Living Bach
Let’s meet at the Clyde For a celebration of Bach’s Birthday!
Join us on March 21st, Bach’s Birthday, for a celebratory announcement of WIMF’s 2024 summer season at Langley’s historic Clyde Theater. Anna Schmidt's LIVING BACH is an inspiring film about the power of music to connect people across continents. With its impressive images and the magical sounds of Bach, this musical journey becomes a journey in itself.
THURS, March 21 7:30 pm
The Clyde Theater, Langley
(There is an early show on THURS, March 21 at 1:30 at the Oak Harbor Cinemas)
ADMISSION by donation to the Whidbey Island Music Festival
About the film
The Bach community spans the globe: there are more than 300 institutions and choirs around the world that bear Bach's name. Many of them are made up of amateurs. No other composer is so influential!
In June 2022, the world is set to witness a special event: the largest gathering of the global Johann Sebastian Bach family that has ever taken place. The Bachfest Leipzig has invited all of its members to perform together for the first time: Singers, orchestral musicians, conductors. An event of superlatives! It would be a dream come true for countless choirs and ensembles all over the world: To experience Bach's music anew at the master's place of work. There is great joy at the invitation, and many want to come. Bach choirs and ensembles from six continents have confirmed their participation. However, it is not certain whether they will be able to travel after the coronavirus pandemic.
Before this event, LIVING BACH will embark on the reverse journey. From Leipzig, a touching, amusing and very personal expedition starts around the globe to very different people in search of Bach's secret. On the world tour, we meet amateur musicians on six continents. They live in Japan, Malaysia, Australia, South Africa, Paraguay, the USA and Switzerland. They are all united by one great passion: Johann Sebastian Bach. Their lives are inextricably linked to the music of the famous German composer. It means happiness to them, brings them comfort, hope, understanding and connection and has changed their lives forever.
We meet amateur musicians from different backgrounds, religions and cultures to find out what it is that brings so many people around the world together around Bach's work and makes him the center of life for many. In doing so, we immerse ourselves in the culture of the different countries as well as in the souls of the protagonists. Regardless of their origin, culture or lifestyle, they are all connected by an almost identical set of values. In the end, they meet in Leipzig. In the "Bach - We are Family" choir, the different voices become one sound.