FAQs

New to the SBF?

If you’re reading this page, you might be new to the festival and thinking about joining us soon for a concert. Because this is a brand-new festival, this will be a season of firsts for all of us, and we can’t wait to welcome you!

We are passionate about growing our audience and making sure those of you who are new to the festival and baroque and classical music concerts have a great experience.
Do you have a question that’s not answered here? Send us a message on Facebook, Instagram, or send an email.

The Seattle Bach Festival is based in Seattle and serves the greater Seattle. In Seattle, our shows in our first season will take place at St. Mark’s Cathedral on Capitol Hill and Meany Hall on the University of Washington campus. In Lynnwood, we will play at Trinity Lutheran Church. In Tacoma, we will play at Kilworth Chapel and at Christ Church. Our goal is to reach new audiences and to serve the greater Seattle area with beautiful performances of of Bach and the baroque. Each event listing will have a description of the venue.

We get asked this a lot! Fortunately, our venues are intimate in size, so there are no bad seats! There will be options to sit right up front closer to the performers or a little further back to save a bit on tickets.

Be yourself, be comfortable and be as fancy or as casual as you like. Some people love dressing up to going out – and we love seeing your festive spirit! Some people arrive in comfortable casual wear. We’d love to see your baroque costumes! That said, we don’t anticipate seeing anyone in black tie at one of our shows – Seattle dress-up leans towards casual elegance. No matter what you choose to wear, we are so glad to welcome you to our events.

Please take note of the concert start time for the event your are attending. Please give yourself plenty of time to park, people-watch and find your seat. If you arrive late, please wait until a break in the music to find a seat.

In the 18th century audiences expressed their appreciation whenever the performance moved them – particularly successful opera arias were often “encored” on the spot in the middle of an opera! There was lots of moving around, eating, drinking, and seeing and being seen. In the spirit of historically informed performance, you are encouraged to clap when the music moves you to do so.

We’ll have program notes for you to read up on the music ahead of time. If you are interested in a deeper dive we offer a program called Cantata Trails, which is an in-depth look at the music, and the text of the Bach Cantatas.

Name tags are a great way for you to connect with other concert guests, and with the musicians and staff. The musicians’ names are in the programs so you know who they are. Our staff and musicians want to get to know YOU as much as you want to get to know THEM! Beyond providing you with a great concert experience, we aim to create community, connection and belonging. Name tags make it easy to strike up a conversation at intermission or after the show.

In the spirit of inviting our concert guests into presence with the concert experience, and to offer you a break from the digital world, we ask you to silence your electronic devices during the concert. Feel free to take photos after the concert!

Each venue has it’s own parking set up. St. Mark’s in Seattle and Trinity Lutheran in Lynnwood both offer a large free parking lot. At Christ Church Tacoma, you may use the parking lot next to Wells Hall after 5:00pm and on weekends, and church parking behind the church sanctuary, as well as street parking.