Drivers, start your engines!
If you haven’t heard yet, the Bach 500 is underway.
March is “Bach Month” on The Classical Network. In celebration of the anniversary of the birth of Johann Sebastian Bach (on March 21st, 1685), we’re looking for 500 listeners to step up and make a donation IN ANY AMOUNT. You set the level. When we reach 500 donations, we’ll tally in the funds from our Bach Pot – contributions solicited in advance from some especially ardent supporters – and, best of all, we’ll be able to cancel fundraising on Bach’s birthday and enjoy just his music.
You can do your part to make that happen by calling us during business hours at 1-888-232-1212, or by donating online anytime at wwfm.org. While you’re over there, at the website, you can monitor our progress by consulting our Bach 500 membership thermometer. You don’t have to worry about blowing our engines. Your donation is like a blast of nitrous oxide, but we’re definitely built for speed.
PLEASE NOTE: This year, the Big Day actually falls on a Saturday, so we will celebrate with a full day of Bach on Friday, March 20.
To keep us mindful, this afternoon I’ll be offering hourly reminders, harnessed to a short work of Bach; then another work in some way related – for example, one of the Preludes and Fugues of Dmitri Shostakovich (influenced by the “Well-Tempered Klavier”) – followed by something related to the related material, which ideally will have nothing at all to do with Bach, like a Glazunov symphony (Glazunov was a Shostakovich mentor). That will keep it varied, while still getting the message out there.
First, it’s another Noontime Concert, today featuring Tableau Vivant. The ensemble will present a program titled “Telemann in Paris.” Two of Georg Philipp Telemann’s “Paris” Quartets will flank a sonata by Michel Blavet.
The concert is another brought to us by Gotham Early Music Scene, or GEMS. GEMS is a non-profit corporation that supports and promotes artists and organizations in New York City devoted to Early Music. Free lunchtime concerts are held at the chapel of St. Bartholomew’s Church, 325 Park Avenue, in Midtown Manhattan, every Thursday at 1:15 p.m. To learn more about these and other GEMS events, look online at gemsny.org.
It’s music by Bach, from the time of Bach, inspired by Bach, and totally unrelated to Bach.
Please support it, and help us to cancel fundraising on March 20, by joining the Bach 500. We’re looking for your contribution in any amount at 1-888-232-1212 or wwfm.org.
Then enjoy the music. It’s Bach’s world; we just live in it, from 12 to 4 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network.
