Composer, musician
(1685-1750)

Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 21, 1685 in Eisenach, Germany.  He was the youngest son of Johann Ambrosius, who played the trumpet for the Duke of Eisenach.  When Johann was nine years old his mother died and only nine months later he lost his father.  At that time he moved in with his older brother, Johann Christopher Bach.  When he was in his twenties, Bach was offered a position as one of the chamber musicians for the Duke of Weimar where he played the organ and did a lot of writing.  He quickly became known as one of the greatest organists in Germany and eventually was offered the post of Kapellmeister, which is the highest rank that one could attain during the baroque age.  During this time he wrote many of his pieces and did quite a bit of traveling with the court of Anhalt-Cothen.  In 1723, Bach moved to Leipzing, where he stayed for the remainder of his life.  Some of JS Bach’s most notable works include the Mass in B Minor, the Art of Fugue, the Brandenburg concerti and more than 200 cantatas.

Information from Baroque Composers and Musicians and Wikipedia