The next event in the 2023-24 Gloucester Meetinghouse Foundation Series is the annual Bach Birthday Concert on Thursday, March 21st at 7:30pm.
It will feature the The Bach Project at Ashmont Hill Chamber Music, under the direction of Andrew Sheranian, performing the Brandenburg Concerto #5, the great Prelude & Fugue in B-minor for organ solo, and the delightfully humorous Coffee Cantata.
March 21st is the actual birthday in 1685 of Johann Sebastian Bach, generally regarded the greatest composer of all time. The pieces being performed represent the pinnacle of Bach’s achievement in secular music of three genres: a dramatic concerto for strings with harpsichord solo; a monumental piece for the pipe organ; and a comical operetta. This piece depicts the story of a stern father concerned about his daughter’s addiction to coffee, a new sensation in Leipzig at the time, his forbidding her marriage unless she stops, and her strategy to get his permission.
The historic 1806 Meetinghouse, home of the Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church, is located on the green at 50 Middle Street where event parking is available. A side entrance at 10 Church Street offers a lift for persons with disabilities. For those unable to attend in person the concert will be simulcast and available afterwards on the GMF YouTube channel.
Cape Ann Community 