Bach festival

A Bach festival is a music festival held to celebrate the memory of the German composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750). Various locations throughout the world hold festivals dedicated to Bach. Notable Bach festivals include those held by Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio; those held by the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music; the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park in Winter Park, Florida; and the Bachfest Bolivia, celebrated yearly in Cochabamba each March since 2008. Bachfest Bolivia commemorates Johann Sebastian Bach's birthday and is organized by Bolivian director and pianist Elizabeth Schwimmer.

Historical festivals

The Bach Choir of Bethlehem

The Bach Choir of Bethlehem was organized in 1898 to study Bach's Mass in B minor. The choir performed the American premiere of the complete Mass on March 27, 1900, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, though there is evidence that parts of the Mass had been performed in the United States as early as 1870.Bruce Carey was the chorus's director from 1933 until 1938, William Ifor Jones from 1939 until 1969.