Boston’s annual celebration of all things Bach returns to First Lutheran Church of Boston on Saturday, March 21, 2026. For the 18th year, the annual Boston Bach Birthday, an all-day festival of concerts featuring the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, those who influenced him, and those who were influenced by him, will draw hundreds in celebration of Bach’s contributions to music. And this year it will take place on Bach’s actual 341st birthday! $25 is sugggested—but nobody will be turned away from such great music.
Begun in 2008 as a celebration of “Boston’s Bach Organ,” the Richards, Fowkes & Co. opus 10 pipe organ traditionally features prominently at the Bach Birthday. Three organists will play recitals, beginning with FLC Kantor Jonathan Wessler at 9:00am. Continuing his series of “sets” of organ works by Bach (the Great Eighteen organ chorales in 2021, the Orgel-Büchlein in 2022, the Six Trio Sonatas in 2023, and the complete chorale partitas in 2024, the Neumeister Chorales in 2025), this year FLC Kantor Jonathan Wessler starts off the day with Bach’s complete concerto transcriptions for the organ. At 10:40am, Savannah Curro will play Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in G, BWV 541, as well as chorale preludes and other works by Lübeck and Clérambault. And finally, at 4:05 world-renowned organist Martin Schmeding takes the bench to play his organ transcription of Bach’s sublime Goldberg Varitaions.
The canon of Bach’s organ works grew by two just a few months ago, with the addition of two chaconnes to the BWV catalog. The 2026 Boston Bach Birthday will feature what is likely the Boston premiere of Bach’s Chaconne in G Min or, BWV 1179 and Chaconne and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 1178. In addition, all gathered will be able to participate in a brief hymn sing featuring the beloved chorales from Martin Luther’s German Mass, which celebrates its 500th birthday this year.
Three solo instrumentalists are featured in this year’s program: an historical keyboardist, a guitarist, and a violinist. Dutch Baroque pianist extraordinaire Artem Belogurov returns to the Boston Bach Birthday for the third time in four years at 1:20pm, playing a program titled “In the Orbit of Bach” that features works of Bach, his sons, and his students. Following Artem at 2:20pm, local guitarist Aaron Larget-Caplan will play several of Bach’s works arranged for guitar, paired with Agustín Barrios’s La Catedral. And finally, at 3pm local violinist Julia Connor will play two ambitious solo works—a fascinating suite by Johann Paul von Westhoff and Bach’s own Partita in E Major, BWV 1006.
No celebration of Bach’s music would be complete without a cantata, and in fact two are featured this year. At 3:40pm a Baroque ensemble will perform Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, BWV 51, featuring soprano Anastasia Black and trumpeter Robinson Pyle. And then at the 5pm Vespers Bach’s outstanding setting of Psalm 130, Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, BWV 131 will serve as the musical focal point of the service. Vespers will be rounded out with Magnificat organ versets by Hamburg maestro Hieronymus Praetorius and hymn arrangements by Johann Hermann Schein and Johann Crüger.
The Young People’s Concert is a recent addition to the day’s program, and a well-received one. This year’s 10am concert features youth affiliated with First Lutheran Church. The repertoire includes two works from Bach’s Eight Short Preludes and Fugues as well as movements from Bach’s violin partitas and sonatas. The fact that this concert is so well-received each year is a testament to the enduring nature of Bach’s music, and it is always encouraging to see young people engaging with such brilliant music.
Any overview of the Bach Birthday would be remiss to omit the famous German Lunch, served at noon (tickets $20/$10 at the door). The menu shifts yearly, but frequently includes pretzels, sausage, sauerkraut, sauerbraten, potato salad, spätzle, and other delicious German fare. It is not to be missed!
As always, concertgoers are free to come and go throughout the day as they are able. While some attend but one or two events, and others stay for the whole day, all leave the Boston Bach Birthday having been musically and spiritually edified. More information, including the complete list of repertoire for the day, is available HERE.