The 88th Carmel Bach Festival opened Saturday evening in the chill air of Sunset Center’s Upper Terrace with an engaging lecture by Andrew Oster and the welcoming flourishes of Tower Brass.

Through July 26, the Festival offers a wide swath of programs, events, and activities celebrating the vision and talents of its distinguished international ensemble. At the helm is Norwegian artistic director Grete Pedersen, whose leadership continues to guide the Festival’s evolving voice. This long-running exploration of the music of J.S. Bach, alongside his predecessors, contemporaries, and artistic heirs, features two weeks of mainstage and chamber concerts. Ticketholders can also attend one-off programs, showcases, family programs, and free masterclasses, lectures, community events and more.

Opening Night!

Opening night, Pedersen led the ensemble in a rousing and enjoyable program that introduced her 2025 theme, “Dialogues,” with a trio of masterpieces by Felix Mendelssohn, Igor Stravinsky and Josef Haydn. Mendelssohn’s luminous “A Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture” miraculously recreates an entire Shakespearean world in sonorous miniature. By inviting us into the forest, the night, the mischief and the dream of the famous play, Pedersen raised the curtain on her season of dialogues with banters between mortals, fairies, lovers and nobility.

Then Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella Suite,” a wink from the past seen through modernist eyes, drew listeners into the composer’s discovery of early music, which he describes as “the epiphany through which the whole of my later work became possible.” Indeed, this neoclassical gem traces the escapades of the mischievous commedia dell’arte character in a thoroughly charming tête-à-tête between the past and the present, executed with panache by Pedersen and the Festival orchestra. Originally composed for a ballet, projections of Pablo Picasso’s set design sketches added enticing visual accompaniment to this performance.

The crown of the evening, Haydn’s Harmoniemesse in B-flat Major, or Wind-band Mass, is the last of his six great masses and named for its prominent use of woodwinds. Symphonic in structure, operatic in spirit, and sacred in purpose, the work radiates serenity and joy, making it an excellent opening night introduction to the Festival chorale and vocal quartet. This summer, in addition to returning artists soprano Clara Rottsolk and bass-baritone Dashon Burton, the Festival introduces two new outstanding vocal soloists, mezzo Guadalupe Paz and tenor Brian Giebler. Pedersen’s exceptional skills as a choral conductor were showcased in this work. This program will be repeated on Saturday.

Bach’s B Minor Mass

Bach’s towering B Minor Mass takes its turn in the Festival’s annual rotation of the composer’s masterworks. A cathedral of sound and spirit, the Mass is Bach’s summation of his vision, inspiration and musical technique, his last will and testament completed just a year before his death. Unlike most mass settings, typically written for specific liturgical occasions, Bach’s B Minor Mass was never intended for performance in his lifetime. And paradoxically, Bach, a Lutheran, set his ultimate musical offering in the Latin form of a Catholic Mass and in it employs the kaleidoscope of musical styles that came before. As is often stated about this masterpiece, there are few works in the Western canon so rich and so complete in their embrace of time and timelessness. Pedersen’s refined choral instincts, command of color, rhythmic clarity, and superb ensemble unity shone throughout the performance of this great work. Her interpretation favored the score’s drama and structural grandeur, an approach more dramatic than devotional. The chorale, prepared by artistic advisor and director of choral activities Andrew Megill, gave its usual luminous performance. This program will be repeated on Sunday.

Peter Hanson and his awesome band

Monday night, the perfection of Carmel Bach’s instrumental ensemble was on full display in a delightful Bach, Haydn, and Beethoven program. A brilliant and charming violinist and conductor, concertmaster Hanson’s Monday concerts show Festival audiences the sparkling quintessence of this marvelous orchestra. They performed JS Bach’s Ricercar a Six, Haydn’s Harpsichord Concerto in D major, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 in C major, all spectacular accounts of these works with engaging introductions by Hanson. He conducted the symphony with violin and bow in hand, leading with his right when not playing solo passages. Andrew Arthur’s elegant virtuosity in the Haydn concerto was another highlight of this wonderful evening. The program will be repeated Monday.

Mozart, Mission Concert and Nordic Night

Tuesday night, Megill conducts Mozart’s glorious “Requiem,” along with the composer’s “Solemn Vespers for A Confessor” and Peteris Vasks’s “Dona nobis pacem” (Grant Us Peace). The Festival chorus joins the chorale, orchestra and vocal soloists for this performance. Wednesday night, Megill conducts the chorale in the traditional Carmel Mission concert, this season featuring works by Bach, Byrd, Allegri and contemporary works inspired by these masters. Megill is a preeminent American choral conductor whose longtime presence at Carmel Bach has added to its stature as a major U.S. music festival.

Thursday nights, July 17 and July 24, Nordic Folklore presents Scandinavian traditions in song featuring the Nyckelharpa player Olov Johannson with violinist Edwin Huizinga, William Coulter and members of the ensemble in a captivating evening of folklore.

Mozart returns Friday evenings, July 18 and July 25, when Pedersen conducts his Jupiter Symphony No. 41, Schumann’s Concerto for Cello with soloist Paul Dwyer, and living contemporary composer Jessie Montgomery’s “Starburst.” Saturday, July 26, the festival closes with its Best of the Fest program drawing on highlights from this 88th season.

Check the website for the profusion of daytime programs, chamber concerts, Sunset Foyer concerts, and Studio 105 music and theater performances. Enjoy the free Virginia Best Adams masterclasses and Baroque & Classical Academy masterclasses as well as free lectures, special community events, and Tower brass. In addition, the Festival is holding an art raffle for some terrific miniatures by local artists.

Concerts and events take place at Carmel’s Sunset Center, the historic Carmel Mission, and other venues throughout the region. For tickets, times and full program details, visit www.bachfestival.org or call (831) 624-1421.