Friends celebrate big 25th Bach Marathon

St. Philip’s Friends of Music is reaching a pretty impressive milestone on Saturday, March 5: The 25th anniversary of its popular Bach Marathon.

Every year for the past 24, the group hosts mostly local musicians in a concert that celebrates the famous German composer.

This year, the University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music’s international touring performers — UA Musicians on Tour —will start things off with a morning recital of music by J.S. Bach and transcriptions of music by his contemporaries and other musicians that Bach influenced.

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In the afternoon, organist Jonathan Biggers will perform on St. Philip’s 1986 Holtkamp Organ in a program that includes Bach’s Sinfonia from Cantata 29; Two Chorale-Preludes — “Allein Gott in der Höh sei ehr” (“All Glory be to God on high”) and “Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir” (“Out of the depths I cry unto Thee”); Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C-major; and Prelude and Fugue in E-major.

Biggers, whom NPR called “one of the most outstanding concert organists in the United States,” comes to us from Binghamton, New York, where he teaches organ at Binghamton University. He also maintains a pretty active concert career, performing in concert halls and churches in the U.S., Europe and Canada.

The Bach Marathon will be held at St. Philip’s In The Hills Episcopal Church, 4440 N. Campbell Ave. at East River Road, beginning at 10 a.m. The event is divided into two recitals, morning and afternoon (2 p.m.), separated by its Bach Lunch. Cost: $25 per person for either only morning session or only afternoon session; $40 for both; $10 for Bach’s Lunch. Students are $10 for both sessions. Tickets are available at the door. Details: friendsofmusictucson.org or call St. Philip’s Friends of Music at 222-7277.