In keeping with tradition, Debrecen has joined the Bach for All Festival this year, – on 21st March in the Little Church and on 31st March in the Great Church, the audience can listen to Johann Sebastian Bach’s works in concert for free.
The “Bach in the subways” initiative was launched in New York more than a decade ago, in 2010, when cellist Dale Henderson performed Bach’s works in subway subways to celebrate the composer’s birthday. The cellist’s aim was to raise interest in classical music, and so the works were performed not only in concert halls but also in unusual musical venues such as shopping malls and subways. The idea eventually grew into an international series of programmes, which Hungary joined in 2015, and since 2018 Debrecen has been part of the international music programme.
On Johann Sebastian Bach’s birthday, 21st March at 6:00 p.m. in the Kistemplom, the opening concert of the festival in Debrecen, the organisers are inviting all music lovers to a real “Bach Celebration”. The Reformed Church, the oldest church in the city of Debrecen, with its ever to expanding concert life and its Kiszel organ, renewed in 2018, has become an increasingly important venue for classical music in the city in recent years. The opening concert will feature István Bán, organist and festival director of the Bach Festival in Buda Castle, Dániel Sárosi, organist and artistic director of the Reformed Church of Debrecen, and Dániel Somogyi to Tóth, organist and chief music director of the city of Debrecen.
Ten days later, from 6:00 p.m. on 31st March, the Reformed Church of Debrecen will host the closing concert of the Bach for All Festival. The concert, entitled “High Churches and their Organists”, will feature organists Tamás Bódiss, Gergő Csorba, and Zoltán Kiss, who will perform works by one of the world’s most famous composers on the more than 4,000 pipe organs of the Great Church.
Entrance to both concerts is free of charge, and donations can be made to the Hungarian Children’s Rescue Foundation.
