Ingmar Bergman often set his films, such as his 1957 drama *Wild Strawberries,* starring Bibi Andersson, to Bach’s music. We suggest setting your New Year’s Eve to it, too, with the annual WKCR Bach Festival.

From Bach to Bergman and Back Again

The turn of the year is an ambiguous occasion. Underlying all the celebrations and resolutions is the stark acknowledgment that we now have 365 fewer days to live on this planet than we did the last time we were here. The Latin maxim Carpe diem still motivates us, but in continuing to do our best to “seize the day,” it also seems increasingly important to use those days wisely and tenderly—and to be grateful.

This New Year’s Eve, you might want to check out an extraordinary musical gift that is free to anybody in the world with a computer, a speaker, and access to Wi-Fi. The annual WKCR Bach Festival, which started on December 24 and continues to the last minute of 2022, is presented by Columbia University students and alumni. More than 100 hours of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach play continuously and without commercial interruption over eight days.