GLENN GOULD BACH FELLOWSHIP
As a collaboration of the City of Weimar, the Philip Loubser Foundation and the Thuringia Bach Festival, in 2020 we have launched the Glenn Gould Bach Fellowship.
The Fellowship honours the name of one of the world's most influential and iconic pianists. Famed for both his legendary performances of Bach and for his ground-breaking engagement with film and recording technology, the Fellowship seeks to emulate and celebrate these same qualities by helping a mature, established artist to recreate the music of the Baroque for the 21st Century. Using the most up-to-date technology, the Glenn Gould Bach Fellow will create over the course of the Fellowship an artistic artefact or series of artefacts that will capture their unique vision. Each two year Fellowship will thus enable an outstanding musician to realise an artistic vision of stature and in the process make a statement about the music of the Baroque that endures.
N. Navaee
Elina Albach
Fellow 2026–2028
Harpsichordist Elina Albach is the next fellow to take a journey into new sounds: she liberates the harpsichord from its historical niche and combines Baroque performance practice with modern sound design. She aims to create a unique artistic artefact that sheds new light on the solo repertoire of Bach and Jacquet de la Guerre – and introduces the harpsichord to a broader audience.
Elina Albach will present her concept to the public on Friday, 17 April 2026, as part of the 2026 Festival in the vaulted cellar of Weimar City Library. ‘With my project “The Electroacoustic Harpsichord”, as a Glenn Gould Bach Fellow, I am building a bridge between the Baroque and the present. Through the use of live electronics, I want to completely redefine the harpsichord and transform the timeless emotions of this music into an intense, modern sound experience.’
After studying harpsichord at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Elina Albach now travels worldwide as a soloist and ensemble musician and teaches at various universities. Albach is not only in demand internationally as a harpsichordist and has won numerous prizes, but the fluid ensemble CONTINUUM, which she conceived, is also considered the centrepiece of an unprecedented approach to early music.
More of Elina Albach >> https://www.elinaalbach.de
The Glenn Gould Bach Fellowship is funded by the Philip Loubser Foundation, awarded by the city of Weimar and realised by the Thuringia Bach Festival.
