musical arrangements, often church-related, with harmonies and counterpoints that convey the emotional depth associated with the Baroque period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Festivities kick off Friday, April 11, with \u201cBach to the Future\u201d at the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, 540 S. Commonwealth Ave., featuring resident organist Christoph Bull playing Bach along with a laser light show. (Whoa!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gourmet food trucks and a no-host bar in front of the cathedral will provide refreshments beginning at 7 p.m. \u2014 which Bull refers to as a \u201cpre-hang\u201d to be in the \u201cright spirits\u201d for the concert \u2014 before the show starts at 8:30 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Organist Christoph Bull. Photo by Saam Gabbay.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The festival then moves to Long Beach on Saturday, April 12, with director Martin Haselb\u00f6ck leading the Musica Angelica Orchestra in performing Bach\u2019s \u201cSt. Matthew Passion\u201d at the First Congregational Church of Long Beach, 241 Cedar Ave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday\u2019s performance begins at 6 p.m., after a pre-concert reception in the church\u2019s courtyard beginning at 4:30 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSt. Matthew Passion\u201d tells the story of Jesus\u2019 final days before dying on a cross, featuring both instrumental and vocal elements. Sounds perfect before Easter next week, or just to hear something besides Grand Prix race cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The orchestra then moves Bach to the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles to reprise this performance on Sunday, April 13, at 3 p.m., followed by a reception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haselb\u00f6ck said that to understand Bach\u2019s music, it helps to think of him as a Baroque composer. According to Haselb\u00f6ck, Bach considered himself like other artists of the period as \u201ca mirror reflecting, in his music, all the proportions, dimensions and special features of a God-created world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe more artistic the musical forms appear, the more elaborate their polyphonic structures can be constructed,\u201d Haselb\u00f6ck said. \u201cTherefore, the better the composer could reflect God\u2019s infinite creation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n Link<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Tickets to Bach Fest\u2019s Friday night and Saturday and Sunday afternoon concerts are available through Musica Angelica at Musicaangelica.org<\/a>. The festival is sponsored by the Colburn Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First Congregational Church of Los Angeles will also offer a free performance of \u201cBach & the Mexican Baroque\u201d as part of its Palm Sunday services on April 13, beginning at 10:30 a.m., when organist Bull will be Bach to play Baroque masterworks on the Great Organ \u2014 the largest church musical instrument with 20,000 pipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The free \u201cBach & the Mexican Baroque\u201d program then follows at 11 a.m., including Bach\u2019s \u201cWachet Auf\u201d \u2014 which means \u201csleepers, awake\u201d in German and is one of Bach\u2019s most popular choral cantatas \u2014 but also the Spanish-language \u201cGloria\u201d by Ignacio de Jerusalem and Manuel de Sumaya\u2019s \u201cCelebren publiquen\u201d and \u201cPara dar luz immortal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multiple choirs, soloists and musicians will be conducted by David Harris, Ianthe Marini and Fahad Siadat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founded in 1867, the First Congregational Church focuses on progressive spirituality and justice, describing itself as \u201copen and affirming, a home for people of many faith backgrounds, and a place where no one is turned away and everyone can believe as they choose and at their own pace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Inside the First Congregational Church of Long Beach. Photo courtesy of the church.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

According to Musica Angelica, the entire festival in both LA and Long Beach offers a chance \u201cto delve more deeply into Bach\u2019s compositions, the motivations that surround them and the ethos that has developed since their creation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Musica Angelica musicians play on authentic or carefully crafted replicas of instruments from the Baroque period, including strings, woodwinds, harpsichords and lutes. Founded in 1992, the group has toured internationally and performed with both Long Beach Opera and LA Opera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And though this is its third annual Bach Fest, the Bachanalian celebration has a long local history. The First Congregational Church had hosted an LA Bach Festival beginning in the 1930s, before the event spun off as its own organization in 2011. Musica Angelica then took over, returning the festival to the church, designed \u201cfor the connoisseur and beginner alike.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthew Faulkner, Musica Angelica\u2019s executive director, says, \u201cThe weekend promises to be enlightening, entertaining and emotional, providing the full range of experiences from one of our greatest composers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For tickets and information about the Friday night and Saturday and Sunday concerts in LA and Long Beach, visit <\/i>musicaagnelica.org<\/i><\/a>. Sunday\u2019s music and service at the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles are free to the public. <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Laser beams with classical music? Mexican baroque? All this and more will be featured in Musica Angelica\u2019s Bach Fest this weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":85422,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[32337],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32310],"class_list":["post-85421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","tag-theater-news","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85421"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85429,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85421\/revisions\/85429"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85421"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=85421"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=85421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}