BACHANALIA: SOUTHEAST FESTIVAL TO CELEBRATE BACH'S 250TH ANNIVERSARY

In the same way everyone knows who Shakespeare is, Johann Sebastian Bach is a household word even in homes where his music isn't heard.

Musicians are especially fond of him.

"For many musicians he is the composer," says Dr. Sara Edgerton, director of the university orchestra and coordinator of the upcoming Bach Festival 2000. "He has a quality which is universal."

This year, Southeast Missouri State University is celebrating 250th anniversary of Bach's death with a festival that will incorporate dance, art and many different musical forms.

The festival begins Sunday at Old St. Vincent' s Church with a recital of violin music composed by Bach and his contemporaries. Ronald Francois, the university orchestra concertmaster, will perform along with harpsichordists Dr. Gary Miller and Mary Miller, oboeist Steve Nelson and cellist Edgerton. The concert begins at 3 p.m.

The diverse festival continues through Nov. 28 (see schedule above) and includes a guest Baroque dancer, Bach chamber music, a Bach recital combining organ and art, a lecture recital, a student recital and a guest violinist from the St. Louis Symphony backed by the Southeast Baroque Trio. The festival will climax Nov. 28 with the University Symphony Orchestra, the University Choir and the Choral Union combining in a performance of Bach's "Magnificat."

Dr. Janice LaPointe-Crump, a professor of dance at Texas Woman's University, will be in residence at Southeast from Sept. 20-24 and will present a public lecture demonstration of Baroque dance Sept. 22.

Soloists in the chamber orchestra performance Nov. 19 include Francois and Edgerton along with violinist Liesl Schoenberger, cellist Kirk Miller, harpsichordists Dr. Gary Miller and Mary Miller, and vocalists Lori Schaffer, Dr. Leslie Jones and Dr. Christopher Goeke.

Most are faculty members. Schoenberger is a junior at Notre Dame Regional High School, and Kirk Miller is a freshman at the University of Missouri at Kansas City.

Bach spent the first half of his life as a court musician and the second half as a church musician. He was a dedicated teacher of children and had 20 of his own, some of whom went on to become famous musicians themselves.

The fact that jazz musicians have arranged his work is an indication of its timelessness.

"The music is as alive, fresh and exciting as it was when it was written," Edgerton says.

While Beethoven has the reputation of being the mad genius and Mozart the child prodigy, Bach's image is of the quiet genius craftsman whose knowledge of harmony, texture, melody and rhythm combined to produce some of the best music that world has known.

Bach also was probably the best organist who ever played the instrument, Edgerton said.

"He was a total musician."

Sunday, Old St. Vincent's Church, 3 p.m.

Violinist Ronald Francois accompanied by Dr. Gary Miller and Mary Miller, harpsichord, Steve Nelson, oboe, and Dr. Sara Edgerton, cello, will perform music by Johann Sebastian Bach, his son C.P.E. Bach and J.J. Quantz.

Sept. 19, Old St. Vincent's Church, 8 p.m.

Southeast Baroque Trio with violinist Lorraine Glass-Harris of the St. Louis Symphony will perform music by Bach, Telemann and Johan Westoff.

Sept. 22, Parker Dance Studio, 7 p.m.

Janice LaPointe-Crump, professor of dance at Texas Woman's University, will present a public lecture and demonstration on Baroque dance.

Oct. 4, Brandt Room 205, noon

Southeast faculty member Dr. Sara Edgerton will present a lecture recital titled "Inspirations on the Baroque for Modern Performers."

Oct. 8, Trinity Lutheran Church, 3 p.m.

Dr. Gary Miller, chairman of the Southeast Department of Music, will perform an organ recital of works from Bach's Orgelbuchlein. The music will be accompanied by slides of religious art from the period. Miller will be assisted by Dr. Bill Needle, professor emeritus of the Department of Art.

Oct. 25, Lutheran Chapel, Southeast campus, noon

Southeast students will present a free concert of music by Bach and his contemporaries.

Nov. 19, Old St. Vincent's Church, 7 p.m.

Bach Chamber Orchestra: Concertos and Cantata will offer three concertos by Bach and Vivaldi along with Bach's Cantata "Erwunschtes Freudenlicht." Soloists will be violinists Liesl Schoenberger and Ronald Francois, cellists Dr. Sara Edgerton and Kirk Miller, harpischordists Dr. Gary Miller and Mary Miller, and vocalists Lori Schaffer, Dr. Leslie Jones and Dr. Christopher Goeke.

Nov. 28, Academic Auditorium, 8 p.m.

Bach's "Magnificat" will be performed by the University Symphony Orchestra, University Choir and Choral Union. Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3 also will be on the program.