Carmel Bach Festival

The Carmel Bach Festival is a classical music concert series held annually in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. The Festival's 88th season will be held from July 12–26, 2025.

The Festival’s mission is to celebrate the works, inspiration, and ongoing influence of Johann Sebastian Bach worldwide by immersing audiences in a festival experience that integrates music, education, and ideas.

History

Dene Denny and Hazel Watrous booked their own concerts and events in 1925 and 1926 in their American Craftsman-style home in Carmel-by-the-Sea, on the east side of Dolores Street, now called "Harmony House."

In 1927, Hazel and Dene organize a group of local music lovers to establish the Carmel Music Society, a non-profit organization devoted to bringing classical music to Carmel. In collaboration between Henry F. Dickinson and his wife Edith, and Hazel and Dene, they played a pivotal role in the formation of the Carmel Music Society. Henry became the organization's first treasurer and Edith served as one of its first presidents. The Henry Dickinson House, situated on Carmel Point, served as a gracious host to visiting musicians.

In 1935, the Carmel Music Society co-sponsored the establishment of the Carmel Bach Festival. The Carmel Bach Festival began as a three- and later four-day festival of open rehearsals, events, and concerts conducted by Ernst Bacon and Gastone Usigli.

In 1938, Gastone Usigli was named Music Director, leading the Festival until his death in 1956. As his successor Dene Denny chose Hungarian-born conductor Sandor Salgo.

When Salgo retired in 1991, Bruno Weil was named the Music Director and Conductor of the Carmel Bach Festival. Maestro Weil concluded his tenure with the 2010 Festival.

In 2020, the Festival cancelled its season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was also cancelled from 1942 to 1945 due to World War II.

In 2023, the Carmel Bach announced the appointment of Grete Pedersen as artistic director and principal conductor. Pedersen is the first woman to assume this position, and only the sixth artistic director in the Festival's history.

References

Further reading

External links

• Carmel Bach Festival Tape Collection (ARS.0025), Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound
• Teaching Music at Stanford, 1949–1974, Directing the Carmel Bach Festival and the Marin Symphony, 1956–1991