The Peoria Bach Festival is organized and offered as a gift to the city of Peoria and Central Illinois during the first weekend of June every year by Trinity Evangelical 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 Trinity and its members, but requires additional assistance from local businesses and the community in order to remain in operation. In the past two years the Illinois Arts Council has provided the Peoria Bach Festival with grants through the Community Foundation of Illinois. We thank them for their support.

Martin Dicke, co-director, has been Cantor at Trinity since August 2002. As Cantor he oversees the entire music program, serves as primary organist, and directs most of the major ensembles. Since his arrival, Trinity has added several major components to its music program including Kindermusik at Trinity, a program directed by his wife Marie, the Trinity Concert Series, and the Peoria Bach Festival. He is completing a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting and Pedagogy at the University of Iowa.

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.

For contact information and directions to Trinity, please visit our Contact Us page.