Michigan’s Grand Rapids Bach Festival, an affiliate of the Grand Rapids Symphony, has appointed JULIAN WACHNER as artistic director. Wachner, a keyboardist, composer, and conductor, is director of music and the arts at New York City’s Trinity Church Wall Street, where he is principal conductor of NOVUS NY, Trinity’s resident contemporary orchestra, and conductor of the Trinity Baroque Orchestra. Wachner spent the last seven years conducting and performing all of Bach’s cantatas. He previously served as music director of the Washington Chorus in Washington D.C. A native of California, Wachner holds a doctor of musical arts in composition and orchestral conducting from Boston University. He founded the Boston Bach Ensemble in 1995. He is an affiliate professor of music and the arts at the General Seminary of the Episcopal Church. Says Marcelo Lehninger, music director of the Grand Rapids Symphony, “In the early music world in North America, he is one of the most respected and famous conductors. So I am very happy he will be leading the Bach Festival, and I believe his appointment will elevate its profile.”
The Grand Rapids Bach Festival is a biennial spring festival celebrating music of Johann Sebastian Bach and his contemporaries. It was founded in 1997 by West Michigan-based mezzo-soprano Linn Maxwell Keller. The Grand Rapids Symphony has administered the Grand Rapids Bach Festival since 2013.
Posted March 9, 2018
