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The Ogden Bach Fest, presented by Onstage Ogden, is back to full scale in its fourth year, with five days of free community concerts and events celebrating the works of the musical genius. From March 28 to April 1, organs will shake the ceilings in churches around town and Bach-inspired vinyl will spin between the choirs and birthday cupcakes.

Johann Sebastian Bach, born on March 31, 1685 (Gregorian calendar), was so influential there is usually a connection between his work and modern musicians like The Beatles, said Onstage Ogden’s Outreach & Events Manager Andrew Barrett Watson. “These melodies that were playing around in his head in the 17th century are some of the same melodies that you can hear on pop records from artists today.”

Watson brought the Bach Fest to Ogden in 2019 as a tribute to his father, Benjamin Franklin Watson Jr., a church organist who played in the local Bach Fest every year in Watson’s small childhood town of Haddonfield, New Jersey. “I thought it was such a fun thing to do,” Watson said.

Thanks to funding from Weber County RAMP and the organization’s donors, Onstage Ogden is able to keep the concerts free so they’re accessible to everyone and pay the musicians. “The goal for the festival is to keep it community-centered with as many local artists as possible,” Watson said.

This year’s concerts will feature performances by NEXT Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra Ogden, WSU Choir and special guest organist Kenneth Udy, one of the country’s top-rated organists, who frequently makes guest appearances at the Utah Symphony and Salt Lake Tabernacle.

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Watson organizes the five-day fest with Onstage Ogden alongside community partners like Ogden violinist and composer Gabriel Gordon, Chamber Orchestra Ogden Music Director Michael Palumbo, NEXT Ensemble and Mark Henderson, director of the WSU choir.

A new addition this year is a visual arts display by Jessica Greenburg that will be projected onto the outside wall of the Weber County Main Library during the March 31 Bach Birthday Party, where there will be cupcakes, surprises and DJ Vagabond’s eclectic, Bach-inspired mixes.

A few of Ogden’s many organs will be played during the festival, including the recently refurbished Zimmer pipe organ at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Holy Family Catholic Church’s treasured organ and the Ogden Tabernacle’s grand organ with over 3,000 pipes. Watson’s ambition is to have one of the concerts inside Peery’s Egyptian Theater one day with the historic theater’s Wurlitzer.

Watson’s favorite Bach tune is the familiar Toccata and Fugue in D minor that he loves hearing on a “big boomy organ” and recalls from those childhood Sundays in church sitting in the choir loft with his dad. “It’s one of those pieces that gets into your soul,” he said. It will be played at the last concert on April 1 at the Ogden Tabernacle.

“Ogden is a fantastic town for music,” Watson said. “So much good music has come out of here.”

Ogden Bach Fest Schedule of Events

All concerts are free and open to the public.

March 28, 7 p.m.

NEXT Ensemble

Rulon Christensen, organ

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church

3329 Harrison Blvd., Ogden

March 29, 7 p.m.

Bach & Friends in Recital

Myron Patterson, organ

Holy Family Catholic Church

1100 E. 5550 South, Ogden

March 30, 7 p.m.

Vinyl Night (must be 21 or older)

Lighthouse Lounge

130 25th St., Ogden

March 31, 7:30 p.m.

Bach Birthday Party

Projection art by Jessica Greenberg

Music by DJ Vagabond

Cupcakes and surprises

Weber County Main Library

2464 Jefferson Ave., Ogden

April 1, 7 p.m.

Kenneth Udy, organ

Chamber Orchestra Ogden and WSU Choir

Ogden Tabernacle

2145 Washington Blvd., Ogden

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