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Cellist Brings The Bach, The Lander Bar Provides The Beer

Nigel Bland

An unusual concert is coming to the Lander Bar on Friday, August 12. Instead of 80’s rock and whiskey shots, it’s 'Bach and Beer.' The program is part a of tour that brings classical music to informal places, like bars and coffee shops.

After a successful solo career in the Netherlands, cellist Steuart Pincombe and his wife Michelle returned to the U.S…bought a camper trailer…and headed out on a tour called Music in Familiar Spaces. But Steuart Pincombe says baroque cello music in a bar isn’t as odd as it sounds. “You know, even Bach was playing weekly concerts in a coffee house,” he says.

Before concert halls became the norm in the 19th century, music was usually performed in smaller spaces. Performing in alternative venues creates an invitation for new audiences. “And that’s one of the most important things for me for this tour is that I’m getting a lot of people who usually wouldn’t go to a classical concert,” says Pincombe. “What I’m interested in is taking this music that I think is really important and that people need to hear and want to hear, even if they don’t know it and putting it in a setting where they’re comfortable.”

Although many think Bach’s music approaches the divine, Bach himself was more earthy…a beer drinker, by some accounts. So pairing the Bach cello suites with beer is part of the draw for first-time concert-goers.

As part of the program, the brewer will offer tasting notes while Pincombe reveals the ingredients in his music. The audience then gets to sip and listen. Pincombe says there’s a parallel between what craft brewers are doing and what he’s doing as a musician. “And that is simply looking back on historical traditions and bringing them to life for the modern audience.”

Friday’s 'Bach and Beer' concert in Lander is the only stop in the Mountain West as part of the year-long national tour.

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