It is the mission of the Berkshire Bach Society to share the vast repertoire of music by J.S. Bach, his contemporaries, the composers who influenced his work, and those he influenced, to the broadest possible audience.

The Berkshire Bach Society, founded in 1990 by Simon Wainrib to provide a thorough and continuous exploration of Bach's vast legacy through study and performance, comprises a visible and deeply integral part of the area's musical offerings. Since its first lecture/demonstration by Mr. Wainrib, the Society has grown organizationally and musically. For eighteen years, it has offered the highest quality concerts and lectures focusing on the music of JS Bach (1685-1750) and his contemporaries, including Handel, Mozart, Telemann, Vivaldi and others. Berkshire Bach is unique in its commitment to providing year-round programs for the enrichment and further education of Berkshire residents and visitors. Our season, which runs from September to early summer, is scheduled so as not to conflict with Tanglewood programming. The result has been an ongoing succession of concerts and lectures, all enthusiastically received by critics and audiences.

The Society has developed its own tightly-auditioned chorus, the Berkshire Bach Singers. Initially under the guidance of Jed Watson, and then Penna Rose, the BBS Singers are currently under the artistic direction of James Bagwell and Ian Watson. In addition, the Society has its own instrumental group, the Berkshire Bach Ensemble, founded by Kenneth Cooper, who has remained throughout as its artistic director.

We have recruited soloists of the first rank to produce Bach's cantatas, organ works, concerti and chamber music as well as spectacular performances of Bach's St. John Passion, the B minor Mass, the Magnificat and the Christmas Oratorio, as well as a sold-out performance of Handel's Israel in Egypt with double chorus.

We also sponsor smaller chamber performances of music by Bach, Vivaldi and other baroque composers as well as organ concerts featuring Bach repertoire. In 1993, the Society created what has become an ongoing tradition - the performances at New Year's of the Brandenburg Concerti led by Kenneth Cooper. A large, sell-out audience fills our halls year after year for this joyous event, while a faithful core of extraordinary musicians have made this the yearly ritual in the Berkshires.

Our proudest achievement is the gathering of a committed membership whose ongoing support assures its continued development and growth. To our faithful members and enthusiastic contributors, we bow in heartfelt thanks as your support means the world to us.

The Society is the recipient of a generous grant from the Charles and Mildred Schnurmacher Foundation, an obvious recognition of excellence.

The Berkshire Bach Society is the only member-based musical organization in Berkshire County. It uniquely focuses on one composer, and creates programs with the long-range goal of exposing its membership (actual and potential) to a broad perspective on the works of J. S. Bach. This perspective is constantly expanded and reinterpreted, but always comes back to a reconsideration of what is possibly the most remarkable body of music ever generated by a single individual.

The Society recognizes the unique appeal of Bach's music to contemporary audiences: rather than providing isolated musical experiences, each exposure to Bach adds another vista to a universal experience, one with which listeners develop a deep personal relationship. This is evidenced by the fact that audiences return again and again to the Brandenburg Concertos as an essential part of their celebration of New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, or turn out to hear a cantata they have never heard before to add to their understanding of Bach's vision of spirituality.

In this way, we all grow in our awareness that Bach's music embodies and points to a transcendent cohesiveness and sense of meaning that ultimately encompasses music in general, a balance of freedom and order that may be available nowhere else in today's world.