Next Saturday, IPR will be the sole American station to broadcast Bachathon for Ukraine, a Bach marathon concert that will encourage international community in solidarity with Ukraine and benefit charities aiding people affected by the war.
The event, hosted by Poland’s Szczecin Philharmonic, will feature performances of a wide range of Bach and Bach-inspired works, including both books of The Well-Tempered Clavier.
“This type of event is fitting for the times that we are living in, when music and our great concert hall can be used not only for entertainment, but also for influencing our world and helping others in need,” Szczecin Philharmonic Director Dorota Serwa says.
Ukrainian pianist Alexei Grynyuk, heralded by Le Figaro for his “astonishing personality and absolutely transcendental virtuosity,” will open the concert with his renditions of Bach’s Partita No. 1 and a Bach-Busoni Chorale and an interview.
Grynyuk will be in Poland at the Szczecin Philharmonic’s Golden Hall, illuminated in the Ukrainian flag’s blue and yellow, but his family is still in Ukraine in the midst of the war.
Aaron Pilsan, a young Austrian pianist whose recording of the first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier was selected by Gramophone Magazine as one of the best recordings of 2021, will play the entirety of the two books, totaling more than five hours of music.
Pilsan says the benefit concert’s focus on Bach wasn’t arbitrary.
“No composer is better suited to this mission than Bach and no piece of music is more appropriate for this marathon than The Well-Tempered Clavier, as it represents peace and harmony within a logical structure. The fact that it uses all of the tonalities is like a mosaic of the different people and cultures that make up our world, but here, they all work together, with one tonality seamlessly leading into the next, all in perfect balance,” he says.
Each of the concert’s partners are joining charities benefitting Ukrainians through many avenues.
To support relief efforts in Ukraine, IPR invites listeners to make donations to Sunflower of Peace. Please specify that your donation is in response to the Bachathon for Ukraine concert.
“I hope our community will rise to the occasion and will join us in solidarity through music,” Serwa says.
