On The Radar: Bach Society Orchestra

Bach Society Orchestra

Saturday, Mar. 4. 8:00 PM.

Paine Hall. Tickets available through the Harvard Box Office, (617) 496-2222. $10 general admission, $6 students.



Originally founded in 1898 as the “Musical Club of Harvard University,” the Bach Society Orchestra has been alive and performing for quite some time. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, however, has not. Regardless of this minor logistical challenge, the two creative entities will share the Paine Hall stage this Saturday as BachSoc commemorates the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth.

The performance will be one of only two concerts put on by Harvard’s celebrated chamber orchestra this semester. It will also be one of the last shows conducted by outgoing musical director Daniel W. Chetel ’06. Mozart’s Symphony no. 40 in G minor—one of his last and most recognizable works—will feature prominently in the performance.

Mozart’s upcoming anniversary has made him seem a bit like Willy Loman: apparently, homage must be paid. But while countless orchestras across the nation—and across campus—have been obligatorily trotting out his works, BachSoc will further embellish its celebration of Mozart’s legacy by performing a piece by Heitor Villa-Lobos. The Brazilian composer’s Sinfonietta No. 1, written in 1916, was created to honor the memory of Mozart.

Rounding out the program will be Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor. The composition will feature Ariel J. Jeong ’07. Jeong, who is also co-concertmaster of the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, outfiddled a bevy of other musicians this past January to win the BachSoc’s annual two-day Concerto Competition.

This Saturday’s concert will contribute to the already-rich history of the Bach Society Orchestra, an organization that has nurtured the likes of cellist Yo-Yo Ma ’76 and composer John Adams ’71. Despite Mozart’s not-so-recent death in 1791, the ever-lively BachSoc’s performance promises to revive his masterful music.