What Makes “Classical Music”?

Why do we call almost 300 years of different composers “classical music”? If it’s all the same, what makes those hundreds of years different from music of today? Explore this question with Bach, Mozart and Beethoven.

Pianist Ian Tomaz presents a series of lectures and concerts which uses J.S. Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier Book 1 to guide the general public towards a deeper understanding of classical music and trace its influence on later composers. Each cycle includes one concert, which pairs 6 of the 24 Preludes and Fugues with works of composers influenced by Bach; and three lectures, where specific musical characteristics of each Prelude and Fugue are connected to later works, showing the audience how the principles exemplified by Bach pervade all musical genres and eras. This series is inspired by Nadia Boulanger, whose work Ian has been studying in Paris since 2021, and takes place across Fall 2024 and Spring 2025.

For more information about the Bach Cycle Series by Ian Tomaz please visit this page of our website.

Entrance to this music & information session is by donation.