The 2026–27 Season will feature six subscription concerts held at Suntory Hall and Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall.

Highlights include Bach’s immortal works such as the St. Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor, alongside repertoire that reflects the dramatic transformations of the 18th and 19th centuries.

April – St. Matthew Passion
An essential part of every Lenten season, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion returns to Suntory Hall for the first time since 2021. Back then, pandemic restrictions limited audience numbers; now, the work resounds in its full glory. Under the direction of Masato Suzuki and with a fresh lineup of soloists, this performance promises a deepened and more mature interpretation.

🎵172nd Subscription Concert – Passion Concert 2026
🎶 J. S. Bach: St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244
🗓️April 3, 2026 (Good Friday) 18:30
🗓️April 4, 2026 (Holy Saturday) 14:00
📍Suntory Hall, Grand Hall
🔗https://bachcollegiumjapan.org/en/schedule/tokyo172-1-en/
🔗https://bachcollegiumjapan.org/en/schedule/tokyo172-2-en/

🎼Performers:
Conductor: Masato Suzuki
Evangelist: Makoto Sakurada
Sopranos: Aki Matsui, Aiko Sakurai
Altos: Terry Wey, Noriyuki Kubo
Tenor: Takayuki Kagami
Basses: Christoph Filler, Dominik Wörner
Choir & Orchestra: Bach Collegium Japan

July – Mass in B minor
In summer, we present Bach’s late monumental work, the Mass in B minor. Since first performing it in 2000, BCJ has made the piece one of its signature works, earning acclaim for performances around the world over the past quarter century. Under the direction of Masaaki Suzuki, this universal prayer for peace is brought to life through the resonance of period instruments and the choir’s luminous clarity.

🎵173rd Subscription Concert – Mass in B minor
🎶J. S. Bach: Mass in B minor, BWV 232
🗓️July 19, 2026 (Sun) 15:00
📍Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall: Takemitsu Memorial
🔗https://bachcollegiumjapan.org/en/schedule/bwv232-072026-en/

🎼Performers:
Conductor: Masaaki Suzuki
Sopranos: Aki Matsui, Miku Yasukawa
Alto: Alexander Chance
Tenor: Makoto Sakurada
Bass: Timothy Edlin
Choir & Orchestra: Bach Collegium Japan

September – “Eroica” & Requiem | The Path to Beethoven, Vol. 2
Part two of our series leading up to Beethoven’s bicentennial pairs his middle-period masterpiece, the Symphony No. 3 “Eroica,” with Cherubini’s Requiem in C minor—a work admired by contemporaries and later generations alike. Beethoven himself declared, “If I were to write a Requiem, I would take Cherubini’s as my sole model.” This program captures the turbulence of post-revolutionary Europe through the lens of its leading composers.

🎵174th Subscription Concert – “Eroica” & Requiem
🎶L. v. Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major “Eroica,” Op. 55
🎶L. Cherubini: Requiem in C minor
🗓️September 27, 2026 (Sun) 15:00
📍Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall: Takemitsu Memorial
🔗https://bachcollegiumjapan.org/en/schedule/subsc174-092026-en/

🎼Performers:
Conductor: Masato Suzuki
Orchestra & Choir: Bach Collegium Japan

October – Seven Last Words on the Cross I: Tracing the Lineage of Lutheran Music
A new series begins with Heinrich Schütz’s Seven Last Words on the Cross. Simple yet profound, it represents the depth of pre-Bach Lutheran spirituality. Alongside Bach’s Cantatas (BWV 4, BWV 79) and a jewel of North German organ music by Bruhns, this program traces the origins of Protestant sacred music.

🎵175th Subscription Concert – Church Cantata Series, vol. 95
🎶H. Schütz:
Die sieben Worte Jesu Christi am Kreuz, SWV 478
🎶N. Bruhns:
Präludium in e*
Kantate: “Hemmt eure Tränenflut”
🎶J. S. Bach:
Kirchenkantate Nr. 4: “Christ lag in Todes Banden” BWV 4
Kirchenkantate Nr. 79: “Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild” BWV 79
🗓️October 31, 2026 (Sat, Reformation Day) 15:00
📍Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall: Takemitsu Memorial
🔗https://bachcollegiumjapan.org/en/schedule/subsc175-102026-en/

🎼Performers:
Conductor: Masaaki Suzuki
Soprano: Aki Matsui
Alto: Hiroya Aoki
Tenors: Makoto Sakurada, Shimon Yoshida
Bass: Toru Kaku
Organ solo*: Masato Suzuki
Choir & Orchestra: Bach Collegium Japan

December – Magnificat ~Canticle of Mary~
Instead of the usual D-major version, this season features the earlier E-flat major version of Bach’s Magnificat (BWV 243a), written for Christmas Vespers. Including four Christmas interpolations, this festive original version has a different brilliance from the later revision. Together with Cantatas 130 and 182, it evokes the soundscape of a Bach family Christmas.

🎵176th Subscription Concert – Church Cantata Series, vol. 96
🎶J. S. Bach
Fuga super “Meine Seele erhebt den Herren” BWV 733*
Magnificat in E-flat major BWV 243.1
(with four Christmas interpolations)
Kirchenkantate Nr. 130, “Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir” BWV 130.2
Kirchenkantate Nr. 182, “Himmelskönig, sei willkommen” BWV 182 (Leipzig version)
🗓️ December 5, 2026 (Sat) 15:00
📍Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall: Takemitsu Memorial
🔗https://bachcollegiumjapan.org/en/schedule/subsc176-122026-en/

🎼Performers:
Conductor: Masaaki Suzuki
Sopranos: Sherezade Panthaki, Aki Matsui
Alto: Alexander Chance
Tenor: Makoto Sakurada
Bass: Toru Kaku
Organ solo*: Masato Suzuki
Choir & Orchestra: Bach Collegium Japan

February 2027 – Seven Last Words on the Cross II | The Path to Beethoven, Vol. 3
The second program in our Seven Last Words on the Cross series features Haydn’s The Seven Last Words of Christ, a monumental work of the 18th century. In its oratorio version, rich with dramatic expression and structural beauty, the piece offers a vivid contrast to the serene, meditative world of Schütz. Paired with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4, the program invites listeners to experience how Passion music, carried from the Baroque into the Classical era, deepened and assumed a universal character.

🎵177th Subscription Concert – Seven Last Words on the Cross II
🎶L. v. Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 in B-flat major, Op. 60
🎶J. Haydn: Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze, Hob. XX:2
🗓️February 21, 2027 (Sun) 15:00
📍Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall: Takemitsu Memorial
🔗https://bachcollegiumjapan.org/en/schedule/subsc177-022027-en/

🎼Performers:
Conductor: Masato Suzuki
Soprano: Miku Yasukawa
Alto: Olivia Vermeulen
Tenor: Makoto Sakurada
Bass: Toru Kaku
Choir & Orchestra: Bach Collegium Japan

The 2026–27 season centers on Bach’s indispensable St. Matthew Passion and his late masterpiece, the Mass in B minor, while exploring the turbulence of revolutionary times through Cherubini and Beethoven, and highlighting the tradition of Passion music from Schütz to Haydn in the Seven Last Words on the Cross series. From Bach to Beethoven—from the spirit of the German Lutheran tradition to the currents of the Classical and Romantic eras—this season traces a rich, multifaceted lineage of music across generations. As BCJ celebrates its 36th anniversary, audiences can once again enjoy the ensemble’s refined sound.

2026–2027 Season Subscription Tickets – Coming Soon!
New subscription tickets will go on sale starting Saturday, November 1, 2025 🌟
You can purchase tickets online once sales open♪
💻https://teket.jp/ssn/15
*Please note that this page is in Japanese only.

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 Christmas Oratorio 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

Thank you for your understanding.