Bach Collegium Japan (Choral & Instrumental Ensemble)

Founded: 1990 - Tokyo and Kobe, Japan

The Bach Collegium Japan (= BCJ) was founded in 1990 by Masaaki Suzuki, who remains its music director, with the aim of introducing Japanese audiences to great works of the baroque era on period instruments. As the name of the ensemble indicates, its main focus has been the works of J.S. Bach and those composers of German Protestant music who preceded and influenced him, such as Dietrich Buxtehude, Heinrich Schütz, Johann Hermann Schein and Georg Böhm.

The BCJ comprises both baroque orchestra and chorus, and its major activities include an annual four-concert series of Bach’s cantatas and a number of instrumental programmes. In addition, the BCJ presents major works such as J.S. Bach’s Passions, George Frideric Handel’s Messiah and Monteverdi’s Vespers, and smaller programmes for soloists or small vocal ensembles. The BCJ is based in Tokyo and Kobe but performs throughout Japan, and for many of the its projects it has been placed to welcome European artists such as Max von Egmond, Nancy Argenta, Christoph Prégardien, Peter Kooy, Monika Frimmer, Michael Chance, Kai Wessel, Gerd Türk, Michael Schopper and Concerto Palatino.

More Photos

Source: Liner notes to BIS CD CD-751 (Cantatas BWV 4, BWV 150 BWV 196, conducted by Suzuki, 1998)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (April 2001)

Masaaki Suzuki: Short Biography | Bach Collegium Japan
Recordings of Vocal Works: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Recordings of Instrumental Works
General Discussions: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
Cantatas: Suzuki - Vol. 2 | Suzuki - Vol. 5 | Suzuki - Vol. 8 | Suzuki - Vol. 9 | Suzuki - Vol. 10 | Suzuki - Vol. 11 | Suzuki - Vol. 12 | Suzuki - Vol. 13 | Suzuki - Vol. 14 | Suzuki - Vol. 15 | Suzuki - Vol. 16 | Suzuki - Vol. 17 | Suzuki - Vol. 18 | Suzuki - Vol. 19 | Suzuki - Vol. 20 | Suzuki - Vol. 21 | Suzuki - Vol. 22 | Suzuki - Vol. 23 | Suzuki - Vol. 24 | Suzuki - Vol. 25 | Suzuki - Vol. 26 | Suzuki - Vol.. 27 | Suzuki - Vol. 28 | Suzuki - Vol. 29 | Suzuki - Vol. 30 | Suzuki - Vol. 31 | Suzuki - Vol. 38 | Suzuki - Vol. 43 | Suzuki Secular - Vol. 1
Other Vocal Works: BWV 232 - M. Suzuki | BWV 243 - M. Suzuki | BWV 244 - M. Suzuki | BWV 245 - M. Suzuki | BWV 248 - M. Suzuki
Reviews of Instrumental Recordings: Bach’s Clavier-Ubung III from Masaaki Suzuki | Bach Harpsichord Discs from Hill and Suzuki | Bach’s French Suites from Suzuki | Review: Partitas by Suzuki [McElhearn] | Suzuki’s Partitas [Henderson] | Suzuki’s Goldberg Variations
Discussions of Instrumental Recordings: Partitas BWV 825-830 - played by M. Suzuki
Table of recordings by BWV Number

Links to other Sites

Bach Collegium Japan (Official Homepage)
Viva! Bach Collegium Japan

24 Hours Bach - Bach Collegium Japan