It was September, 2007, when pianist Elizabeth Schwimmer and the German flute player, Benjamin Kiersch, thought about creating a festival dedicated to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Next year, on the 6th. of March, 2008, Bolivia had its first BachFest in the city of Cochabamba. Around 60 musicians participated, most of them Bolivians and some foreign ones who joined the festival. A whole month of concerts, all different in programming and each with a different musical ensemble.
The BachFest Chorale, a chamber vocal group of 16 was created together with the BachFest Ensemble, a small Baroque instrumental group.
The festival since, has become an expected activity during the first part of each year. It is a tremendous success where the audiences attend by the thousands.
During 2010, Henry Villca, a Bolivian tenor residing in the Netherlands, Robert Jones, an American Bass singer and the marvellous German group "Elbipolis Barockensemble", performed during the BachFest.
Just before Christmas of the same year, Bach's Magnificat in D Major was performed for the first time in the history of Bolivia. 40 musicians from Bolivia, México and Argentina joined the forces to perform this magnificent piece.
The BachFest 2011 had the honour to receive two great musicians: Jorge Jimenez, a Baroque violinist from Seville, Spain, and Richard "Dobbs" Hartshorne, a virtuoso double-bass player who performed the entire 6 cello suites on this instrument.
2012 will be our 5th. anniversary. As usual, the Bach Fest Chorale and orchestra will be performing 3 cantatas and a missa brevis. There will be plenty of chamber music, films and conferences.
Thanks for visiting
