JCMS Bach Festival

In February the Jesus College Music Society hosted an extremely successful festival of music by J. S. Bach, in the atmospheric setting of our twelfth-century Chapel. 

The Festival launch concert showcased the B Minor Orchestral Suite and beloved Coffee Cantata, with flute solo by Becky Kershaw (2017) and bass solo by Louis Wilson (2013). A further highlight of the week was undergraduate Jason Richards (2018), performing some of Bach's notoriously tricky works for harpsichord.

The Festival finale concert was given in memory of Dr Stephen Siklos, former College Fellow, Senior Tutor and President. A selection of Cambridge's top instrumentalists and singers combined forces to present Bach's monumental Mass in B Minor. Jesuans Ellie Hargreaves (2018) and Hamish MacGregor (2015) sang the sublime Domine Deus duet.

The Festival was directed by former Jesus College Choral Scholar Brian Woods-Lustig, currently Music Instructor at the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, North Carolina. He said: “It was the pleasure of a lifetime to oversee Bach Fest at Jesus College. I’m incredibly grateful to all those involved in the four concerts, as well as the JCMS committee, for their willingness to support this epic project.”