GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The Berkshire Bach Society (BBS) announces its annual Harpsichord Festival with two concerts at Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Stockbridge.  

 

On Sept. 21, 4pm, Peter Sykes plays a 50th Anniversary Recital commemorating his public debut in 1974; and on October 19, 4pm, Elliot Figg and Caitlyn Koester play Skeletons of the Opera, a concert of Baroque opera transcriptions for harpsichord, four hands.

 

"Berkshire Bach is delighted to present our harpsichord recitalists in two special concerts that showcase both the players and the instrument in repertoire that spans the Baroque spectrum," said Terrill McDade, Executive Director of The Berkshire Bach Society.  "It's an opportunity to hear these wonderful musicians in the virtuosity and drama that are typical of Baroque music—from Purcell to Bach, from the chamber to the opera house—with all the big contrasts and different humors that characterize music of the period."

 

According to a press release:

 

Peter Sykes, familiar to Berkshire Bach audiences as an organist in The Organ Masters series, is considered one of the most distinguished and creative keyboard artists performing today.  He is also an important educator in the art of playing the harpsichord, with posts in the Historical Performance Department at The Juilliard School, Boston University, and the University of Michigan, and is a founding Board Member and current President of the Boston Clavichord Society.  In the Sept. recital he plays a new-to-him instrument that he describes as "spectacular" in both looks and sound that he acquired in 2024 with a legacy from one of his students.  It is a little different from the one he used in his debut recital:  an instrument that he and his father built in 1974, that he has modified over the years, and that he still owns and uses for performing and teaching.  

 

This is his first solo harpsichord recital for Berkshire Bach.

 

In the second concert of the Harpsichord Festival, the keyboard duo of Elliot Figg and Caitlyn Koester presents an entertaining look at the world of Baroque theatre when they return to play Skeletons of the Opera, transcriptions of Baroque opera for harpsichord, four hands. Berkshire Bach audiences may remember the pair's two-harpsichord recital last season in which they played music by members of the two great keyboard dynasties of the Baroque era, the Couperin and Bach families.  This year they broaden the program with theatre music by Henry Purcell, G.F. Handel, J-B Lully, and the rarely heard Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, musician to Louis XIV and one of the few well-known women composers of the time. The program provides the opportunity to hear the distinct national styles of English and French opera side-by-side.  They perform on the dual-manual Dowd harpsichord BBS features in the Bach at New Year's concerts.

 

Join Berkshire Bach for the 2024 Harpsichord Festival at 4pm on Sept. 21 and October 19 at Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Stockbridge.  Tickets:  $45 Nonmembers $40 BBS Members $10 Card to Culture. Children under 18 and Students with valid ID free.