The Peoria Bach Festival is held annually during the first week of June at Trinity Lutheran Church, Peoria. Since its founding in 2003 by Trinity's Cantor Martin Dicke and Dr. John Jost, Director of Choral Activities at Bradley University, the Peoria Bach Festival has quickly grown from a local arts event into a significant regional festival. It seeks to not only showcase Peoria's own musicians, but also to attract national and international talent. Trinity's attractive gothic architecture and reverberant acoustics combined with its historical and religious roots provide a perfect setting for a celebration of Bach's music.

The Peoria Bach Festival is funded primarily by invidual donors, but requires additional assistance from local businesses and the community in order to remain in operation. The Peoria Bach Festival has received grants from the Illinois Arts Council through the Community Foundation of Illinois.

Martin Dicke, co-director, has been Cantor at Trinity since August 2002. As Cantor he serves oversees the entire music program, directs all but one of the musical ensembles, and serves as primary organist. Since his arrival, several major components have been added to Trinity's music program including Kindermusik® at Trinity (www.kindermusikpeoria.com), directed by his wife Marie and now enrolling over 120 students, the Trinity Concert Series (www.trinityconcertseries.org), and the Peoria Bach Festival. In 2008 he completed a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting and Pedagogy at the University of Iowa. For his dissertation he completed a critical edition of a polyphonic psalter by Sigmund Hemmel (c1530-1565), a little-known composer of the Stuttgart court. The preface for this psalter was written by the court's chaplain, Lucas Osiander (1534-1604), who played a major role in the development of congregational song as we know it today.

John Jost, co-director, has been Director of Choral Activities at Bradley University since 1989. He is also a violinist and violist and played for many years with the Peoria Symphony Orchestra. He received his bachelor, master, and doctorate degrees from Stanford University in California. Before joining the Bradley faculty, he directed ensembles and taught in California, New York, and Haiti where he continues to direct a summer music camp for Haitian youth. In his spare time he enjoys organizing community musical events such as the annual "Sing-a-long" Messiah at St. Paul's Episcopal Church and the Peoria Bach Festival.

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