Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society Chamber Music Festival

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Katrin Talbot

Stephanie Jutt, left, and Jeffrey Sykes.

Stephanie Jutt, left, and Jeffrey Sykes.

Chamber music is never buttoned-up with Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society, and the company has spent 35 summers proving it. This year’s festival, titled “Never Say Never,” features music by composers such as Dvořák, Brahms, Berio, Shostakovich, Mozart and Milhaud, presented with serious musicianship and not-so-serious manners. The home base is UW Hamel Music Center, with one night each in Stoughton and Spring Green, for nine concerts across three weekends. It all kicks off June 5 with an Incendiary Artist Spotlight duo concert by violist Sally Chisholm and pianist Jeffrey Sykes. Find program info below and ticket information at bachdancing.org.

media release: Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society (BDDS) celebrates its 35th summer season with NEVER SAY NEVER, a chamber music festival running June 5–28, 2026. This milestone season features nine concerts across three weekends, with performances held in Collins Hall at the Hamel Music Center on the UW-Madison campus, as well as the Stoughton Opera House and Hillside Theater at Taliesin in Spring Green.

They said no one would ever understand a name like Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society. They said chamber music was Serious Business—and that door prizes, mystery guests, playful titles, and a little audience mischief had no place in it. They said a festival like this wouldn’t last.

Thirty-five summers later, BDDS is still here—still surprising itself, still chasing curiosity, and still proving that chamber music can be both passionately committed and Serious Fun. What began as a leap of faith has become a tradition built on trust: trust in great music, fearless artists, and an audience always ready for adventure.

And while BDDS embraces the spirit of “never say never,” there are a few things it will always stand by: never programming music that doesn’t make hearts race, never giving anything less than its all, never losing its sense of humor, and never taking its audience for granted.

After all, audiences return year after year for that familiar thrill: “They’ll never do that.”

Week One

Friday, June 5, 7:30 pm – THOUGHT YOU’D NEVER ASK: A long-overdue spotlight on violist Sally Chisholm, a BDDS favorite who has been with us from our very first season, features music of depth, daring, and unmistakable personality. Passionate, probing, and absolutely fearless—this is chamber music that reminds us why we fell in love with Sally in the first place. BDDS’s Incendiary Artist Spotlight series sets the stage ablaze with intimate, one-hour concerts featuring beloved BDDS musicians. With lively on-stage conversations punctuated by stunning performances, this Friday night program offers an up-close encounter. All are welcome for a reception in the lobby following, to meet the artists.

Saturday, June 6, 7:30 pm – NEVER A DULL MOMENT: Expect surprises at every turn: Dvořák’s sunny lyricism, Berio’s kaleidoscopic Folk Songs, moonlit art songs, and theatrical Stravinsky and Rossini to send you out smiling. Voices and instruments collide in a program that lives up to its name—restless, colorful, and irresistibly fun.

Sunday, June 7, 2:30 pm – NOW OR NEVER: From the urgency of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet to John Harbison’s deeply moving Mirabai Songs to Mozart at his most humble and dramatic, this program is about laying it all on the line. Big ensemble moments, shattering emotional risk, unforgettable vocal writing, and a concerto that crackles with life make this a true seize-the-moment concert.

Week Two

Friday, June 19, 7:30 pm – NEVERLAND: Brahms’s Magelone songs unfold as a sweeping tale of love, adventure, and destiny, brought vividly to life with narration and projected imagery. Romantic, immersive, and deeply human, this is storytelling on a grand—and intimate—scale. Join Jeffrey Sykes, photographer Katrin Talbot, and bass-baritone Timothy Jones for a multi-media musical experience, exploring a medieval romance through love, separation, and reunion. Reception for all follows. 

Saturday, June 20, 7:30 pm – BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: A celebration of music finally getting its moment featuring Brahms' last chamber music, Griffes' poetic masterpiece, a brilliant concerto by Bach's most famous son, and the playful, off-kilter music of Schulhoff. Warm, generous, quirky, and deeply satisfying, this is music that proves some things are worth the wait.

Sunday, June 21, 2:30 pm – NEVER LET ME GO: Elegiac, searching, and profoundly moving, this program traces music’s power to console and sustain. From intimate love songs of Kevin Puts to the gripping, dramatic piano quintet of Shostakovich, it’s an evening that lingers long after the final chord. 

Week Three

Friday, June 26, 7:30 pm – WELL, I NEVER! in Stoughton: Fast-moving and delightfully unexpected, this no-intermission concert combines Rossini’s swagger, Beethoven’s radiant A Major cello sonata, and Haydn’s witty “Chirp Chirp” Symphony No. 97 for a compact burst of brilliance that proves big ideas don’t need a long runway.

Saturday, June 27, 7:30 pm – NEVER LOOK BACK: Bold beginnings give way to deep reflection in a program that moves from Mozart’s youthful sparkle to Brahms’s stormy Piano Quartet in C minor. Music that faces forward, digs deep, and refuses to play it safe. Catch the last weekend of chamber music festival concerts. 

Sunday, June 28, 3:00 pm – NEVER ENOUGH in the Hillside Theater, Taliesin: A feast of color and intensity, from Milhaud’s jazz-inflected La création du monde to Bloch’s monumental and savage Piano Quintet. Rich, expansive, and overflowing with invention, this season finale reminds us that there’s always room for more wonder. Reception for all follows. 

Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society began as an act of joyful defiance: against dullness, against distance, against the idea that great music belongs only to the past. Never Say Never carries that legacy forward, offering audiences not just concerts, but moments of discovery—music that surprises, challenges, and lingers long after the final note.

ARTISTS

Artistic Co-Directors Stephanie Jutt, flute (principal flute of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and professor emerita at the UW–Madison) and Jeffrey Sykes, piano (a University of California, Berkeley faculty member) lead a roster of exceptional returning and guest artists from across the country and abroad. They are joined by violinist Suzanne Beia (concertmaster of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and member of the Pro Arte Quartet); violist Madlen Breckbill (founder of the Samtalä Chamber Music Festival); violist Sally Chisholm (Pro Arte Quartet and UW–Madison faculty); percussionist Anthony Di Sanza (Madison Symphony Orchestra and UW-Madison faculty); violinist/violist Michael Gurevich (London Haydn Quartet); cellist Trace Johnson (Sarasota and Madison Symphony Orchestras); bass-baritone Timothy Jones (University of Houston); clarinetist Alan Kay (Orpheus Chamber Orchestra); cellist Lachezar Kostov (Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra); violinist Emily Nebel (Lyric Opera of Chicago); cellist Kenneth Olsen (Chicago Symphony Orchestra); violist Aurelien Pederzoli (Lyric Opera of Chicago); violinist Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio (concertmaster of the Fresno Philharmonic); bassist David Scholl (Madison Symphony Orchestra); violist, poet, and photographer Katrin Talbot; harpist Johanna Wienholts (Madison Symphony Orchestra); and violinist Carmit Zori (Brooklyn Chamber Music Society), among others.

Executive Director Samantha Crownover marks her 28th season with BDDS, continuing to shape the festival’s distinctive blend of artistry, innovation, and audience connection.