Why Does Bach Still Matter?
Relevance, Cancel Culture & the Power of Art
In this episode of BACH 52, I sit down with Albert Imperato, a classical music publicist who’s spent 35 years making the case that Bach and classical music still matter in America today.
Albert came to classical music as a complete outsider. He taught himself piano by ear, had his road-to-Damascus moment hearing the Vienna Philharmonic in college, and started throwing listening parties in his Stanford dorm room. That generous, infectious enthusiasm for sharing Bach’s cantatas and classical music has defined his career ever since.
Albert Imperato | Managing Director and Founding Partner, 21C Media Group
We explore what “relevance” really means and why it’s something we actively create rather than discover. Albert argues that Bach’s music serves as evidence of the human capacity for order—especially important when everything around us seems to be falling apart. We discuss the St. John Passion as a story about mob mentality and cancel culture, Virgil Thomson’s observation that Bach sounds like 20th-century American swing music, and why art might be the last thing that hasn’t divided us in our current moment.
This conversation gets into why the person who cries hearing a Bach melody might understand the music more deeply than the jaded expert, how Albert brings first-time listeners to Carnegie Hall, and what it means to wake up every morning choosing enthusiasm for the things you love.
EPISODE CREDITS:
Ihr Menschen, rühmet Gottes Liebe from BWV 167
PERFORMERS
San Francisco Conservatory of Music Baroque Ensemble | Elisabeth Reed & Corey Jamason, directors
Violin 1: Carla Moore (leader), Annemarie Schubert, Eliana Estrada, Cynthia Black
Violin 2: Pauline Kempf, Luke Chiang, Alexandra Santon
Violins: Jennifer Redondas, Caitlin Keen
Cello: Elisabeth Reed, Hasan Abualhaj
Violone: Farley Pearce
Organ: Yunyi Ji
SOUND (BWV 167 only): Chanho Han | VIDEO (aria & student interviews only): Clubsoda Productions
Episode 17 is produced in partnership with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
BACH 52 is made possible in part by grants from the American Bach Society, the Center for Cultural Innovation, the Bettina Baruch Foundation, and Intermusic SF.
BACH 52 is a production of Nicholas Phan Recording Projects, which is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization.
Charitable contributions in support of Nicholas Phan Recording Projects and the BACH 52 project must be made payable to “Fractured Atlas” only and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.