Mendelssohn wrote the The Uncle From Boston at age 14; it was seen only in a private performance for his family. Helmuth Rilling, the artistic director of the Bach Festival, discovered the score in a Berlin library and led its world premiere in Essen, Germany, in October.

Rilling commissioned La Pasi‹n Seg‹n San Marcos, a reimagining of St. Mark's Passion, from Golijov in 2000 to mark the 250th anniversary of Bach's death. The piece was received rapturously at its premiere in Stuttgart and at subsequent performances in the United States.