As my career took me across the Midwest, I enjoyed the “big sounds” of orchestras in Milwaukee, Chicago, and St. Louis but it wasn’t until we moved to Maryland three years ago that I found something different. Something smaller and more intimate—a blissful blending of orchestra and chorus played in local churches located in our city and surrounding towns. Like you, I discovered Bach in Baltimore.

Now despite what you may think after reading those first few paragraphs, this season isn’t about me. It isn’t even about our Founder and Music Director Herbert Dimmock, although it certainly could be.

this 2025-26 concert series marks the 38th season that Maestro Dimmock has led Bach in Baltimore. It is his baby. He founded it, nurtured it, directed it, rehearsed with it, donated to it, wrote grant requests for it, and did a hundred other things to get us to the point where he will —on June 7, 2026—step down as Maestro with the full confidence that our future will be brighter than our past.

We salute Maestro Dimmock, and will honor him as the season progresses, yet all the while reminding both ourselves and you that Bach in Baltimore is not all about Herb.

No, the 2025-26 season—like all 37 that have come before it and the next 37 (and more) that come after it—is entirely about you. it is about providing a cost-effective, live music experience in beautiful settings, performed by very accomplished musicians.

John Pfeifer

President
Board of Directors

Founder and music director of Bach in Baltimore, Maestro Dimmock also served as music director at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Cathedral in Harrisburg, PA, and choir director at Chizuk Amuno Synagogue in Pikesville, MD. He held positions at The Cathedral of the Incarnation and First English Lutheran Church in Baltimore and was music director of The Handel Choir of Baltimore for 25 years, now serving as Music Director Emeritus.

Maestro Dimmock holds a BA from Davidson College, an MM from Peabody Institute, and has pursued extensive continuing education in the U.S. and Germany. He has taught at Johns Hopkins University and the College of Notre Dame. His honors include commendations from the State of Maryland, a “Baltimore’s Best” award, and roles on arts task forces for the Governor of Maryland and the Pew Trust in Philadelphia.

Reflecting on his career, Maestro Dimmock states, “Even as a child, I felt a calling to be a musician. Music brings us to a more profound ‘alleluia,’ deepening our understanding of humanity, God, and connecting us with those around us.”