Student-Centered Learning
Bach's Lunch Concert Series: Taking Music Out of the Box
Lunch bags rustle as audience members anticipate another Bach’s Lunch Series concert. The concerts, which take place on Fridays during the noon hour, challenge music students to perform for the public while preparing them for the more intimidating experiences of degree recitals and concerts. Dan Stowe, an associate professional specialist in the Department of Music and director of the Notre Dame Glee Club, drew upon his experience as a student when he conceived the idea for Bach’s Lunch in 2004.
“My undergraduate university had noon concerts every Thursday, featuring visiting artists as well as students and ensembles,” says Stowe. “It was, and is, a great opportunity to gain performance experience in an informal, relatively low-pressure, setting.”
Preparing Students
The choice of student musicians reflects the opinion of those most familiar with their work—their professors.
“Performance majors enjoy an intense relationship with their studio teachers,” says Mary Frandsen, associate professor of music and one of the organizers. “Faculty members who teach studio lessons are asked for suggestions of students to perform for the series.”
The Department of Music requires students to perform as much as possible, and the Bach’s Lunch series provides them with an excellent venue in which to practice their performances.
“While the Bach’s Lunch is great exposure and practice, it is more of an opportunity to practice performing than really doing a professional performance,” says music student Mary Ann Lane, a violinist. “For instance, I used sheet music during Bach’s Lunch, but if it were a ‘real’ professional performance, music would not be used on stage. The informal setting takes a bit of pressure off the performer and audience and creates a great atmosphere for afternoon concerts.”
An Intimate Venue
Members of the music faculty, as well as members of the Notre Dame and South Bend communities, appreciate the opportunity to experience music in the intimate environment of the Penote Performers Hall, which the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center makes available for the concerts.
“The Penote Performers Hall is the ideal space for the series,” says Stowe. “It has wonderful acoustics, and its relatively small size makes it possible to get near-capacity crowds without too much effort, which electrifies the concert experience for performer and audience alike.”
The concerts usually begin a few minutes after noon and end before one o’clock to allow attendees time to eat their meals and to get back to work by the end of the lunch hour.
From classical to New Orleans-style brass bands to opera to classical guitar, the Bach’s Lunch series showcases a spectrum of musical genres while providing students with invaluable experience—and concertgoers with a welcome respite from work and study.
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