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Bach Festival: "Like a pilgrimage among your peers"

Bach Festival: "Like a pilgrimage among your peers"
The Bach Festival is heading for a record number of visitors this year - according to the organizers, 42 percent of tickets were sold abroad. (Archive photo) / Photo: Sebastian Willnow/dpa
From: DieSachsen News
United in their passion for the composer: in June, Bach fans from all over the world will once again travel to Leipzig - and the city will be transformed into a magical cosmos of sound.

The Bach Festival in Leipzig is heading for a record number of visitors this year, according to the organizers. If the weather cooperates, it could even break the 100,000 visitor mark, director Michael Maul told the German Press Agency. From June 11 to 21, the festival will offer fans of Johann Sebastian Bach around 200 concerts and events under the motto "In Dialogue".

The interest is unbroken and Bach fans are coming from all over the world, Maul emphasized. "We have sold around 42 percent of tickets abroad, to more than 50 countries." The average age of visitors is therefore just under 62. "But the guests from abroad are getting younger and younger," emphasized the director.

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Like a pilgrimage - guests usually stay a whole week

In addition, according to Maul, guests stay in the Bach city for almost seven days on average. "For them, it's like a pilgrimage among their peers. The guests have the same feeling, exchange ideas with each other and feel embraced by the passion for Bach".

People can experience the composer's music in the places where Bach worked the longest. "The atmosphere in the Thomaskirche and the Nicolaikirche is special. That in itself is a unique selling point." This year, there will be concerts from sunrise until after midnight, the organizers promise. The eleven-day festival will traditionally open with a concert in St. Thomas Church.

Bach hit parade and cabaret artist Harald Schmidt

For the first time, there will also be a hit parade of Bach's works. "We asked the guests for their favorite pieces and more than 8,000 votes came in from all over the world," explained Maul. The top 50 will be performed in a cycle of twelve concerts.

On June 17, the artistic director will be in conversation with actor and cabaret artist Harald Schmidt. The motto of the discussion: "Ruler of heaven, hear the babbling" - from the life of a C-organist. The 68-year-old talk show legend is an enthusiastic amateur organist and a self-confessed Bachian, as the ardent admirers and connoisseurs call themselves.

What also makes the festival so popular is the professional accompaniment. As the Bach Archive is the organizer, guests are introduced to the pieces before the concerts by leading Bach scholars.

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