Taking Bach Out of the Concert Hall and Into a Brewery

• DATE: April 27, 2016
• POSTED BY: Jessica Koslow
• CATEGORY: Experience

Was Bach really meant to be heard in a brewery? Steuart Pincombe gave it a whirl when he played the Baroque cello to a standing-room-only crowd at Dock Street Brewery in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia Inquirer critic Samantha Melamed gave the performance a thumbs up, writing, “Taking this 18th-century music out of a sterile environment and into the familiar realm of my neighborhood bar made it feel fresh and timely.”

Dock Street Brewery also offered a pairing of one of its beers with each Bach piece that was performed.

Co-critic Peter Dobrin wrote that watching the cityscape behind the musician added a nice visual element to the performance. And while not everybody in the brewery came to hear Bach, classical music was reaching a potentially different and new audience. It’s a compelling reason to think outside the box when it comes to picking a venue.

Read more about the Bach & Beer pairing in this Inquirer article.

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