Bach Collegium Japan announces the lineup for the 2025-2026 season!
The Bach Collegium Japan is pleased to announce the lineup for the 2025-2026 season!
In addition to the six subscription concerts, the 2024-2025 season will mark the 300th anniversary of Bach’s choral cantatas with the “The 300th Anniversary Project of Choral Cantatas”.
New members will be accepted from November 3 (Fri).
Details will be announced at a later date.
For the 2025-2026 season, Suntory Hall will be added as a new venue for the subscription concerts, with a schedule that includes three performances each at Tokyo Opera City and Suntory Hall. As in previous years, the season will begin with the St. Matthew Passion during Lent, followed by the Mass in B Minor, which drew a full house in 2024. Additionally, a new series titled “The Path to Beethoven” will commence, looking ahead to the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s passing in 2027. The 300-Year Chorale Cantata Project will also reach its grand finale, bringing us even closer to the essence of Bach’s music.
As for current members of our Regular, Society, and Friends programs for the 2024-2025 season, we will send out renewal information in early November. New memberships will open on Saturday, November 23. Further details will be announced later.
◆About the subscription concerts
“During the Holy Week in Japan, the St. Matthew Passion must resound.”
The 2025-26 season will be the 35th season since Music Director Masaaki Suzuki founded the Bach Collegium Japan (BCJ) with this mission in mind. This year, we welcome rising tenor star Shimon Yoshida as the Evangelist and sought-after baritone Jochen Kupfer as Jesus. Additionally, the alto solo will be sung by Marianne Beate Kielland, marking the return of a female singer to the alto role.
This season also marks the 25th anniversary of the BCJ’s first performance of the Mass in B Minor. Under the baton of Principal Conductor Masato Suzuki, we welcome you to Suntory Hall, where it was first performed in 2000. In a time of unrest, the concluding “Dona nobis pacem” resonates with an indescribable richness.
In October, as part of “The 300th Anniversary of Bach’s Chorale Cantata” Project’s 8th performance, we will feature four splendid chorale cantatas composed in 1724. With her remarkable voice, Kristen Witmer will return to the BCJ stage.
As a prelude to the Advent season, we welcome you with the ChristmasOratorio in November. Originally performed over six days from Christmas through the New Year and Epiphany, this concert will present all six parts in one day. Take a moment to imagine what Christmas was like in Bach’s time and enjoy this extraordinary experience.
In January 2026, as we approach the 200th anniversary of his death in 2027, we launch the “Path to Beethoven” series, tracing the great composer’s journey. For this groundbreaking first concert, we present Beethoven’s early masterpieces, Symphony No. 1 and No. 2, along with a sinfonia by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, who greatly influenced Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven himself. Masato Suzuki and the Bach Collegium Japan will portray the dynamic transition from the Baroque to the Classical era over the next three seasons.
In March 2026, we will conclude the project “The 300th Anniversary of Bach’s Chorale Cantata,” a profound two-year endeavour led by Masaaki Suzuki. For this final performance, we welcome countertenor Tim Mead, who starred to great acclaim in the BCJ’s opera series “Giulio Cesare”in 2023, as one of the soloists to crown this grand finale of the pilgrimage to the 40 chorale cantatas.
We welcome you to Tokyo Opera City and Suntory Hall for the 2025-26 season. Join us as the Bach Collegium Japan embarks on this new season, traversing history from Bach to Beethoven with boundless passion!
◆About The 300th Anniversary Project of Choral Cantatas
Bach moved to Leipzig in 1723, and from May of the following year, 1724, to the end of March of the following year, he composed exactly 40 special cantatas called “choral cantata”. Choral are hymns sung by the congregation in chorus, and although church cantatas are more or less related to choral, the cantatas of this year are called by this name because they had a special structure. In fact, 40 choral cantatas were written in 1724 because that year fell exactly 200 years after 1524, when the religious reformer Martin Luther, in collaboration with many musicians, published several hymnals for the congregation to sing, It was recognized as the “year of the establishment of hymns. So this must have been a celebration of the bicentennial of the establishment of the hymnal. Now, 300 years later, in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of Luther’s hymnody and the 300th anniversary of Bach’s choral cantatas, we, the Bach Collegium Japan, would like to perform 40 choral cantatas during the two years from 2024 to 2025.
──Music Director Masaaki Suzuki
Notice of Program Change
Please note that there will be a change in the program for the following performances:
[Updated Program]
“Chorale Cantatas 300 Years VII” – September 6, 2025 (Sat) in Chofu and September 7, 2025 (Sun) in Kobe ♪ Cantata No. 5 “Wo soll ich fliehen hin“ BWV 5 ♪ Cantata No. 8 “Liebster Gott, wann werd’ ich sterben“ BWV 8 ♪ Cantata No. 91 “Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ” BWV 91 ♪ Cantata No. 130 “Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir“ BWV 130
“Chorale Cantatas 300 Years VIII” – October 18, 2025 (Sat) in Kobe and October 19, 2025 (Sun) at Tokyo Opera City ♪ Cantata No. 26 “Ach wie flüchtig, ach wie nichtig“ BWV 26 ♪ Cantata No. 121 “Christum wir sollen loben schon“ BWV 121 ♪ Cantata No. 139 “Wohl dem, der sich auf seinen Gott“ BWV 139 ♪ Cantata No. 180 “Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele” BWV 180
今シーズンはバッハ・コレギウム・ジャパンが初めて《ロ短調ミサ》を演奏してから25年の節目でもあります。首席指揮者・鈴木優人の指揮で、初めて演奏した地であるサントリーホール 大ホールにて皆様をお迎えします。世界中で騒乱が止まない今の時代に聴く、終曲の「われらに平和を与えたまえ （Dona nobis pacem）」はどんな言葉でも表せない豊かさをもって響きます。
Masaaki Suzuki was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette
Masaaki Suzuki, the music director of the Bach Collegium Japan, was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, in the Spring Honors of Reiwa 6. The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, is presented to individuals who have made particularly distinguished contributions in the fields of arts and culture.
Bach Collegium Japan has been invited to overseas halls and music festivals numerous times in the past. The first invitation to the BBC Proms was in 2007. Following the European Grand Tour in November 2022, which visited a total of nine cities, the ensemble was invited to the Leipzig Bach Festival last year, where they adorned the prestigious finale performance. As we welcome 2024, the ensemble will tour seven cities, including the London BBC Proms. Please look forward to the new journey of Bach Collegium Japan.
<Program> PROGRAM A J. S. Bach St. John Passion BWV 245(FOURTH Edition)
PROGRAM B: Cantatas J. S. Bach Cantata No. 20 “O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort” BWV 20 Cantata No. 94 “Was frag ich nach der Welt” BWV 94 Cantata No. 93 “Wer nur den lieben Goe läßt walten” BWV 93 Cantata No. 78 “Jesu, der du meine Seele” BWV 78
BREMEN Program J.S. Bach Cantata No. 20 “O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort” BWV 20 Cantata No. 78 “Jesu, der du meine Seele” BWV 78
<Schedule (7 cities, 4 countries)> 10th Aug (SAT) (A) Festival Internacional de Santander (Santander, Spain)
“Masaaki Suzuki Organ Recital” (Mar 1, 2024) at Yokohama has been cancelled
Announcement
We regret to inform you that “Masaaki Suzuki Organ Recital” scheduled on Friday, March 1, 2024 at Yokohama Minato Mirai Hall has been cancelled.
Masaaki Suzuki has been recovering from illness and injury sustained at the end of last year. He has recovered from his illness but has been advised by doctors that his injured left shoulder will require further treatment and to refrain from playing keyboard instruments until full recovery.
Due to this reason, we have discussed with the presenter and have come to this decision and we are very sorry for your inconveniences. Please find further details on the website of Yokohama Minato Mirai Hall. Details: Yokohama Minato Mirai Hall
Please note that the following concerts are set to take place as scheduled:
Jan. 19 (Fri) Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem | Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall Feb. 3 (Sat) St. John Passion | Kobe Shoin Women’s University Chapel Feb. 4 (Sun) St. John Passion | Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall
