Bach Festivals & Cantata Series
St Johns Southgate: Bach Cantata Service

Name:

Bach Cantata Services

Location:

Melbourne, Australia

Venues:

St Johns Southgate - 20 City Road, Southbank

Years:

Since November 1997

Months:

February-November, although there are occasionally December and January events

Artistic Director:

Dr. Graham Lieschke

Ensembles:

St Johns Bach Choir
St Johns Bach Orchestra (Baroque instrument orchestra)
Occasionally/also:
VCA Bach Orchestra (1998-2009)
La Compañia
Australian Chamber Choir
Early Music Studio Baroque Ensemble and Early Voices (Faculty of the VCA and Music, University of Melbourne)
The Choir of Trinity College
The Consort of Melbourne

Website:

St Johns Southgate: Bach Cantata Service

History & Mission:

The series is coordinated by the Director of Music, Dr. Graham Lieschke. The cantatas are presented in regular worship services at St Johns, mostly Sunday morning Eucharists. The services include traditional Lutheran liturgy, congregational chorales, and organ music on the 1992 Smenge pipe organ. Approximately 8-10 J.S. Bach Cantata Services are presented per year. Presentations often involve visiting guest artists and collaborations with local groups.
As of December 2019, there have been 197 events which have encompassed the liturgical presentation of almost 130 different cantatas and also J.S. Bach's Motets, B Minor Mass (BWV 232), Magnificat (BWV 243), several small Latin masses, St Matthew Passion (BWV 244), Christmas (BWV 248), Easter (BWV 249) and Ascension (BWV 11) Oratorios, and some repeated works. An objective is eventually to have presented the entire J.S. Bach choral repertoire within a Lutheran liturgical context.
In support of the J.S. Bach program, St Johns runs several other projects. Visiting Music Directors have been: 2000 - Thomas Schmidt, New York, USA; 2006 - Thomaskantor Georg Christoph Biller, Leipzig, Germany; 2010 and 2018 - Albrecht Koch, Freiberg, Germany; 2013 - Rick Erickson, New York, USA; 2019 - Daniel Beilschmidt, Leipzig, Germany. An occasional Organ Scholar and/or Bach Scholar Program has been run. St Johns' collection of period instruments includes a 1996 Smenge chamber organ, a pair of oboes da caccia (Sand Dalton, USA), a set of 3 3 baroque timpani (Lefima, Germany), a pair of cornetti, a concert double harpsichord (McAllister, Melbourne), and a soprano recorder in d. The St Johns Southgate Bach Foundation Inc. was formed in 2011 to enhance opportunities for donors to directly support the program.

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