About Bach Network UK

Bach Network UK welcomes artists, scientists, Bach scholars and performers, and indeed anybody who is seriously interested in Bach’s music. The central aim of the network is to facilitate contacts that will encourage thought about Bach and his music: thought that may be quite different from the established terms of academic discourse. 

In 2004 John Butt, Reinhard Strohm and Ruth Tatlow founded Bach Network UK to serve Bach studies worldwide. Gradually new executive trustees joined the board and as the work of BNUK continues to develop we decided to change our leadership structure in 2010 to include a Board of Trustees and an Advisory Council. Our annual J. S. Bach Dialogue Meetings became a biennial event in 2009, alternating in even years with a visible presence at the Biennial International Conferences on Baroque Music. Our much-read web journal Understanding Bach is published annually as an important means of disseminating Bach research presented and discussed at the Dialogue Meetings. 

Times are changing, towards the quantification and standardisation of intellectual life. 'Classical' music is sometimes considered an art for specialists only. However, Bach and his music have always attracted people with a wide range of backgrounds and interests, in the arts, sciences and beyond. Bach Network UK aims to harvest the fruit of this heritage. It addresses the crucial issue of what we can still gain from Bach’s works in a world which often seems alien to the challenges of subtle, expressive and complex music.

The website continues to be of vital importance to BNUK as the platform for Understanding Bach, attracting membership and advertising our activities. You can also find us on Facebook. BNUK is a registered charity and welcomes donations to support costs of the continued work.