BACH’S MUSIC BOX
Goldberg Variations Reimagined
Exploring excerpts from J.S. Bach's iconic work, the Goldberg Variations, percussionists Katalin La Favre and Brian Calhoon infuse this timeless music with intriguing timbres of metallic percussion instruments. Beginning the work as a vibraphone duet, the arrangements become increasingly experimental, exploring the unique sounds of tongue drums, tuned glass bottles, and handbells. As the audience wonders what will happen next, these arrangements give a unique spin on this classic.
Videos
Highlights from Bach’s Music Box!
Live Performance at the Church of the Resurrection. in Solon, OH
March 21, 2024
Audio and video recording by Enharmonic Records.
Variation 3
Variation 22
Teaser-Variation 7 al tempo di Giga
Filmed in Chesterland, OH
November 2022
Variation 14
Variation 24
Aria and Variation 1
Live performance at the Byron Colby Barn in Grayslake, IL
March 5, 2023
Program
Duration: 1 hour
Aria
Variation 1
Variation 3 Canone all’Unisuono
Variation 14
Variation 7 al tempo di Giga
Variation 15 Canone alla Quinta
Variation 18 Canone alla Sesta
Variation 19
Variation 21 Canone alla Settima
Variation 22
Variation 25
Variation 24 Canone all’Ottava
Variation 27 Canone alla Nona
Variation 23
Variation 29
Variation 30 a 1 Clav. Quodlibet
Aria
Past Performances
December 2025
Thatcher Hall, Cape Cod, MA
Photo taken by Paul Blackmore
March 21, 2024
Music in a Sacred Space Concert Series
The Church of the Resurrection
Solon, OH
“Brian and Katy’s performance of Bach’s Music Box at Church of the Resurrection (on Bach’s birthday no less!) was a wonderful evening of music enjoyed immensely by our audience. Their musicianship is exquisite, and their creativity radiates throughout this program.”
Matthew Nadalin
Director of Music, Church of the Resurrection
March 5, 2023
Early Music at the Barn
Grayslake, IL
"Bach's Music Box, reimagined Bach's Goldberg Variations for metallic percussion, was artfully interpreted in a very original way and masterfully performed by Katy La Favre and Brian Calhoon."
-Joel Spears, Artistic Director
jtspears@comcast.net
Early Music at the Barn | Grayslake IL | Facebook
March 3, 2023
St. Noel Concert Series
Willoughby Hills, OH
February 26, 2023
The Center for Sound Therapy
Boardman, OH
“The beautiful arrangement of Bach’s Music Box had a playful blend of sounds that wondered my senses and transported me back to a different time. After the experience, I felt joyful and free.”
-Maria Lallo-Wagner, Owner and Sound Alchemist
maria@centerforsoundtherapy.com
Center for Sound Therapy - Sound Bath, Sound Massage, Relaxation & Store
Press
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Chicago Tribune: Percussionists present Bach’s ‘Goldberg Variations’ in new way
By Sheryl DeVore
Lake County News-Sun
Feb 23, 2023 at 9:42 am
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Geauga Maple Leaf: West G Alum To Perform Innovative Classical Concert March 3
By Rose Nemunaitis
March 2, 2023
“From constraint, creativity is born.”
A note from Katalin La Favre
The idea for this project came about during the first year of the COVID pandemic. I was living in a small apartment in Lyon, France and like everyone else, was searching for something to keep me busy. For a long time, I had been drawn to the idea of arranging the Goldberg Variations for unique percussion instruments. All of the arrangements I have seen of the Goldberg Variations for mallet percussion have included the marimba, which makes sense because it has a large range making it possible to play the bass lines. In France we were under a very strict quarantine for months, only allowed to leave our home for specific purposes. I began working on arranging Variation 21, but as I couldn’t leave my apartment and didn’t have access to a marimba, I had to search for a way to arrange it with only the instruments I had, which was a vibraphone, a glockenspiel, a tongue drum, 2 noah bells, and a bowl from the kitchen that happened to be a very nice ‘A’. It turned out that NOT having access to a marimba was a blessing, because it forced me to search for another way to distinguish the different voices; not with range, but with color. My old teacher, Jean Geoffroy, had a saying: “From constraint, creativity is born.” This was certainly an experience that proved this idea.
I moved back to Ohio in October 2021 and really wanted to explore the possibilities of this project further with other movements from Goldberg. I am so fortunate that Brian Calhoon, a dear friend and amazing musician, jumped into this project with me. We completed these arrangements together and I could not have done this without him. All of the metallic timbres reminded us of a music box, which is where the title of the project comes from. The process really opened up our imaginations. We constantly were searching for new sounds or new sticks to use, imagining things like, “Oh, maybe here the music box is broken…” or, ‘perhaps this movement is a dream about a music box…”
We hope that this unique version of this iconic masterpiece will open your imaginations as well.
Brian Calhoon playing the vibraphone
Tuned Glass Bottles, alto glockenspiel, child handbells, tongue drums
Hammered Dulcimer
Bach's Music Box set-up at St. Noel
Bach's Music Box Set-up at Byron Colby Barn
Katalin playing tuned glass bottles
Thatcher Hall in Cape Cod, photo taken by Paul Blackmore
Thatcher Hall in Cape Cod, photo taken by Paul Blackmore
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Brian Calhoon (b. 1984, he/him) is a multi-faceted percussionist, singer, and innkeeper based in Provincetown, MA. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Brian specializes in music for the marimba and his voice and can be heard performing show tunes and pop covers in a show he created called the Marimba Cabaret.
As a freelance percussionist, Brian has premiered nearly 100 works by living composers as a member of the Boston Percussion Group, Equilibrium Ensemble, and Juventas New Music Ensemble. Brian was previously Director of Admissions for The Boston Conservatory and is now an independent admissions consultant. He holds degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and The Boston Conservatory, and is a Marimba One artist.
Since 2020, Brian and his husband Tom have owned and operated the Brasswood Inn in Cape Cod where they enjoy hosting guests and producing concerts on the inn’s prominent front porch.
Learn more at www.briancalhoon.com.
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Coming from a family of scientists, percussionist Katalin La Favre (b. 1988, she/her) is the first member of her family to pursue a musical career. Though she began her musical studies as a harpist, she decided to become a percussionist and obtained a bachelor's degree in classical percussion from the Colburn School in Los Angeles. In 2012 she was awarded a Fulbright Grant to study with contemporary percussionist Jean Geoffroy at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Lyon, France where she received a master's degree and artist diploma. She also received a degree in instrumental pedagogy from the CEFEDEM Auvergne Rhone-Alpes in 2018.
Katalin remained in France for 9 years, where she became interested in interdisciplinary and non-traditional projects, working in collaboration for several innovative programs which have been performed in France, Germany, Scotland and Portugal. These programs have been vastly diverse, ranging from L’ombre des vagues (a program inspired by Virginia Woolf, combining contemporary music, contemporary dance, and poetry) to Zeee Match (a humoristic street theatre and music performance).
Our Story
We met while we were students at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music back in 2006. Brian was a senior and Katy was a brand new freshman. Our teacher, Jack Van Geem, assigned us a chamber music project together; a marimba duet which we worked on for a masterclass and a concert at the end of the semester. Though we only shared a year together in school, this experience made way for a lifelong friendship and musical connection. This new project, BACH’S MUSIC BOX, is the first project we have collaborated on in 17 years, and we are so thankful to have this precious time to work together.
