At its founding in 1984 by Wallace Golecke, the Seattle Bach Choir performed music of the Baroque period, particularly by Johann Sebastian Bach. Over the years—under directors Lou Magor, Gregory Kent Vancil, and Anne Lyman—our repertoire expanded to include medieval through contemporary music. We continue to embrace this variety under our current artistic director, Daniel Mahraun, who has also brought a renewed focus on the music of Bach and his contemporaries, music that inspired Bach, and later music inspired by him.

Whether singing a cappella, with piano or organ, or with orchestra, our goal is to present high-quality, accessible performances of beautiful and significant—and, sometimes, seldom-performed—music. Recent programs have featured Bach’s St. John Passion and B minor Mass, his motets, Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil, and the modern premiere of Johan Helmich Roman’s Funeral Music for King Frederick I. Other repertoire has included music by Bach’s German Lutheran forbears (Schütz, Schein, Scheidt, Vulpius, Walter, Buxtehude, Hammerschmidt, Gumpelzhaimer); larger works by Mozart, Vaughan Williams, Pärt, Martin, and Tyberg; and music by 21^st-century composers Matthew Harris, Rosephanye Powell, Ola Gjeilo, Jocelyn Hagen, Caroline Shaw, and John Muehleisen.

The Seattle Bach Choir acknowledges that our rehearsals and performances take place on Indigenous land: the traditional territory of Coast Salish peoples, specifically the Dkhw’Duw’Absh, or Duwamish. We honor with gratitude the land itself and the life of all the Coast Salish tribes, including the Muckleshoot, Suquamish, Snoqualmie, and Tulalip tribes. And we honor their ancestors, who were the original caretakers of this land, keeping its balance and cultivating its beauty for thousands of years.