Welcome

Founded in 1972 as a chapter of the Neue Bachgesellschaft, the American Bach Society supports the study, performance, and appreciation of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach in the United States and Canada.

The ABS produces Bach Notes and Bach Perspectives, sponsors a biennial meeting and conference, and offers grants and prizes for research on Bach.

Information on membership is available here, along with a short history of the Society and information on its administration.

On this site you can also find links to other Bach organizations and to Bach festivals, as well as a small selection of interesting Bach illustrations.

Upcoming Conference:

“Global Bach”
Biennial Meeting of the American Bach Society
Emory University (Atlanta, Georgia)
September 26–29, 2024
Call For Papers

For questions about the upcoming conference, please contact Ellen Exner: vicepresident [at] americanbachsociety.org

Bach Notes no. 40 (Spring 2024) now available

April 7, 2024

Bach Notes no. 40 (Spring 2024) is now live and copies have been mailed to members who have requested them. This issue features Ellen Exner’s interview with Geoffrey Burgess about a Bach-era oboe now housed at the Bach-Archiv; Annika Fabbi’s report on her publication history research at the Riemenschneider Bach Institute; Rebekah Franklin’s interview with Dirk Garner and Margaret Carpenter Haigh about the upcoming Baldwin Wallace Bach Festival performance of Bach’s St. John Passion featuring a female Evangelist; Publications; the ABS Conference announcement; Obituaries for Judith McCartin Scheide and Peter Schickele; Announcements; ABS election results; and Member News. Read more…

Final episode of Tiny Bach Concerts, episode 19, now live

November 6, 2023

Episode 19 of Tiny Bach Concerts, which will be the last in this series, features Joel Speerstra (Gothenburg University) discussing and performing on clavichord Bach’s Ciaccona from Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004/4. Read more…

Bach Notes no. 39 (Fall 2023) now available

October 31, 2023

Bach Notes no. 39 (Fall 2023) is now live and copies have been mailed to members who have requested them. This issue features a report on the first Ruth Monte Memorial Bach Competition by Derek Stauff; a report on Bachfest Leipzig 2023 by Yo Tomita; a call for papers for the 2024 ABS conference, “Global Bach”; information on ABS Grants and Awards; Announcements; and Member News. Read more…

Monte Competition Schedule Announced

May 31, 2023

The schedule for the inaugural Ruth Monte Memorial Bach Piano Competition has been released, and you can find it on our website. Read more…

Bach Notes no. 38 (Spring 2023) is now live

May 9, 2023

Bach Notes no. 38 (Spring 2023) is now live and copies have been mailed to members who have requested them. This issue features a review of Tanya Kevorkian’s Music and Urban Life in Baroque Germany by Derek Stauff; a review of the documentary film Bach and Expression by Nathaniel Brown; a report on the ABS Meeting at Temple University by Vivian Teresa Tompkins; Announcements; and Member News. Read more…

Applications open for the Ruth Monte Memorial Bach Competition

January 5, 2023

Pianists ages 12–18 living in North America (but of any nationality) are encouraged to participate in the first Ruth Monte Memorial Bach Competition; applications are now open! Initial application deadline is March 1, 2023. Read more…

Episode 18 of Tiny Bach Concerts now available

December 16, 2022

This month’s episode of Tiny Bach Concerts features a performance by The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity (New York City) of the Sinfonia, Adagio, and “Kommt, eilet und laufet” from J. S. Bach’s Easter Oratorio, BWV 249, with introductory remarks by Daniel R. Melamed. Read more…

Just Released: Episode 17 of Tiny Bach Concerts

October 14, 2022

This month’s episode of Tiny Bach Concerts features a performance by Filament Baroque of 5. “So glaubt man denn, dass die Musik verführe” and 6. “Schweigt, ihr Flöten, schweigt, ihr Töne” from O holder Tag, erwünschte Zeit, BWV 210, with introductory remarks by Tanya Kevorkian. Read more…

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AT RIGHT:

  1. Oil painting of J. S. Bach by Elias Gottlob Haussmann, 1748
  2. Engraving of St. Thomas Church, Leipzig
  3. Title page of Bach’s Calov Bible, 1681 (Concordia Seminary Library, St. Louis)
  4. First page of autograph score of Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, 1721