How they spent their summer vacations; Classical music critics visit different regions of the nation and discovery harmony. Oregon Bach Festival: Over the top in Eugene.(ARTS & TRAVEL)(Review)

Byline: RICHARD STORM CORRESPONDENT

EUGENE, Ore. -- Coming to the Oregon Bach Festival as I did, fresh from the Sarasota Music Festival, proved to be an exercise in sensory and intellectual overload.

But once the idea of a lazy vacation with some music was eradicated from my mind, the headlong pace was welcome and stimulating.

Seen and heard all over the leafy, collegiate town of Eugene, the festival has been running for 35 years, during which it has grown from a few organ and choral concerts to a comprehensive education and performance event. It ran from June 25 to July 11 this year. Some 50 events are spread over that time, not including the hundreds of rehearsals, discussions and master classes that make the rich performance schedule possible.

The logistics of the schedule are impressive, including management of two paid 50-voice choruses, one of them from Germany, plus a full orchestra, soloists, master class conductors, the 87-member Youth Choral Academy scholarship chorus and a team of guest commentators and lecturers, this year including Robert Levin and Allen Vogel, both familiar to Sarasota festival audiences.

Leading this army is …