"Fifty years ago, Carl Anton Wirth, a local pianist, conductor, and composer, gathered friends, neighbors and music lovers on his Twain Harte deck, kicking off a half-century tradition." That's how the Sonora Bach Festival describes its own beginning.
A milestone that big could have meant a gala season. The festival held a single free outdoor celebration instead and kept the rest of October close to the original idea. The three concerts left on the 2026 schedule are a youth showcase, a concert by local musicians, and a house concert. All three fall on Sunday afternoons, and each comes the day after one of the busiest Saturdays on the Tuolumne County calendar.
The Anniversary Party Was Today
The 50th season opened Sunday, October 4, with Bach's Big Bang, a free concert from 2 to 5 p.m. at Indigeny Reserve, 14679 Summers Lane. The festival billed it as a "once in lifetime free concert." Lucky CuZn Brass Band traded sets with members of Opera Modesto: tenor Salvatore Atti, soprano Bianca Orsi and pianist Diego Bustamante. The band's name is a chemistry joke, since copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) make brass. According to the festival, the band is made up mostly of local music teachers.
The Sonora Area Foundation helped sponsor the opener. The festival's own description calls it "an unusual free event." That one afternoon was the whole anniversary splash. The sources don't list a separate gala or any other commemorative event. Everything after it is the regular format.
That format hasn't changed much. In the festival's words, for all 50 years it has given "community members of all ages" the chance to "perform classical music under professional guidance and conditions." The music is mostly Baroque, with Bach at the center. The volunteers running it formalized things in 2003, when the festival incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit led by all-volunteer Executive and Advisory Boards. The board page lists Diane Wright as executive director and Janet Telford as past executive director.
Three Sundays, Three Kinds of Performer
Each of the remaining concerts starts at 3 p.m. Each one shows a different part of what Wirth started on that deck.
October 11: The Youth Concert
This concert starts with an audition. On September 20, music students under 18 from Tuolumne and the surrounding counties played a memorized Baroque or Classical piece for a panel of judges at Chapel in the Pines in Twain Harte. They were competing for a spot on the Youth Finalists Concert. According to the board biography, former executive director Gail Johnson started the Youth Concert.
The concert is back at Chapel in the Pines, 18580 Cherokee Drive, Twain Harte. Tickets are $10, and anyone under 18 gets in free. The myMotherLode listing names the students, among them Emsley Benning, Soren Galos, Caroline Hodson, Violet Jordan, Caleb Milbourn, Evangeline Morales and Adam Winters. It also lists sisters Mamie and Hazel Weston. The program runs from Corelli, Handel and Vivaldi through Rameau, Scarlatti, Haydn and Mozart, with J.S. Bach included. Guest pianist Jason Jeffrey plays Scarlatti's Sonata in D Major, K 478, and Beethoven's Sonata in D Major, Op. 10, No. 3.
October 18: The Locals' Concert
A week later, the chapel fills with adults from the area. The lineup includes Mark Seiver, Sandra Betti, Ellora Maggs, Shiloah Fenn, the Columbia College Community Chorus, the Mother Lode String Quartet, Dr. Daniel Godsil with the Columbia College Community Orchestra, Anthony Dossi and Dan Champeaux. Mamie and Hazel Weston play again too. The two sisters appear on both the youth and adult bills, which shows how the festival connects its age groups. The program is Baroque and classical chamber music by Bach, Handel, Telemann "and many more." Tickets are $20, and under-18s get in free.
October 25: The House Concert
The season ends at Indigeny Reserve, where it began. This time it's a smaller show. Duo Sonik, made up of Guy Powell and Travis Silvers, performs "Music of Bach and Beyond." The festival lists tickets at $35 before October 21 and $40 after October 22. The price includes free parking and refreshments. The checkout page describes the $40 price as "at the door if available," so walk-up seats aren't guaranteed. A house concert is about as close as the modern festival comes to a few dozen people listening to music on someone's deck.
Every Bach Sunday Follows a Packed Saturday
Wirth's festival has always been a fall event. This October, each concert lands right after one of the area's biggest Saturdays. Seen side by side, the festival is the quiet second half of every weekend this month.
| Weekend | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 10–11 | Columbia's Harvest Festifall opens on Main Street, 2nd Saturday Art Night runs 5–8 p.m. on Washington Street, and Railtown 1897's Harvest Haunt rides begin | Festifall's second day, then the Youth Concert at 3 p.m. in Twain Harte |
| Oct. 17–18 | Walking Dead Sonora, 1–7 p.m. at Courthouse Park, plus Harvest Haunt and Skeleton Starlight rides at Railtown | Harvest Haunt continues, then the Locals' Concert at 3 p.m. |
| Oct. 24–25 | Boo Boulevard in Columbia, plus Harvest Haunt and Skeleton Starlight at Railtown | Harvest Haunt continues, then the House Concert at 3 p.m. at Indigeny Reserve |
The weekend of the Youth Concert is the most crowded. Harvest Festifall is free and fills Columbia's Main Street for both days with nearly 50 craft vendors, demonstrations, music and dancing. The Columbia Chamber coordinates it. That same Saturday evening, downtown Sonora hosts Art Night, with artists, music, and food and drink specials at participating Washington Street businesses. You could fit in Festifall on Sunday morning and still make the drive up to Cherokee Drive before 3.
On the Locals' Concert weekend, the Saturday event is the Humane Society of Tuolumne County's 16th annual Walking Dead Sonora at Courthouse Park, 9 Washington St. The organizer is adding a vendor market this year, alongside family activities and costume events. The House Concert follows Boo Boulevard, Columbia's free evening of trick-or-treating, crafts, a Halloween parade and a costume contest on Main Street.
Getting Seats Without the Scramble
Each venue works differently, so a few details help:
- Chapel in the Pines concerts, October 11 and 18. Tickets are sold online and at the door. The Youth Concert listing also lists a phone option. Families with several kids pay only for the adults, because under-18s get in free at both concerts.
- The House Concert, October 25. Buy before October 21 to get the $35 price. The listing puts the price at $40 after October 22, and checkout sells at-the-door seats only if any remain.
- Where to buy. The festival's ticket page takes you to PayPal to check out. The festival posts updates on its Facebook page.
The Weekend With No Bach
The festival ends October 25, and the next Saturday, October 31, has a schedule of its own. The Sonora Certified Farmers Market holds its last Saturday of the 2026 season from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. at Theall and Stewart streets. At 11 a.m., the Junction Shopping Center holds its Halloween costume contest and parade. Registration opens at 10:30, and prizes go by age group and to group costumes. In Jamestown, Railtown 1897 closes out its fall season that day with a final Harvest Haunt, Skeleton Starlight evening rides and Track-or-Treat.
After that, downtown's next fixed date is November 14, when 2nd Saturday Art Night returns to Washington Street from 5 to 8 p.m.
A festival that has run for 50 years mostly on volunteers says something about the people around it. If you're thinking about a home within an easy drive of Chapel in the Pines, Indigeny Reserve and Columbia's Main Street, Lisa Vandermeer can help you compare foothill properties by the October Sundays you want to keep. Schedule a Free Consultation and we'll start with your list.
