Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival Presents: Festival Concert II

Music past and future: This September marks the Charlottesville Chamber Music’s 25th season and renowned musicians from around the country and abroad will celebrate with concerts from Sept. 8 to 19, 2024, including four concerts this week at The Paramount!
 

Performances will explore three centuries of influence of one of the composers who launched the chamber music tradition, J. S. Bach (1685-1750), reimagining his work, connecting it to a wide range of other works, and looking into the future.
 

Bach’s genius and inventiveness have inspired and influenced composers for three centuries. That theme of “invention” is especially on display in the first two concerts at The Paramount, on September 8 and 9.

At this concert, renowned classical/jazz pianist Dan Tepfer performs Inventions/Reinventions, an album that topped the Billboard classical charts.
 

He performs Bach’s “old” Two-Part Inventions and fills them out with own “new” re-invented free improvisations in the “missing” keys. His hope is that when listeners hear music “that was composed 300 years ago juxtaposed with music that was just improvised in the 21st century, they feel the kinship between the two.”
 

Here’s what The New York Times had to say about Inventions/Reinventions:
 

“It’s hard not to be swept away by Tepfer’s vision and compelling realizations. With disarming seriousness and extraordinary musicianship, he is honoring Bach by creating a conversation with him that is true to both artists.”
 

The concert opens with a delightful string quintet by Boccherini – with nothing to do with Bach – followed by modern and contemporary works inspired by Bach.