Peter Blanchette's Third Annual Bach Birthday Concert and CD Release Celebration

Peter Blanchette returns to the Center for the Arts for the third installment of a tradition in Northampton, an annual recital of music in celebration of Johann Sebastian Bach. The concert begins with an illuminating introduction from WFCR’s John Montanari, and then features Peter’s solo arrangements for archguitar of Bach’s cello suites nos. III, V, and VI, his new recording of which will be unveiled that evening and ready for purchase.

Blanchette on the Bach ‘cello suites, “It’s amazing that the most perfect music ever composed for the guitar was composed for 'cello! In one sense, Bach was indifferent to instruments—he sometimes used the same ideas for both a violin Prelude and an organ obligato in one Cantata. Yet, there is something so idiomatically guitar-friendly about the 'cello suites. They explore and define the range of expression, and most importantly, the range of emotion that a single player can offer a listener in one sitting. It’s rare that the term ‘perfect’ applies to anything in life, but these suites are perfect music.”

Peter Blanchette is the inventor of the 11-string archguitar. His repertoire of unusual and internationally acclaimed arrangements and compositions spans from medieval to contemporary to ethnic, played in solo recital or with selected other instrumentalists to form the Virtual Consort. A recipient of the MCC Artist Grant in Music Composition, Blanchette is a veteran performer of such high profile venues as NPR's "A Prairie Home Companion," and The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He is also the founder and Artistic Director of the Happy Valley Guitar Orchestra.

Tickets for the concert are $12 at the door (cash or check only).