Bach and Quantz: Concertos for Flute, Violin, and Keyboard

The 49th annual Bach Week Festival finale features violin and keyboard concertos by J. S. Bach and a double-flute concerto by Baroque composer-flutist Johann Joachim Quantz in a concert 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 12, at Evanston’s Nichols Concert Hall.

Flutist Jennifer Gunn of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and John Thorne, principal flute of the Chicago Philharmonic, will solo in Quantz’s Concerto for 2 Flutes in G Minor, QV 6:8. This will be the first time Quantz’s music has ever been performed at Bach Week.

Violinist Desirée Ruhstrat of the Black Oak Ensemble and multiple Grammy-nominated Lincoln Trio will solo in Bach’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in E Major, BWV 1042.

Pianist Babayan, who has been cycling through Bach’s keyboard concertos on return visits to Bach Week, will solo in Bach’s keyboard Concerto No. 6 in F Major, BWV 1057, the composer’s own arrangement of his Brandenburg Concerto No. 4.

“Babayan’s traversals of Bach’s concertos electrify his fellow Bach Week musicians just as they delight and enthrall concertgoers,” Richard Webster, Bach Week’s music director, says. “He keeps all of us on our toes. He is extremely focused. He is at one with Bach, at one with the piano, and at one with his collaborators on stage.”

The concert is sponsored by the Howard and Ursula Dubin Foundation.

Tickets and Information

Single-ticket admission prices for the concert are $50 for VIP seating, $35 adult general admission, $25 seniors, and $15 students with ID.

Tickets can be purchased online at https://bachweek.org/2022-festival, by phone at 847-269-9050, or by mail to Bach Week Festival, 1555 Sherman Avenue, Suite 312, Evanston, Illinois 60201. For general festival information, phone 847-269-9050 or email info@bachweek.org.