Music Worcester sets BACHtoberfest for Oct. 23-25

Music Worcester will open the third year of THE COMPLETE BACH with a five-concert BACHtoberfest weekend Oct. 23-25 across Worcester venues. The lineup features Emi Ferguson, Kit Armstrong and Boris Giltburg, and advances the decade-long project to perform every known work by J.S. Bach by 2035.

Why it matters: - THE COMPLETE BACH is Music Worcester’s long-running effort to present every known work by Johann Sebastian Bach live. - The 2026 BACHtoberfest weekend keeps the project moving through its third year and adds another slate of major Bach performances in Central Massachusetts. - Music Worcester says the project is believed to be the first of its kind since Bach’s lifetime.

What happened: - Music Worcester scheduled the third annual BACHtoberfest Weekend for Oct. 23-25, 2026. - The five-concert weekend was programmed by Artistic Director Chris Shepard. - Emi Ferguson and Kit Armstrong will open the weekend Friday, Oct. 23 at WAMS Works with Bach’s Flute Sonatas BWV 1030, 1031, 1032 and 1033, plus two C.P.E. Bach sonatas in C major and G major. - Boris Giltburg will make his Massachusetts debut Saturday evening at Assumption University’s Curtis Hall with The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1. - CONCORA, under Shepard’s direction, will perform three Bach cantatas Saturday afternoon at WAMS Works. - The weekend closes Sunday with a free Music Sunday service at First Church Unitarian and a final BACHtoberfest Choir performance at Mechanics Hall.

The details: - Ferguson returned to Music Worcester after performing with Ruckus in summer 2025. - Ferguson received the 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant and works as a flutist, singer, composer, arranger, radio host and writer. - Ferguson hosts WQXR’s Young Musician Showcase and serves as principal flute for the Handel & Haydn Society. - Armstrong plays harpsichord for the Friday program and has performed internationally for about 20 years. - Giltburg, born in Moscow and raised in Israel, won his first international competition at age 13. - Giltburg has built a reputation for combining poetic imagination and analytical insight, and a recording of The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 is due on Naxos in May 2027. - The Saturday choral program includes Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden BWV 6, Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot BWV 39 and Herr, wie du willt, so schick’s mit mir BWV 73. - The Sunday service features Bach’s cantata Was mein Gott will, das g’scheh allzeit BWV 111. - The Sunday afternoon finale brings together the BACHtoberfest Choir and members of the Hartford Chorale under Shepard’s baton. - The BACHtoberfest Choir is made up of singers from across the region and country who rehearse Bach cantatas together during the weekend. - THE COMPLETE BACH launched in 2024 and each season includes about a dozen concerts spanning Bach’s genres. - Music Worcester says it has already presented live performances of almost a fifth of Bach’s output in the first two years of the project. - The broader 2026-2027 season will include five concerts for Bach’s Birthday Bash Weekend March 20-22, a 300th-anniversary St. Matthew Passion on April 11 and Clavier Ubung III on April 25. - Music Worcester is also working with partners including Handel & Haydn Society and Baroklyn, along with artists Jeremy Denk, Simone Dinnerstein, Vijay Gupta and Zlatomir Fung. - The organization’s online component includes three podcast series designed to help listeners learn more about Bach and his music. - Music Worcester was founded in 1858 and now presents classical, jazz, global traditions and dance across Central Massachusetts. - The organization’s community programs include in-school workshops, masterclasses and free and reduced-price ticket programs. - This season’s venues also include The Hanover Theatre, JMAC’s BrickBox, Tuckerman Hall, Trinity Lutheran Church and Doherty Memorial High School. - Everett McCorvey will continue as artist-in-residence in 2026-2027.

Between the lines: - Shepard is leaning into a younger generation of Bach interpreters who are comfortable moving between historically informed performance and modern-instrument traditions. - The mix of solo recitals, choral works and worship-service programming suggests Music Worcester is using BACHtoberfest to make Bach feel both concert-hall level and community-wide. - The project’s scale and pacing point to a long campaign rather than a single festival weekend.

What's next: - Music Worcester says THE COMPLETE BACH will continue through March 21, 2035, the 350th anniversary of Bach’s birth. - Additional 2026-2027 Bach concerts will follow after the October festival, including March and April events. - Tickets and program information are available at musicworcester.org.