22 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JULY 10-16, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com It has been said that “it takes a small village,” but the Carmel Bach Festival needs a larger one. No fewer than 340 people across 11 different venues, including 150 musicians, 24 support staff, 16 administrators and a host of 150 volunteers work together to produce the two-week-long classical treasure. Nearly all of the festival’s volunteers and front- and back-of-the-house support staff are local, as is the entire 30-member Festival Chorus, administered by Susan Mehra, whose dedicated work is often overshadowed by all the ink given to the many visiting musicians. Two local musicians from the Festival Orchestra are trumpeter Greg Smith and trombonist Suzanne Mudge. Smith plays in the Tower Brass, and also serves as the overall event’s director of artistic operations, while Mudge leads the Tower Brass. So-called tower music harkens back to the Middle Ages tradition of brass instruments and choirs heralding the coming of musical and other events where the musicians played from the balconies, thus earning the name tower music. The festival’s modern version of this, dubbed Tower Brass, is rooted in the 1936 Bach Festival, and the tradition continues with eight free concerts over two weeks at the Sunset Center terrace and in the Carmel Mission courtyard. Mudge has been with the festival for 30 years, and she also is the director of the popular Family Concert. With an event of such size, scope and duration, it would be easy for some things to go unnoticed, or fall through the cracks. With that in mind, here are some out-of-the-limelight, underthe-radar offerings which will richly reward concertgoers, young and old. A long-standing tradition of the festival is to look within its own ranks for soloists, rather than looking outside. This year, the Festival Orchestra’s Principal Cellist Paul Dwyer has been elevated to soloist for a reading of “Death and the Maiden,” a somber work showcasing the full range of the instrument. It will take place at the Church in the Forest in Pebble Beach at 5pm July 16 and 23. It’s always exciting when the festival brings new talent to the fold, and this year is no exception as mezzo soprano Guadalupe Paz makes her debut. “I first heard her with the San Diego Opera and her voice simply blew me away,” says the festival’s executive director, Nathan Lutz. The San Diego-based vocalist appears in a plethora of roles throughout the two weeks, including Mozart's Requiem and Bach’s Mass in B minor. On full display this year is the nyckelharpa—far and away one of the most unusual instruments you’ll ever hear or see anywhere. The 16-string Swedish instrument is sometimes referred to as a “keyed fiddle.” The player deploys a violin-like bow on the three melody strings with the right hand, and pushes on the keys with the left, creating sounds that have been described as ethereal, mystical and otherworldly. The instrument’s current renaissance is largely due to Swedish musician Olov Johannson, whose instrument is even more complex. These sonorities will be on full display when longtime festival favorite violinist Edwin Huizinga brings his perennial collaborator guitarist William Coulter (together they comprise the duo Fire and Grace) along with nyckelharpa master Johannson for one of this year’s most unique programs that reaches deep into the heart of Scandinavian folk music and promises to be one of this event’s highlights. They perform 7:30pm on July 17 and 24. Each year, the festival designates a word or a short phrase as a slogan of sorts to describe the offerings in an overarching way. This year’s theme is “Dialogues”—between composers and orchestras, conductors and musicians, musicians to musicians, orchestras to audiences. On a deeper level, the theme reveals even more about the nature of J.S. Bach, as seen in his masterwork “The Art of the Fugue.” “In most all pieces, there is one basic melody or a set of melodic ideas played with accompaniment,” Lutz says. “In Bach’s fugues there are many, many melodies played at the same time, showcasing the fugue as the ultimate musical dialogue. This is being woven throughout our event this year by programming one of each of the 18 movements in this composition to be performed at every chamber concert over the two weeks. It’s an absolute testimony to this pinnacle of Bach’s musical genius.” Shine Bright The Carmel Bach Festival brings back favorites and welcomes new talent into the fold. By Paul Fried “A long-standing tradition of the festival is to look within its own ranks for soloists, rather than looking outside.” Above: Trombonist Susanne Mudge has been with the Carmel Bach Festival for three decades. Below: Susan Mehra is a longtime volunteer with the 30-member Festival Chorus. DANIEL DREIFUSS DANIEL DREIFUSS
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