Premiere

BACH & friends World Premiere Screenings

May 16, 23, 30, 2010

Mike Hawley, Host and Emcee

Richard Saul Wurman, Special Guest

Simone Dinnerstein, Gene Drucker, Richard Stoltzman, John Bayless,

Matt Haimovitz, Zuill Bailey and Hilda Huang, Featured Performers

Jan Herman's Arts Journal Weblog

on the BACH & friends Premiere screenings

Comments on Premiere

I had the great pleasure of attending the World Premiere tonight of Michael Lawrence's new film: "Bach and Friends". I loved every minute of the film! Don't miss it.
Andrew Schulman, JustStrings.com

Congratulations, Mike, it was a terrific event! The performances were a delight and the oohs, ahhs, laughs, etc., from the audience during the film proved that you’ve got a winner.
Richard Selden, Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University

I thought your film was fantastic—truly a triumph in every way. The individual elements—the performers, the music, the speaking were expertly woven together and added up to a decidedly inspirational whole. And seeing my old buddy Mike Hawley featured so prominently was icing on the cake. Thanks for a wonderful evening. I wish you much well-earned success with the film.
Josh Rosenblum

Producer Director Michael Lawrence has put together such a wonderful group of artists and historians each looking at JSB from their own unique perspectives, and in doing so has truly broadened ours! Such a tribute and teaching tool about Bach has never been done at this level of quality, artistry and entertainment value. A musical, educational and historical home run! I was very impressed indeed.
David H. Meyerson, M.D., J.D.

Bach & Friends was an amazing documentary. The music, as you would guess, was wonderful. To listen to Joshua Bell, Bobby McFerrin, Bela Fleck, and Hilary Hahn, to name just a few, was a treat beyond words. What was really terrific was the format of the movie itself. While watching the musician play and listening to the music, it switches and the musician is suddenly right there, talking about the music and being superimposed on the previous scene (which is the performance.) It was done so well, the editing was seamless. Never a note was dropped. After the movie there was a discussion and live performances by some of the musicians who appeared in the movie.

It is rare for me to rave about performances, but this is exceptional. It was a wonderful documentary and I will think of it and enjoy it for a very long time.
Irene Roberts

I wanted to thank you for all the work and passion you put into the film. I hope it gets the recognition it deserves.
Gene Drucker

I really thought Michael Lawrence did a great job. Structurally, moving from improvisation to interpretation to mortality across a wide variety of instruments and really wonderful personalities - not to mention visually pleasing locales - made for an experience that consistently involved me.
Emily Levine

It was great to see the Bach project come to fruition. Great job!!!!
John Driscoll

Thank you sooo much. I don't know whether to say Wow or Congratulations first!
Sally Rosenthal

A very special evening. Amazing in many ways.
Michael Hawley

That was a lovely movie yesterday! And, the live performances afterwards were an absolutely delightful treat! Thank you very much.
Rekha Parameswaran

I thought the film was quite extraordinary. How wonderful to see all the musicians one has a chance (and can afford) to see only occasionally in the concert hall not only play but talk about their feelings when playing Bach. It was also mind-expanding for me personally as a dyed-in-the-wool classical music lover to see how others--PDQ and the Swingle Singers--work with Bach. I have already started spreading the word.
Glenda G.Rosenthal

We loved Bach & Friends. Wonderful job. Loved it.
Leon Freilich

Michael Lawrence Films

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