Bach for Humanity Project a Labor of Love for Cello Faculty Mark Kosower

CIM cello faculty member Mark Kosower loves Bach. He has made it his mission to help others love Bach too.

Kosower’s project, Bach for Humanity – which is in its third and final year – is an initiative sharing Bach’s music through community outreach, educational performances and recitals in the Greater Cleveland area. With this project, Kosower aims to convey the humanity and the “divine inspiration” found in Bach’s music, he says.

“The need to bring people together has never been greater,” said Kosower, who also serves as principal cellist of The Cleveland Orchestra. “It is the music of Bach that has inspired people for centuries with its spirituality and ideas of love and compassion that transcend above all else.

Over the last three years, Kosower has performed all of the Bach cello suites as well as sonatas and partitas for violin that he transcribed for cello. He also has brought Bach for Humanity to life in the form of solo concerts and performances around Northeast Ohio, including the Cleveland School for the Arts, the Louis B. Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, Judson Manor, Judson Park, the Cleveland Cello Society, Reinberger Auditorium in the Flats and many others.

While Kosower’s CIM students, known as Ensemble 207, have performed on several of his Bach for Humanity recitals in the past, these November concerts focus the spotlight solely on Kosower.

Upcoming performances:

Fri, Nov 1, 7pm
The Renaissance, Olmsted Falls

Sun, Nov 3, 1pm
Judson South Franklin Circle in Chagrin Falls

Mon, Nov 4, 7pm
Old Stone Church, Cleveland

Fri, Nov 15, 8pm
Mixon Hall at CIM
Seating passes required, reserve beginning November 8.