Introducing Our 2026 Presenting Partners
Presenting Partners are distinguished musical organizations who have committed to presenting the winner of the Lillian and Maurice Barbash J.S. Bach Competition in concert in their future seasons.
Island Symphony Orchestra
The Island Symphony Orchestra has shared its love of music with Long Island audiences for half a century. Under the direction of Eric R. Stewart, the orchestra has performed with internationally renowned artists as well as the winners of its annual Youth Concerto Competition. The Grand Prize Winner of the Lillian and Maurice Barbash J.S. Bach Competition is the featured guest artist at the orchestra’s annual Bach Festival.
Washington Bach Consort
Founded in 1977 by the late J. Reilly Lewis, the Washington Bach Consort presents three concurrent music series each season. With the music of J.S. Bach and his contemporaries firmly at the core, the group also performs music from the Renaissance to Classical periods. Educational programs bring Bach’s music to over 3,000 public school students in the DC metro area annually. Under the artistic leadership of Dr. Dana Marsh, the Washington Post most recently acclaimed the organization as “a company that could go head-to-head with period instrument ensembles anywhere.”
GEMS
Gotham Early Music Scene (GEMS) is New York’s foremost supporter of early music, promoting historically informed performances from the Medieval to Classical eras as presenter, fiscal sponsor and educator. GEMS also provides marketing and concert services for a myriad of local and touring ensembles.
Amor Artis
A beloved New York City institution for more than fifty years and presenter of an annual all-Bach New Year’s Eve concert, Amor Artis is a chamber chorus and orchestra dedicated to illuminating the relationships between Renaissance, Baroque, and Contemporary music.
The Bach Choir of Bethlehem shares the transformative power of the music of J.S. Bach and other composers through excellence in performance and education to build, strengthen, and sustain diverse communities, and to foster a life-long passion for the choral arts.
Described as “SIMPLY SPLENDID” by The New York Times, the American Classical Orchestra is New York’s only full-scale period instrument orchestra for music composed in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. The Grand Prize Winner will be engaged to perform on an American Classical Orchestra concert at a fee, date, and venue TBA. The winner will perform a work by J. S. Bach on a period instrument (solo concerto or unaccompanied work) selected in consultation with the Artistic Director.