The 2012 American Bach Soloists Festival & Academy concluded on July 22 with the second of two performances of Bach’s monumental Mass in B Minor, following eleven densely packed days of performances, lectures, and master classes at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

The two-week Festival began with two ABS Chamber Series concerts: an all-Bach program and an evening focused on the French Baroque. William Sharp’s stirring performance of Bach’s Ich habe genug and an exciting musical conversation in Clérambault’s Chaconne in D Major were but two of the myriad highlights underscoring why the members of ABS have been called “some of the greatest period-instrument players in the world” (San Francisco Classical Voice).

On Saturday afternoon, July 14th, guest dance scholar Sandra Noll Hammond led an interactive colloquium and workshop (“Invitation to the Dance”) that was mutually informative and fun for both ABS Academy participants and the public. That evening’s concert, “The Leipzig Masters,” had Jeffrey Thomas leading American Bach Soloists and American Bach Choir in presentation of works by composers the Leipzig town council in the 1720s would have preferred to have hired over Bach.

Sunday afternoon, July 15, brought the Academy students together with the faculty and the ABS Choir for the first of the two performances of Bach’s Mass in B Minor. The Academy is a highly competitive training program boasting an impressive roster of talented artists, all of whom were featured throughout the second week of the festival.

Throughout the first several days of the second week, students took the spotlight in three Academy-in-Action concerts of Baroque chamber music and Bach cantatas. As the week progressed the public was treated to free and informative lectures and master classes presented by the Academy faculty.