Johann Sebastian Bach’s not all that the Vancouver Bach Festival has on tap. The summer spectacular kicks off with Les Boréades de Montréal playing all six of the immortal Brandenburg Concertos (at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts on Tuesday [July 30] and Christ Church Cathedral on Wednesday [July 31]), but after that, explore the great German’s peers and descendants with these fine musical offerings, each taking place at Christ Church Cathedral.

Fauré Requiem

August 1

The Bach connection here is the presence of the Vancouver Bach Choir, under the direction of Leslie Dala, performing Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem in D Minor and a selection of other French gems.

Chopin Preludes

August 1

Pianist Byron Schenkman performs a matinee concert of Frédéric Chopin’s preludes, which were inspired by Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier.

Mozart String Trios

August 2

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart developed his compositional craft by studying Bach manuscripts, and here violinist Marc Destrubé takes the lead in some of the resulting masterpieces.

Before Bach: 17th-Century Music for Strings & Winds

August 7

The influence of Italian music on Bach’s compositional style has been duly noted, and in this matinee concert we can discover how that might have come about, in a selection of Italian and Austrian music from the middle of the last millennium.

Shostakovich: Preludes and Fugues

August 8

Another matinee program finds pianist David Jalbert playing pieces from Dmitri Shostakovich’s brilliant collection of preludes and fugues, along with Bach’s Toccata in C Minor.