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P.D.Q. Bach creator on making classical music accessible

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Schickele
As a teenager, Peter Schickele played bassoon in the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony.
Photo courtesy of Peter Schickele

If you think classical music is stuffy or overly serious, meet Peter Schickele.

He's a musicologist and comedian who, in his days at The Juillard School of Music, created the fictional character of P.D.Q. Bach. Schickele himself pretends to be the professor who discovered P.D.Q. Bach... the 21st child of J.S. Bach and a musical genius.

That may sound a bit crazy, but Schickele for years hosted a popular public radio program about this. His work has been commissioned by major orchestras, he's composed pieces for feature films and he performed his music all over the country. His sometimes-ridiculous music pokes fun at classical music, makes it accessible and celebrates it all at once.

Schickele is in Minnesota this week to celebrate his 80th birthday and the 50th anniversary of the creation of P.D.Q. Bach. On Friday night, VocalEssence and the University of Minnesota Wind Ensemble will perform some of his work.