The Idaho Bach Festival captures the essence of the Baroque period of art through a series of musical performances.

Featuring both guest performers and University of Idaho (UI) staff, the Idaho Bach Festival strives to showcase 18th century classical composers. Unlike previous years, which solely focused on Johann Bach, the festival also features earlier composers in the Baroque era of art. The Baroque period came right after the Renaissance, with its music spreading throughout Europe from Italy.

Lynette Pfund, vocalist and opera instructor at UI, started voice lessons in high school, where her instructor encouraged her to continue in the craft.

Lynette officially started teaching a year and a half ago, but previously spent many years volunteering her time as a vocal teacher and running outreach programs with her college students.

The festival streams along the Baroque period in celebration of Bach, who rose to recognition at the end of the era. Many pieces in this series of concerts center around Bach, Lynette explained.

This project focuses around a composer who went to Italy during the Thirty Years’ War to learn the new style of the time. Afterward, Bach returned to Germany to perform in German but use the new Italian style, Lynette explained. The last concert features a collection of those German songs in the Italian style.

Event coordinator, Christopher Pfund, said the festival allows him to present the culmination of his education by performing the German melodies from his dissertation project.

“A piece that we’re performing was originally composed for a royal wedding in Germany. It’ll be great to just make it come alive again,” Lynette said.

For Lynette, learning the German language presented the biggest challenge. She explained that her piece uses 16th century German, which is very different from the modern German spoken today.

The festival also features guest musician Lucas Harris, a well-known lutenist from the Toronto Continuo Collective. He will be playing the theorbo, an instrument that plays at a lower octave than a lute.

Miranda Wilson, associate professor of cello, bass and theory at UI, has been playing the cello for about thirty years, beginning in childhood. She studied cello in college through graduate school to achieve her lifelong goal of becoming a professional musician.

Planning for the festival took the entire year of 2016, from scheduling dates and managing publicity to arranging guest soloists. It takes a lot of preparation to gather people together in the same place, Wilson said.

“I know classical concerts can be intimidating for most students, but I’d like everyone to feel warm and welcome,” Wilson said.

The Idaho Bach Festival will take place Jan. 12 – 14 at the University of Idaho. Concert times can be found online at the Lionel School of Music’s event calendar. For the opening and closing concerts, general admission is $5, and student admission is $3. The rest of the festival is free and open to the public.