Johann Sebastian Bach stands a good chance of being ranked No. 1 In any poll of the world’s greatest composers. Along with sheer quantity, there is also depth, complexity and astonishing quality. Bach’s enormous output included orchestral, chamber, choral, keyboard and solo compositions. Dance forms and motifs, allemande, courante, the beautiful sarabandes and the lighthearted gigues, pepper his total output, especially the suites.

New to the Durango Bach Festival, now in its 17th year, will be a unique collaboration between festival musicians and Durango’s resident dance company, 20MOONS.

If you go

WHAT: 17th annual Durango Bach Festival, featuring San Juan Symphony musicians, 20MOONS Dance Theater, in a series of concerts, performances and the Bach’s Lunch.

WHEN: Sunday through March 9.

WHERE: St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 910 East Third Ave.; Summit Church, 2917 Aspen Drive; and Stillwater Music, 1316 Main Ave., Suite.

TICKETS: All festival passes available. Individual event tickets vary. Bach’s Lunch: $24 includes lunch/$14 concert only.

MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.sanjuansymphony.org or call 382-9753; visit www.durangoconcerts.com or call 247-7657.

“Facets. A life reflected” is the title of the festival’s opening night performance Saturday. A multilayered evening of dance inventively choreographed to the music of Bach will unfold. Company dancers have been collaborating on the project with musicians from the San Juan Symphony since the idea hatched after last year’s festival.

“We start dreaming of our next project as our current one comes to fruition,” said Anne Bartlett. Bartlett and Jessica Perino are co-artistic directors of 20MOONS. “Jessica and I had a vision and asked each other, ‘What if we do a show based on Bach and see if we could collaborate with the festival?’”

The two consulted with colleague Mika Inouye, the most multifaceted creative in Durango. Inouye is a musician, dancer, actor and teacher who is well known in the Four Corners.

“Mika’s been involved with the Bach Festival as an organizer and musician for many years, and she jumped on board with our vision,” Bartlett said.

Soon after last spring’s 16th Bach Festival ended, it shifted patronage from Third Avenue Arts to the San Juan Symphony as part of the new initiative of enhanced chamber music concerts known as Beyond the Concert Hall.

“Mika introduced us to Thomas Heuser (artistic director and conductor of the Symphony), and he expressed interest in our idea right away,” she said.

Last summer, Bartlett said, she, Perino, Heuser and then Executive Director of the Symphony Chandra Stubbs met “to iron out the logistical aspects of a collaboration.” A short time later, Stillwater Music Executive Director Jeroen van Tyn consulted with Heuser to flesh out the musical program and line up musicians.

“We came up with the format for an opening performance interweaving live music and dance theater,” Bartlett said. “Last fall, we started rehearsing, and here we are.”

Saturday evening formally launches the Durango Bach Festival at Stillwater’s performance space named The Light Box. Audience members will be seated on three sides of the space. Musicians and dancers will perform in various configuration, providing multiple perspectives for the audience. The dance-concert will include 13 Bach selections performed by different constellations of musicians and dancers and will unfold seamlessly without intermission.

“Transitions will be built in to create an overall arc or story line,” Bartlett said. “Each piece encapsulates a facet of human experience. The overall feel is of a memoir or a story of a human life through all the transformative events that happen along the way.”

While the premiere of “Facets” formally opens the Bach Festival, 20MOONS organizers have wisely scheduled more performances after the festival concludes. On March 10, 15, 16 and 17, the company and musicians will convene again to offer this unusual collaboration. As of this writing, opening night is sold out, but check for available tickets. Performing musicians include van Tyn as violinist and vocalist; percussionists Mark Rosenberg and Mike Wingo; flutist Rochelle Mann; violinist Lauren Avery; and pianist Mika Inouye, among others.

All the remaining performances, the Bach’s Lunch recitals and the finale which closes the festival, will be offered in St. Mark’s Episcopal Church.

Since 2008, Durango’s Bach Festival has settled into a comfortable format. The weeklong celebration of Bach’s music includes student showcases, noontime mini recitals followed by a Bach’s Lunch, and a formal evening concert to wrap up the week.

Bach festivals blossom every spring all over the world. The goal is to coincide, more or less, with the composer’s birthday. It’s generally accepted to be March 21, 1685. But, in actuality, the birth date is fluid. Two dates have general agreement; they bracket the spring equinox. Old Style dating lists his birth as March 21. New Style shifts the date forward to March 31. Durango’s Bach Festival has been equally fluid when it comes to scheduling – more or less in March.

Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.