• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Bach Virtuosi Festival Logo

Bach Virtuosi Festival

  • About
    • News
    • Maine Board of Directors
    • Media
    • Videos
    • Archive
      • 2022 Program
      • 2021 Program
      • 2019 Program
  • Schedule
    • New York May 13 – 20, 2025
      • Tuesday May 13, 2025 at 7:30pm
      • Thursday May 15, 2025 at 7:30pm
      • Tuesday May 20, 2025 at 7:30pm
    • Maine
      June 18 – 24, 2025
      • Wednesday June 18, 2025 at 7:30pm
      • Thursday June 19, 2025 at 7:30pm
      • Sunday June 22, 2025 at 7:30pm
      • Tuesday June 24, 2025 at 7:30pm
  • Tickets
    • Maine Tickets
  • Artists
  • Support BVF
  • Contact

Bach Virtuosi Festival brings ‘the greatest in the world’ to Portland

by Bach Virtuosi Festival

At age 85, Lewis Kaplan draws energy trying to match or surpass what he has done before as a teacher, performer and music festival administrator. Speaking about the next Bach Virtuosi Festival at hand in early June, his conversation speeds up with enthusiasm as he talks about the roster of stars coming to Portland to play and sing.

He recites a few names and offers quick synopses of their qualifications.
John Ferillo: “First oboe of the Boston Symphony. The two most important positions are first violin and first oboe. To have a great artist like John Ferillo is really something.”
John Thiessen: “Probably the greatest baroque trumpet player in the world.”
Katelyn Emerson, a York native: “One of the greatest organ players in the world.”

Henry Kramer, a pianist from Cape Elizabeth: “He just won an Avery Fisher Career Grant. That’s the highest honor the United States offers a student.”
Advertisement

He pauses. “All of these performers are among the greatest in the world. They are playing and singing in the greatest and most important baroque festivals in the world, and we’re bringing them to Portland. I can’t tell you how excited I am.”
Oh, yes he can.

This is the fourth year of the festival. Kaplan began the festival after spending 50 years at the helm of the Bowdoin International Music Festival in Brunswick. He teaches violin at The Juilliard School in New York and lives part of the year in Brunswick.

The Bach Virtuosi Festival begins June 2 and continues with four concerts through June 9. The opening concert at St. Luke’s Cathedral in Portland, “Celebrating Bach: The Return of the World-Renowned Virtuosi,” includes Ferilli, Thiessen and soprano Sherezade Panthaki.

The program includes the motet “Singet dem Herrn,” BWV 225 with a choral ensemble, conducted by Panthaki and including soprano Elizabeth Marshall, countertenor Jay Carter and tenor Brian Giebler, among others. Panthaki called it “the great Bach motet of all time and a personal favorite. One just can’t help but dance to it. All Bach is dance music, and all Bach is basically jazz. This piece is joyful and jubilant, with eight singers, one to a part. It’s an acclaimed roster of singers, hand-picked for this.”

The program also includes Cantata 29 (“We Thank You, God”) and the Sinfonia BWV 249 from the Easter Oratorio.

Panthanki, a baroque singer with an international career and previous festival performer, praised Kaplan’s commitment to musical excellence – in his recent work in Portland, his half-century in Brunswick and his lifetime in New York. “People of my generation are grateful to people like him,” she said. “Lewis is such a generous musician in the way that he plays and the way that he interacts personally. He’s respectful of ideas and opinions. He wants a true collaborative experience for everyone involved. Despite how much experience and maturity he has, he always seems to want to learn more, even if it’s from people he’s just met.”

Kaplan said music gives him life. “The thing that Juilliard taught me from a very early age, all that matters is artistic excellence. It’s that that binds us together. It’s respect for what we care about professionally the most – the art of the music. All these musicians and singers have been instilled with that idea of excellence.”

By Bob Keyes for the Portland Press Herald

Read the full article on the Portland Press Herald website

Filed Under: Media, News

Footer

Contact Us


91 Auburn St. 
Ste. J #1130
Portland, ME 04103

info@bachvirtuosifestival.org

Support Us


We encourage you to support the Bach Virtuosi Festival and the tradition of masterful music by making a tax-deductible donation.

Donate

Connect with Us


  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Sign up for the Newsletter

Select list(s) to subscribe to


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

© 2025 Bach Virtuosi Festival