Above the Staff   Notes from BFOM Vol. 2010 No.2 Did you know: JS Bach’s Suite No. 3 was first performed in Leipzig “at Zimmermann Coffee House in the Cather - Strasse from 8 to 10 on Friday’ There are 168 recordings of the entire piece and over 400 recordings of excerpts. BFOM has two soloists this year that were the youngest principals players in major American Orchestras who went on to solo careers: Christina Smith and Joshua Roman.

Opening Concert on July 1:
Bach to Beethoven

The 2010 Festival opens on July 1 with music of Beethoven and two Bachs — Papa Bach and the second of his five sons, the prolific composer, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.

Music Director , Michael Palmer, will open the season with J.S. Bach’s Suite No. 3, the second movement of which was the basis for the so-called Air on the G String. The Suite is far different from the sacred music usually associated with Bach. It is light and entertaining and perfectfor a summer’s night in Bellingham.

Flautist Christina Smith “bravura performance”

CPE Bach, J.S. Bach’s second son, praised by Mozart as the father of the Classical style and admired by Beethoven and Haydn, published 876 works over his lifetime. His Flute Concertos are among the most dramatic and engrossing of his compositions. The soloist will be the brilliant Christina Smith. When Ms. Smith won the audition for principal flautist of the Atlanta Symphony, she was the youngest principal flautist of any major American Orchestra and has gone on to a distinguished career as a soloist.

Beethoven’s Symphony No.2 is an amazing work of strength and joy, especially given that it was written just at the time that he became aware that he was becoming inexorably deaf and in the painful throes of hopeless romance with a countess. Close to suicide, he managed to compose a work of humor and vitality.

All Aboard: BFOM Auction coming up on April 16

The Bellingham Festival of Music 2010 Auction with new and wonderful Auction Items and an elegant Sitdown Dinner will be held at the Best Western Lakeway Inn starting at 5:30 on April 16, 2010. Items to be auctioned include luxurious vacations and objetsd’arte . John Curley, formerly the host of KING 5 Evening Magazine in Seattle, will be the auctioneer and host.

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Bellingham Festival of Music, PO Box 818. Bellingham, WA 98227