Artistic Director Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez has developed a varied and exciting program for the 2017 Victoria Bach Festival.    We asked him some questions about this year’s concerts.

VBF: What can you tell us about this year’s program for the Victoria Bach Festival?
The great J.S. Bach is generously represented in  three all-Bach noon programs: two performances for choir and Baroque orchestra, and a Thursday, June 8, noon organ recital by one of the greatest organists in New York City, Renée Anne Louprette.

Some of the most accomplished musicians in the country appear in the festival every year, and I am highlighting their individual virtuosity in our Thursday, June 8, Fanfares for Victoria evening program — an exciting blend of styles with thrilling solos for almost every instrument on stage.

We’ve got a great line-up of chamber music performances. On Tuesday, June 6, in Goliad, the fantastic Aeolus String Quartet will present a beautiful program of music by Glass, Barber and Mendelssohn. Michelle Schumann will perform works by Reich, Glass, Schumann and Brahms at the Light Moving concert on Wednesday, June 7, at Trinity Episcopal Church, and a variety of Bachfest Breakfast programs will be offered at Liberty Coffee House.

On June 10, the Mexico Bello concert features music from my country of origin  Mexico has a rich heritage, the result of diverse influences accumulated through the centuries. The music is so rhythmically intense and the melodies so rich and varied that the audience will want to stand up and dance!  We’re excited to be presenting the U.S. premiere of Mariachitlán by Juan Pablo Contreras, with the composer in attendance.

VBF: What do you hope audience members take away from attending Festival concerts? I hope our listeners will find inspiration.  As humans, we need these moments of coming together and sharing beauty in the world.  If we are open to these moments, they make a difference in ourselves and eventually impact our lives, our communities, and our world.

VBF: What music are you listening to right now?
I enjoy listening to music with focus. If I feel I can’t listen in a meaningful way, silence is a welcome friend. Whether it be Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd, Bach or Mahler, I am always in wonderment of the enduring power and beauty of one of the greatest phenomena in the human experience: music.

View the entire 2017 Festival schedule, including FREE noon concerts.

Season tickets and individual concert tickets are available at victoriabachfestival.org or 361-570-5788.

VBF offices: 202 N. Main, second floor.

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