FESTIVAL LINEUP
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Vicente Lusitano: Aspice Domine
Johann Friedrich Fasch: Sonata for Bassoon, FaWV N:C1
J.S. Bach: Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten, BWV 202
Ernst von Dohnányi: Sextet in C Major, Op.37Ryan Romine, bassoon
Penelope Shumate, soprano
SVBF Chamber Orchestra -
Nkeiru Okoye: Voices Shouting Out
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Violin Concerto in G minor
Antonin Dvořák : Symphony No.9 in E minor, “The New World”Kalena Bovell, conductor
Alejandra Switala, violin
SVBF Orchestra -
Valerie Coleman: Umoja: Anthem of Unity
Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs
Michael Tippitt: A Child of Our TimeKalena Bovell, conductor
Sara Duchovnay, soprano
SVBF Orchestra & Choir -
The Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival Noon Concert Series features chamber music and solo performances by Bach Festival Orchestra musicians, guest artists, and "Rising Star" young artists from the region.
All Noon Chamber Music Concerts are free.
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Families, gather around for live music and storytelling featuring children’s book author NoNieqa Ramos and Bach Festival orchestra musicians! We’ll read stories, play music, and have a fun instrument show and tell. Kids can dance and sing and move around, whatever feels good to you!
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Haven’t heard enough music, yet?! Come hear our musicians share new sounds you might not experience during Bach Festival week from their own compositions to jazz. This is a fun chance to get to know our musicians in a casual setting over great drinks and food!
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JS Bach: BWV 114, Ach, lieben Christen
KALENA BOVELL
2024 GUEST CONDUCTOR
With her distinctive voice as maestra, speaker, and poet, critics praise Panamanian-American conductor Kalena Bovell as “one of the brightest stars in classical music.” (Channel 3 News, Connecticut). Propelled by a steadfast commitment to musical excellence and community access, her recent achievements include receiving the prestigious 2024 Sphinx Medal of Excellence—the highest honor bestowed by the Sphinx Organization—and becoming the first Black woman to conduct an opera in Canada, conducting a world premiere reimagination of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha. The former Assistant Conductor of the Memphis Symphony, she has also served as guest conductor with orchestras including the Minnesota Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, Colorado Music Festival, Hamilton Philharmonic, and the Victoria Symphony. As a guest clinician, she has worked with programs including from the New England Conservatory and The Juilliard School Pre-College.
Kalena will conduct the Festival II (Friday, June 14) and Festival III (Saturday, June 15) concerts in Lehman Auditorium.
Featured artists
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KALENA BOVELL
Guest Conductor
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Benjamin Bergey
Assistant Conductor
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SARA DUCHOVNAY
Soprano
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PENELOPE SHUMATE
Soprano
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ALEJANDRA SWITALA
Violin
Featured Composers
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J.S. BACH
1685 – 28 July 1750
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Valerie Coleman
b. 1970
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Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
1875-1912
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Ernst von Dohnányi
1877-1960
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Antonín Dvořák
1841-1904
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Nkeiru Okoye
b. 1972
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Richard Strauss
1864-1949
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Michael Tippett
1905-1998
FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
1:30 PM
Lehman Auditorium
EMU Campus
SUNDAY, JUNE 9
TALKING MUSIC
Pre-concert "Talking Music" discussion panel with David Berry (SVBF Artistic Director) and SVBF artists.
Talks are free with Festival Concert ticket purchase!
3:00 PM
Lehman Auditorium
EMU Campus
SUNDAY, JUNE 9
FESTIVAL CONCERT I
Penelope Shumate, Soprano
Ryan Romine, Bassoon
Unity will be explored in this concert through the music of the first ever published black composer, a Bach cantata that commemorates marriage, and an exciting sextet that brings together an unusual combination of instruments into one chamber masterwork!
12:00 PM
Asbury United Methodist Church
Downtown Harrisonburg
MOnday, June 10
monday noon concert
The Noon Concert Series features chamber music and solo performances by Bach Festival Orchestra musicians, guest artists, and "Rising Star" young artists from the region. Programs will be posted closer to the festival date.
12:00 PM
Asbury United Methodist Church
Downtown Harrisonburg
tuesday, June 11
tuesday noon concert
The Noon Concert Series features chamber music and solo performances by Bach Festival Orchestra musicians, guest artists, and "Rising Star" young artists from the region. Programs will be posted closer to the festival date.
6:30 PM
Pale Fire Brewing Co.
Downtown Harrisonburg
TUESDAY june 11
SVBF OPEN MIC NIGHT!
Haven’t heard enough music, yet?! Come hear our musicians share new sounds you might not experience during Bach Festival week from their own compositions to jazz. This is a fun chance to get to know our musicians in a casual setting over great drinks and food!
12:00 PM
Asbury United Methodist Church
Downtown Harrisonburg
wednesday, june 12
wednesday noon concert
The Noon Concert Series features chamber music and solo performances by Bach Festival Orchestra musicians, guest artists, and "Rising Star" young artists from the region. Programs will be posted closer to the festival date.
12:00 PM
Asbury United Methodist Church
Downtown Harrisonburg
THURSDAY, JUNE 13
thursday noon concert
The Noon Concert Series features chamber music and solo performances by Bach Festival Orchestra musicians, guest artists, and "Rising Star" young artists from the region. Programs will be posted closer to the festival date.
7:30 PM
Asbury United Methodist Church
Downtown Harrisonburg
THURSDAY, JUNE 13
Baroque Academy Faculty Concert
Special performance by the Virginia Baroque Academy faculty!
12:00 PM
Asbury United Methodist Church
Downtown Harrisonburg
FRIDAY, JUNE 14
FRIDAY noon concert
The Noon Concert Series features chamber music and solo performances by Bach Festival Orchestra musicians, guest artists, and "Rising Star" young artists from the region. Programs will be posted closer to the festival date.
6:00 PM
Lehman Auditorium
EMU Campus
FRiday, June 14
TALKING MUSIC
Pre-concert "Talking Music" discussion panel with David Berry (SVBF Artistic Director) and SVBF artists.
Talks are free with Festival Concert ticket purchase!
7:30 PM
Lehman Auditorium
EMU Campus
friday, june 14
festival concert II
Kalena Bovell, conductor
Alejandra Switala, violin
Unity will be explored in this concert through a lively work highlighting resiliency after 9/11 by Nkeiru Okoye, a beautiful concerto by the great romantic British-Sierra Leonean composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and Dvorak's famous symphony "from the New World" which weaves the sounds of America into a symphonic masterwork.
saturday, june 15
1:00 PM
Central Library
Downtown Harrisonburg
Book Notes! Kids Concert
NoNieqa Ramos, author and storyteller
SVBF Musicians
Families, gather around for live music and storytelling featuring local children’s book author NoNieqa Ramos and Bach Festival orchestra musicians! We’ll read stories, play music, and have a fun instrument show and tell. Kids can dance and sing and move around, whatever feels good to you!
6:00 PM
Lehman Auditorium
EMU Campus
Saturday, june 15
TALKING MUSIC
Pre-concert "Talking Music" discussion panel with David Berry (SVBF Artistic Director) and SVBF artists.
Talks are free with Festival Concert ticket purchase!
7:30 PM
Lehman Auditorium
EMU Campus
saturday, june 15
festival concert III
Kalena Bovell, conductor
Sara Duchovnay, soprano
Unity will be explored in this concert through a wonderful and vibrant overture entitled Umoja (which means unity in Swahili) by Valerie Coleman, Strauss's transcendent Last four Songs, and Tippett's great World War II choral masterwork A Child of Our Time, that focuses on the tragic struggle that division brings.
11:00 AM
Martin Chapel
EMU Campus
saturday, june 15
Baroque Academy Workshop Concert
Join the students of the Virginia Baroque Academy for their final performance of a very special project to be announced soon!
10:00 AM
Lehman Auditorium
EMU Campus
sunday, june 16
Leipzig service
Benjamin Bergey, conductor
Daniel Ott, homilist
Marvin Mills, organist
Festival Orchestra & Choir