The Sonora Bach Festival will present local, classical music singers and instrumentalists in concert on Sunday, Oct. 15 at 3 p.m. at The Church of the 49ers in Columbia, CA. Tickets at $20, are available online at Sonorabach.org; The Mountain Bookshop in the Junction Shopping Center; or by calling (209) 536-6330 with limited availability at the door. For more information, visit the festival website; or facebook.com/sonorabachfest; or instagram.com/sonorabachfestival
Over 20 local classical performers and the Columbia College Orchestra will present the Local’s Concert on Oct. 15. Now in its 47th year, the Local’s Concert features talented vocalists and instrumentalists performing music of the Baroque era and beyond. All the performers, hailing from the Central Sierra region, are professionally-trained musicians with varying occupations: some professional music teachers and performers, but some making their living in other fields who still keep up their instruments and love performing.
Diane Wright, Festival Executive Director, former project manager for General Electric, and performer on Sunday’s program said, “We love this event. It represents the grassroots of what this Bach Festival is in our community. And as a singer, myself, it gives me an opportunity to keep my voice up.”
The program features, among others, newcomers to the festival: Dellamay Miller, flute; Len Ottley, clarinet; Lahna Von Epps, soprano; and the Mother Lode String Quartet. Other performers include Wright, mezzo soprano; Joy Willow, soprano; Mark Siever, piano; Gail Johnson, piano; Enoch Samraj, baritone; Janet Telford, flute; Sandra Betti, flute; Keith Evans, classical guitar; Daniel Godsil, conductor and pianist; Esther Bulger, violin; Gary Osias, violin; Kayla Ireland, viola; Alice Williams, cello; and members of the Columbia College Orchestra.
Music on the program will feature solos and ensembles of various sizes. The program will conclude with all the performers and audience playing or singing “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” from J.S. Bach’s Cantata #147, led by festival board member and retired college professor, John Carter. Other composers represented on the concert will be Lotti, Mozart, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Rossini, and Mangore.
Marguerite Close, festival board member and Local’s Concert Manager, said, “We have put together a program that has a variety of mediums, composers and even musical styles. But also, we have put together members of the community who love music, and are good performers.”
Future events include the Salon Concert, Oct. 22, at the Fleming home, featuring professional violin/harpsichord duo Bach Se Piace with catered delicacies by Cali Catering; and the Bach’s Brunch, Oct. 28, at Oak Hill Presbyterian Church with catering, again, by Cali Catering and music by classical guitarist Keith Evans.
