This year’s Toronto Bach Festival features four concerts and a lecture in a celebration of the iconic Baroque composer. It takes place from May 22 to 24, 2026.
“As Beethoven famously said, the profound beauty of Bach’s music is an inexhaustible source that we return to again and again. Particularly when the world around us seems out of control, the calm order of his art can be a solace to us, enriching our lives,” says Artistic Director John Abberger in a statement.
“This year we will hear some of Bach’s most well-known and indelible works alongside some of his lesser known but equally moving creations. From familiar classics to new discoveries, I invite you to join us in experiencing the breadth and depth of Bach’s deeply moving art. Our record audience numbers last year prove that there continues to be an eager and growing appetite for our festival. I look forward to welcoming you to our concerts, and invite you to join us on our journey exploring the profound beauty of this extraordinary composer.”
LV caught up with Abberger to talk about this year’s lineup.
John Abberger: The Interview
“I guess the guiding theme is chorale cantatas,” Abberger says. “It’s not clear to me how much that term resonates [with] the public.”
Bach wrote a large body of hymns and chorales for use in liturgical service. “Bach was a very staunch Lutheran,” he notes. Once he got to Leipzig in 1723, and was hired as Thomaskantor, church music director of the city of Leipzig, a position which made him responsible for the music of four city churches and the St. Thomas School, he produced about 45 pieces per year.
“He wrote a lot of new pieces when he got to Leipzig, and he recycled a lot of works.”
At the beginning of 1724, Bach composed a series of works based on Lutheran chorales. “We’ve chosen four cantatas from that set,” John explains.
They include:
- Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, BWV 91
- Herr Jesu Christ, wahr’ Mensch und Gott, BWV 127
- Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten, BWV 93
- Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140
They’ll be featured in the closing concert of the Festival, Voices Lifted: Bach’s Celebrated Cantatas, performed by Abberger as director, Sherezade Panthaki and Jane Fingler, sopranos, Nicholas Burns and Peter Koniers, altos, Asitha Tennekoon and William Salinas-Crosby, tenors, Stephen Hegedus and Martin Gomes, basses, along with The Toronto Bach Festival Orchestra.
“These are extraordinary works,” he says. “It’s so incredibly inventive how he takes material and refashions it.”
He mentions Cantata 140, Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme. “It’s got this gorgeous opening movement which is based on the chorale text.” The central movement features a setting for the tenor to sing in unision with the strings. Both the arias are duets. “They feature the soul and Jesus as the bridegroom. “It’s a beautifully constructed cantata, very symmetrical,” he adds.
“There are a lot of cantatas throughout this. This is a really important part of Bach’s output.” As he points out, many scholars consider them among Bach’s most significant bodies of work, even though most concert programs in general focus on the composer’s instrumental works. “They’re just as important,” he says.
“The great thing about having a Bach festival, is that we get to perform a lot of Bach,” he laughs. That includes both well and lesser known works. “70% of people haven’t heard 70% of Bach’s music,” he states.
“There’s so much depth to his music, you can’t get tired of hearing about Bach.”
The Toronto Bach Festival Orchestra performs the “Italian Concerto” in F Major for oboe and strings, after BWV 971: 1st movement:
Bach’s Double Concertos
Partners in Brilliance: Bach’s Double Concertos takes place on the Friday evening, featuring John Abberger, director and oboe, violinists Julia Wedman, Patricia Ahern, Cristina Zacharias, and Cristina Prats-Costa, harpsichordists Christopher Bagan and Louise Hung, and The Toronto Bach Festival Orchestra.
Select Repertoire includes:
- Brandenburg Concerto No. 11, Concerto for Oboe and Harpsichord, arranged by Haynes and Napper
- Concerto for Two Harpsichords, BWV 1061
- Concerto for Violin and Oboe, BWV 1060
- Concerto for Two Violins, TWV 52:G2, by G.P. Telemann
- Concerto for Two Violins, BWV 1043
“I think of it as its companion piece, the Concerto for Violin and Oboe” Abberger says. “We’ve been exploring these extra Brandenburg concertos that were devised by Bruce and Susie Napper. They loved Bach so much that they decided there should be more concertos,” he explains.
That includes their Brandenburg Concerto No. 11, Concerto for Oboe and Harpsichord. “It’s based on a fragment [that Bach wrote],” Abberger explains.
“I try to think of a great instrumental program; […] our bigest seller is always the instrumental music,” he says. Abberger points out that Bach’s instrumental music is actually the smallest segment of his output; he composed much more vocal and keyboard music.
Organ Recital
The Festival’s Organ Recital features John Oldengarm, and the magnificent Karl Wilhelm organ at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church.
Select Repertoire includes:
- Prelude and Fugue in D Major, BWV 532
- Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565
- Select Chorales
“He’s going to be playing some of these chorale transcriptions,” John notes. Bach created his Schübler Chorales, BWV 645–650, a set of six pieces he intended to be performed on the organ. “He took these movements from cantatas,” he explains, “one is from a cantata that we don’t have anymore. It’s a fragment from history.”
Oldengarm will also play Cantatas 140 and 193, along with a few others.
“We have had good success with our organ recitals,” Abberger notes. The venerable pipe organ is enjoying a new wave of interest in recent years. “I’d like to think we’ve had a hand in that,” he says. “We have always had organ recitals. I’m really glad that we are a part of this movement. It can be an unbelievably powerful experience,” he adds.
“We’ve stuck with St. Andrews, which has a beautiful, beautiful organ.”
Kaffeehaus Concerts
The popular Kaffeehaus concerts return, featuring Bach’s music in an informal atmosphere that the composer himself would have enjoyed. The two performances feature R.H. Thomson, as Herr Zimmerman, proprietor of Bach’s favourite coffee house, with performers Sherezade Panthaki, soprano, Nicholas Burns, alto, Asitha Tennekoon, tenor, Martin Gomes, bass, The Toronto Bach Festival Orchestra, and students from the Collegium Musicum, University of Toronto.
The format puts Bach’s secular music back into its original context —outside the formal concert hall.
“This has been from the very beginning one of my pet projects, to try and contextualize the secular vocal music, and the instrumental music.”
The concerts take place in the Church of the Holy Trinity. “I think it’s a really excellent space acoustically and atmospherically.” He notes that, with its wood wainscotting, it somewhat resembles a traditional 18th century German coffee house. “I think it’s an excellent space for that event,” he says.
“We’ll have the great R.H. Thomson embodying the great Gottfried Zimmerman,” John adds. Audiences can expect a lighthearted mood, with a few gags along the way. “He’s very good at working in current events,” he notes, all while maintaining a historical atmosphere.
The ensemble will be performing one of Bach’s secular cantatas: Hercules at the Crossroads, BWV 213.
“Bach wrote a number of these pieces,” Abberger says, noting that Bach also recycled some of the material into his Christmas Oratorio.
“It’s fascinating to hear it with a different text and a different context.”
The program will also include other instrumental pieces.
“Imagine yourself in 18th century Leipzig with this cranky proprietor of the coffee house,” Abberger says. Audiences have loved the Kaffeehaus format concerts. “We’ve seen a lot of good uptake from the public for that. That’s why we do it twice.” The church seats about 200, and the same program will be performed for both time slots.
“The holy grail for classical music is attracting younger audiences. I”d love it if people drink too much and get rowdy,” he laughs.
The Lecture
The Festival’s Annual Public Lecture is titled The Most Ambitious Project of Bach’s Life, his Cycle of Chorale Cantatas, presented by Michael Marissen.
Michael Marissen is a Canadian musicologist and is Daniel Underhill Professor Emeritus of Music at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. He taught courses in early, Baroque and Classical European music, and has written several books on Bach’s oeuvre.
“I’d say he’s certainly in the top ten — probably in the top five of Bach scholars,” Abberger says. “I’m really pleased that we’re going to have him back.”
The lecture should be of interest to both Bach aficionados and those with only a casual relationship to his work, regardless of their educational background.
“I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t moved by Bach’s music,” Abberger says, “even if they’re not aware of all its depths. The more you explore Bach’s music, the more you get out of it,” he adds.
“He speaks to us as humans. The surface of it might be this religious overlay, but it’s about human emotions and the human condition. The same humanity is there,” he says.
“That’s what I want people to experience.”
The Toronto Bach Festival Orchestra performs the aria “Schafe können sicher weiden”, popularly known as “Sheep may safely graze”, from Bach’s “Was mir behagt ist nur die muntre Jagd”, BWV 208 in 2023:
Final Thoughts
This year’s Toronto Bach Festival is the ninth iteration. “Next year will be 10th anniversary,” Abberger says.
Each year, audience numbers have grown. It’s evidence of the Baroque master’s universal appeal.
“To me, there’s no better time than listening to Bach’s music.”
Festival Schedule
Partners in Brilliance: Bach’s Double Concertos
Friday, May 22 | 8 p.m.
Eastminster United Church (310 Danforth Avenue, north side)
Organ Recital
Jonathan Oldengarm, organ
Saturday, May 23 | Noon
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church (73 Simcoe Street)
Kaffeehaus
Saturday, May 23
Two Performances: 4 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Church of the Holy Trinity (19 Trinity Sq, behind CF Toronto Eaton Centre)
Annual Public Lecture
The Most Ambitious Project of Bach’s Life, his Cycle of Chorale Cantatas
Sunday, May 24 | 12:30 p.m.
Special Public Event — Free to all Festival Pass Holders!
Voices Lifted: Bach’s Celebrated Cantatas
Sunday, May 24 | 3:30 p.m.
Eastminster United Church (310 Danforth Avenue, north side)
- Find tickets and other details [HERE].
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