BACH DANCING & DYNAMITE SOCIETY 35th CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL: NEVER SAY NEVER
Chamber Music Festival, Madison • June 5 – 28, 2026
Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society (BDDS) celebrates its 35th summer season with NEVER SAY NEVER, a chamber music festival running June 5–28, 2026. This milestone season features nine concerts across three weekends, with performances held in Collins Hall at the Hamel Music Center on the UW–Madison campus, as well as the Stoughton Opera House and Hillside Theater at Taliesin in Spring Green.
They said no one would ever understand a name like Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society. They said chamber music was Serious Business—and that door prizes, mystery guests, playful titles, and a little audience mischief had no place in it. They said a festival like this wouldn’t last.
Thirty-five summers later, BDDS is still here—still surprising itself, still chasing curiosity, and still proving that chamber music can be both passionately committed and Serious Fun. What began as a leap of faith has become a tradition built on trust: trust in great music, fearless artists, and an audience always ready for adventure.
And while BDDS embraces the spirit of “never say never,” there are a few things it will always stand by: never programming music that doesn’t make hearts race, never giving anything less than its all, never losing its sense of humor, and never taking its audience for granted.
After all, audiences return year after year for that familiar thrill: “They’ll never do that.”
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
BDDS’s beloved Incendiary Artist Spotlight series returns with intimate, one-hour concerts featuring dynamic performances and lively on-stage conversations, followed by receptions where audiences can meet the artists.
Incendiary Artist Spotlight: THOUGHT YOU’D NEVER ASK (aka SALLY FORTH)
Friday, June 5, 7:30 pm (Reception follows)
A long-overdue spotlight on violist Sally Chisholm celebrates one of BDDS’s most beloved artists with a program of depth, daring, and unmistakable personality.
NEVER A DULL MOMENT
Saturday, June 6, 7:30 pm
A vibrant, fast-moving program featuring Dvořák, Berio’s Folk Songs, moonlit art songs, and theatrical works by Stravinsky and Rossini.
NOW OR NEVER
Sunday, June 7, 2:30 pm
From Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet to John Harbison’s Mirabai Songs and Mozart at his most dramatic, this program captures urgency, risk, and emotional intensity.
One week off to participate in the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s 100th celebration. BDDS will participate by way of offering a free concert by Stephane Jutt, Jeffrey Sykes, and accordion legend, Stas Venglevski, on Sunday, June 14, from 1:45 – 2:30 pm, in Promenade Hall, Overture Center.
Incendiary Artist Spotlight: NEVERLAND
Friday, June 19, 7:30 pm (Reception follows)
Brahms’s Magelone songs unfold through narration and projected imagery in a sweeping, multimedia tale of love and adventure.
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
Saturday, June 20, 7:30 pm
Featuring Brahms’s late chamber works, a concerto by C.P.E. Bach, and the playful originality of Schulhoff.
NEVER LET ME GO
Sunday, June 21, 2:30 pm
An elegiac and deeply moving program with music by Kevin Puts and Shostakovich’s gripping Piano Quintet. Also, six members of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony (WYSO) will make an appearance.
WELL, I NEVER!
Friday, June 26, 7:30 pm
(Stoughton Opera House – no intermission)
A compact, high-energy concert pairing Rossini, Beethoven, and Haydn’s witty Symphony No. 97.
NEVER LOOK BACK
Saturday, June 27, 7:30 pm
From Mozart’s youthful brilliance to Brahms’s stormy Piano Quartet in C minor, this program balances bold beginnings with profound reflection.
NEVER ENOUGH
Sunday, June 28, 3:00 pm
(Hillside Theater, Taliesin, Spring Green)
The season finale features Milhaud’s La création du monde and Bloch’s powerful Piano Quintet, followed by a reception for all.
ARTISTS
Artistic Co-Directors Stephanie Jutt, flute (principal flute of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and professor emerita at the UW–Madison) and Jeffrey Sykes, piano (a University of California, Berkeley faculty member) lead a roster of exceptional returning and guest artists from across the country and abroad. They are joined by violinist Suzanne Beia (concertmaster of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and member of the Pro Arte Quartet); violist Madlen Breckbill (founder of the Samtalä Chamber Music Festival); violist Sally Chisholm (Pro Arte Quartet and UW–Madison faculty); percussionist Anthony Di Sanza (Madison Symphony Orchestra and UW-Madison faculty); violinist/violist Michael Gurevich (London Haydn Quartet); cellist Trace Johnson (Sarasota and Madison Symphony Orchestras); bass-baritone Timothy Jones (University of Houston); clarinetist Alan Kay (Orpheus Chamber Orchestra); cellist Lachezar Kostov (Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra); violinist Emily Nebel (Lyric Opera of Chicago); cellist Kenneth Olsen (Chicago Symphony Orchestra); violist Aurelien Pederzoli (Lyric Opera of Chicago); violinist Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio (concertmaster of the Fresno Philharmonic); bassist David Scholl (Madison Symphony Orchestra); violist, poet, and photographer Katrin Talbot; harpist Johanna Wienholts (Madison Symphony Orchestra); and violinist Carmit Zori (Brooklyn Chamber Music Society), among others.
Executive Director Samantha Crownover marks her 28th season with BDDS, continuing to shape the festival’s distinctive blend of artistry, innovation, and audience connection.
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Single tickets and series packages are available online from Campus Arts Ticketing or by calling (608)265-2787. Student tickets are always $10.
For additional information, visit www.bachdancing.org or call (608) 255-9866.
Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society continues to present chamber music with joy, creativity, spontaneity, and exceptional artistry. BDDS is for audiences who are curious, open-minded, and ready for anything—people who believe in having Serious Fun.
Published on April 2, 2026
