The Leipzig Bach Festival (Bachfest Leipzig) is a music festival

Music festival

A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...

 which takes place annually in the city of Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

, where Bach worked as the Thomaskantor

Thomaskantor

The Thomaskantor is the musical director of the Thomanerchor in Leipzig, founded in 1212. He is appointed by Leipzig's city council and his duties are to lead the weekly services called Motette, Sunday services and other services in the Thomaskirche, also to conduct recordings and tours.Johann...

 from 1723 until his death in 1750.

The city first hosted a festival in 1904, for the Neue Bachgesellschaft, and then formally, since 1908. The festival was sometimes referred to a the Bachwochen (Bach Weeks) or Bachtage (Bach Days). Since 1999, the festival is organized by the Bach-Archiv on behalf of the city of Leipzig, each year under a different theme.

Each year there are approximately 100 individual events during the Bach Festival, beginning with an opening concert conducted of the serving Thomaskantor (currently Georg Christoph Biller

Georg Christoph Biller

Georg Christoph Biller is a German choral conductor, conducting the Thomanerchor since 1992 as the sixteenth Thomaskantor since Johann Sebastian Bach...

). The final concert is traditionally a performance of Bach's Mass in B minor in the St. Thomas Church.

Themes

• 2004: "Bach and the romantic era"
• 2005: "Bach and the Future"
• 2006: "From Bach to Mozart
  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
  
  "
• 2007: "From Monteverdi
  Claudio Monteverdi
  Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, gambist, and singer.Monteverdi's work, often regarded as revolutionary, marked the transition from the Renaissance style of music to that of the Baroque period. He developed two individual styles of composition – the...
  
   to Bach"
• 2008: "Bach and his sons"
• 2009: "Bach – Mendelssohn
  Felix Mendelssohn
  Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
  
   – Reger
  Max Reger
  Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger was a German composer, conductor, pianist, organist, and academic teacher.-Life:...
  
  "
• 2010: "Bach – Schumann
  Robert Schumann
  Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
  
   – Brahms
  Johannes Brahms
  Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
  
  "
• 2011: "... nach italienischem Gusto" (... to Italian taste)
• 2012: "»... ein neues Lied« – 800 Jahre Thomana" (»... ein neues Lied« – 800 years of music at St. Thomas)

External links

• Bachfest Leipzig Bach-Archiv website