The Carmel Bach Festival (CBF) began in 1935 as a four-day series of concerts at the Sunset School Auditorium and the Carmel Mission Basilica. Over the years, it grew to a three-week series of concerts, recitals, master classes, lectures, and open rehearsals, and in 2009 the Festival was shortened to two weeks under the leadership of Music Director and Conductor

Paul Goodwin Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

. Dene Denny and Hazel Watrous founded the Carmel Bach Festival in

Carmel-by-the-Sea Carmel-by-the-Sea (), often simply called Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, United States, founded in 1902 and incorporated on October 31, 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel is known for its natural scenery and r ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The Festival began as a four-day festival of open rehearsals, events, and concerts conducted by Ernst Bacon and Gastone Usigli. In 1938, Gastone Usigli was named Music Director, leading the Festival until his death in 1956. As his successor Dene Denny chose Hungarian-born conductor Sandor Salgo. When Salgo retired in 1991,

Bruno Weil Bruno Weil (born 24 November 1949, in Hahnstätten) is a German symphonic conductor. He is principal guest conductor of Tafelmusik, the period-instrument group based in Toronto, Music Director of the Carmel Bach Festival in California, and artist ...

was named the Music Director and Conductor of the Carmel Bach Festival. Maestro Weil concluded his tenure with the 2010 Festival. In 2010, the Bach Festival appointed

as the new Artistic Director and Principal Conductor to focus on the baroque pitch, immersing audiences in dynamic programming influenced from his UK background. The 2020 Festival was canceled due to COVID-19, and it concluded Goodwin's term. In 2022, the Festival hosted three world-renowned prospective conductors; Grete Pedersen was appointed as the new Artistic Director and Principal Conductor.Grete Pedersen: Artistic Director and Principal Conductor
Carmel Bach Festival. Retrieved 2023-01-05. 2020 saw its season voided caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. It was also voided from 1942 to 1945 due to WWII.

Notes

References

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External links

Carmel Bach Festival Tape Collection (ARS.0025), Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound''Teaching Music at Stanford, 1949–1974, Directing the Carmel Bach Festival and the Marin Symphony, 1956–1991''. Sandor Salgo oral history transcript. Introduction by Robert P. Commanday. Interviews conducted by Caroline C. Crawford in 1994–1996. Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 1999. Full text available online.
{{Coord missing, Monterey County, California Classical music festivals in the United States Bach festivals Carmel-by-the-Sea, California Events in the Monterey Bay Area Festivals in the Monterey Bay Area Music festivals in California Tourist attractions in Monterey County, California Music festivals established in 1935 1935 establishments in California