About us
our mission
Celebrating Bach. Inspiring Community.
Viva Bach Peterborough is dedicated to bringing the timeless music of Johann Sebastian Bach to the Monadnock Region and beyond. Each October, our three-day festival features world-class artists alongside local voices, offering audiences intimate, unforgettable performances.
Our mission is simple:
Celebrate the genius of Bach through exceptional live concerts.
Connect audiences of all ages with classical music in approachable, inspiring settings.
Engage our community — from professional musicians to local chorus members and first-time concertgoers.
Strengthen Peterborough’s reputation as a cultural destination in New England.
Our Story
Founded in 2022, Viva Bach Peterborough grew from a love of Bach’s music and a vision of creating an annual festival in the heart of New Hampshire. Inspired by the success of other Bach festivals worldwide — and by Peterborough’s long tradition of supporting the arts — our founders sought to make Bach’s music accessible, joyful, and community-driven. From the very first concerts, the festival has brought together audiences, donors, and singers eager to celebrate one of the world’s greatest composers in a setting both world-class and intimate.
Our Artistic Director, Veronika Schreiber, first dreamed up the idea while living in Portugal, where she created a successful Viva Bach festival in 2019. When the pandemic cut short its second season, she eventually returned to New England and reconnected with the musical community. After a concert with the Monadnock Chorus, she shared her experience in Portugal with Cathy Lanigan, who immediately said: “Why don’t we do it here, in Peterborough?”
Together, Veronika and Cathy spent three whirlwind months planning the first festival. With critical support from the Elzbieta and David Grove Foundation, Viva Bach Peterborough launched in October of 2022.
Now in its fourth year, Viva Bach Peterborough is a nonprofit with a dedicated board, generous donors, and an ever-widening circle of supporters — all united by the belief that Bach’s music has the power to inspire, connect, and endure.
Veronika Schreiber
Artistic Director & Founder
Hailed as a “great artist” by Henryk Szeryng, a “dazzling violinist” by High Fidelity Magazine, “an authentic revelation” by Rafael Nebot, and praised for “delicate and perceptive warmth of expression” by Strad Magazine, Veronika Schreiber Kadlubkiewicz is active as a violinist, educator and artistic director.
As a soloist, she has appeared with orchestras in Italy, Poland, Spain, and the U.S., and at festivals including Marlboro, Bach Aria, Monadnock Music, Estate di Radicondoli (Italy), Festival Périgord and FestiVal d’Arly (France), Musica Electronica Nova, and Warsaw Autumn (Poland).
Formerly concertmaster of the Polish Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, and the New Hampshire Symphony, she has also played with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and was a founding member of the New England Camerata.
A sought-after interpreter of contemporary music, she has collaborated with Witold Lutosławski, Morton Feldman, Samuel Adler, Salvatore Macchia, and Louis Spratlan, premiering and recording numerous works dedicated to her.
She has taught violin and chamber music at Smith College, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Amherst College, and has led masterclasses in France, Portugal, Duke University, and the College of Charleston.
Deeply committed to music education for children, she directs the Grove Foundation Summer Music Program at the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester.
Passionate about the music of J.S. Bach, she was Artistic Director of the Viva Bach Festival in Alcácer do Sal (Portugal) in 2019 and, since 2022, has served as Founder and Artistic Director of Viva Bach Peterborough in New Hampshire.
With the support of Irene and Rudolf Serkin, she came to the U.S. in 1983 as a political refugee and later became an American citizen. Fluent in Polish, English, French, Italian, and Portuguese, she connects with audiences across cultures, embodying music’s power to transcend boundaries.
Veronika performs on a violin made in Lisbon in 2016 by Christian Bayon.
Our Partners
We are grateful to the Elzbieta & David Grove Private Foundation, Waterhouse Restaurant, the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, Monadnock Chorus, the Putnam Foundation, and Monadnock Arts Alive for their ongoing support of Viva Bach Peterborough.
