Our Musical History in Grey and Bruce County

 It was in 1984 when Michael Schmidt and Hermann Maes founded the Saugeen Bach Choir. The choir had its first performance in 1985, celebrating the 300 Anniversary of Bach’s birth. 60 singers, 24 orchestra members, 4 soloists and 500 people attended the concert in Hanover’s St. Mathews Lutheran Church. On the program were 3 Bach Cantatas.

This was the beginning of the Saugeen Bach Choir’s 40 year journey, performing many of the major choral works in the Baroque and Classical repertoire, Bach’s works were always at the heart of almost every concert.

What followed was the annual Saugeen Bach Festival in the Spring. Many ground breaking performances with well known Canadian and international artists enriched the entire region culturally. One highlight was the North American Premier of Franz Liszt’s Oratorio in Formosa with 120 Singers and the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony

Founded by farmer/conductor Michael Schmidt in 1995, Symphony in the Barn has opened its doors to performers and visitors from around the world, transforming Glencolton Farms into a one-of-a-kind cultural and agricultural experience. Symphony in the Barn has been host to critically acclaimed opera productions, jazz concerts, an annual film festival, its annual Christkindl market, First Nations dance, classical chamber and orchestral performances, and integrated farm-to-table concert collaborations. 

Set on a fully operational 200-acre biodynamic dairy farm, Symphony in the Barn's annual summer festival included concerts, events, panel discussions, and composer residencies - a yearly convergence of innovative thinkers and world-renowned performers, centered on themes of sustainability, education, and artistic enlightenment. The festival has offered residency to professional musicians, visiting multimedia artists and, through our inaugural 2018 mentorship study programme, international, amateur and pre-professional musicians. Symphony in the Barn has brought world-class performances to the rural setting of Durham, Ontario and offered social development through creative collaboration, mentorship, and agrarian fellowship.

With the tagline of “Where Culture Meets Agriculture”, the Symphony in the Barn Festival enhanced critically and artistically the interaction of the arts with larger society through site-specific and thematic curation in a rural agricultural setting: where a typical concert not only included a full-scale performance, but also is accompanied by the sounds of the birds in the rafters, a visit by one of the farm animals, a starlight reception, and farm-baked refreshments. 

Since 1995, Symphony in the Barn has led the way for concerts outside of the standard concert hall setting. For 30 years we were at the forefront of marrying fine artistry with the Agri-Cultural experience…. Until in 2025 ALL ARTS FUNDING became unavailable.