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92NY Presents Bach Collegium Japan & Roderick Williams, Baritone, February 12

The Baroque ensemble Bach Collegium Japan and their founder and music director Masaaki Suzuki bring their celebrated artistry to 92NY for the first time.

By: Jan. 30, 2023
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92NY Presents Bach Collegium Japan & Roderick Williams, Baritone, February 12  Image

The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY), one of New York's leading cultural venues, presents Bach Collegium Japan & Roderick Williams, baritone, on February 12, 2023 at 3pm ET at the Kaufmann Concert Hall.

The concert will also be available for viewing online for 72 hours from time of broadcast. Tickets for both the in-person and livestream options start at $25 and are available at 92ny.org/event/bach-collegium-japan-and-roderick-williams.

The Baroque ensemble Bach Collegium Japan and their founder and music director Masaaki Suzuki bring their celebrated artistry to 92NY for the first time with a program of Bach and Telemann. Baritone and frequent collaborator of the ensemble Roderick Williams joins for two selections, including Bach's "Ich habe genug," BWV 82.

Bach Collegium Japan's motto is "Bach's music transmitted to the future." That they succeed in delivering this in performances on Baroque period instruments speaks to Suzuki's genius and vision, and the incomparably fresh artistry of this extraordinary ensemble.

Program:

Bach, Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor, BWV 1067

Janitsch, Sonata da Camera in G Minor, "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden"

Telemann, "Der am Ölberg zagende Jesu" TWV 367

Telemann, Paris Quartet No. 1 in D Major, TWV 43/D2

Bach, "Ich habe genug", BWV 82

About the Artists

Bach Collegium Japan was founded in 1990 by Masaaki Suzuki, its inspirational Music Director, with the aim of introducing Japanese audiences to period instrument performances of great works from the baroque period. Comprised of both baroque orchestra and chorus with soloists, their activities include an annual concert series of Bach's cantatas and a number of instrumental programs. The award -winning ensemble has begun to explore classical repertoire, releasing a recording of Mozart's Requiem in November 2014, which they followed up with their recent release of Mozart's Great Mass in C Minor. The recording won the Choral category in the 2017 Gramophone Awards.

They have acquired a formidable international reputation through their acclaimed recordings of the major choral works of Johann Sebastian Bach for the BIS label. Most recently, they celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2020 with a Gramophone Award in the Choral category for St Matthew Passion. 2014 saw the triumphant conclusion of their recorded cycle of the complete Church Cantatas, a huge undertaking comprising over fifty CDs initiated in 1995; this major achievement was recognized with a 2014 ECHO Klassick 'Editorial Achievement of the Year' award. Their recent recording of Bach Motets was honored with a German Record Critics' Award (Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik), Diapason d'Or de l'Année 2010 and also in 2011 with a BBC Music Magazine Award. BBC Music Magazine again recognized Masaaki Suzuki and Bach Collegium Japan, selecting their recording of Mozart's Great Mass in C minor as Recording of the Month in January 2017. The disc follows their first recording of Mozart - the Requiem - released in 2015, and builds on Suzuki's continuing wish to explore the tradition and line of Christian music.

Bach Collegium Japan and Masaaki Suzuki have shared their interpretations across the international music scene with performances in venues as far afield as Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, New York and Seoul, and at major festivals such as the BBC Proms, the Edinburgh International Festival, the Hong Kong Arts Festival, New Zealand International Arts Festival, Ghent's Festival of Flanders and Festival Cervantino in Mexico.

In 2010 the ensemble celebrated its 20th anniversary with a series of special concerts in Tokyo, and in 2013 they were invited to appear at New York's Lincoln Center where Masaaki Suzuki and the choir collaborated with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra to open its Bach Variations Festival. The 2013/14 season saw the ensemble debut in the Czech Republic at the Prague Spring Festival and in Mexico. A sold -out tour in Fall 2015 marked their fifth visit to North America. Last season saw Bach Collegium Japan returned to tour North American cities, including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, as well as a major European tour including a weekend residency at the Barbican Centre in London, re -invitations to Amsterdam's Concertgebouw and Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris, and debut appearances at Dublin's National Concert Hall and the Vienna Konzerthaus.

The 19 -20 season included a return to North America and Canada performing at Carnegie Hall, Montreal's Bach Festival, Armstrong Auditorium, and for early music presenters in Seattle and Vancouver. European highlights include appearances at the Leipzig Bachfest, Thüringer Bachwochen, Fribourg International Festival of Sacred Music, and Gewandhaus Leipzig, as well as re -invitations to Amsterdam's Concertgebouw and Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris.

Members of the Bach Collegium Japan Orchestra, with Masaaki Suzuki leading from the Harpsichord, look forward to reuniting with Baritone Roderick Williams for a tour in February 2023 in that includes returns to the Library of Congress in Washington DC, the Boston Early Music Festival, Toronto's Royal Conservatory, Kansas City Friends of Chamber Music and their debut with two performances at the Ordway Theatre for the Schubert Club in Saint Paul.

Roderick Williams is one of this country's most sought after baritones and is constantly in demand on the concert platform and in recital, encompassing a repertoire from the baroque to world premieres. In 2016 he won the Royal Philharmonic Society's Singer of the year award.

Opera engagements have included major roles at leading opera houses worldwide including the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, English National Opera, Dutch National Opera, Dallas Opera, Opera North, Scottish Opera, Florida Grand Opera, the Bregenz Festival and Oper Köln. He has been involved in many world premieres including, Lord Byron in the world premiere of Sally Beamish's Monster, Alexander Knaifel's Alice in Wonderland and Michel van der Aa's After Life, the title role in Robert Saxton's The Wandering Jew with the BBC Symphony , which has been released on NMC to considerable critical acclaim.

Among Roderick Williams' many performances of opera in concert are recent appearances with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in Tippett's The Knot Garden (Barbican) and Birtwistle's The Second Mrs Kong (Royal Festival Hall) and with the London Symphony Orchestra and Daniel Harding Billy Budd. He has also sung the role of Eddie in Mark-Anthony Turnage's Greek for the BBC. He has taken major roles in conductor Richard Hickox's semi-staged performances of opera, including Britten's Gloriana (Aldeburgh, 2003), Walton's Troilus and Cressida and most of the Vaughan Williams operas. Other concert performances include Henze, Strauss, Stravinsky and Wagner (Donner in Das Rheingold for ENO).

Roderick Williams has sung concert repertoire with all the BBC orchestras, and many other ensembles including the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Russian National Orchestra, Academy of Ancient Music, The Sixteen, Le Concert Spirituel, and Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. Recent successes include Britten's War Requiem and Pilgrim in Vaughan Williams's The Pilgrim's Progress (semi-staged) with the Philharmonia, Jesus in The Last Supper by Birtwistle with the London Sinfonietta in Milan and Turin, Elgar's Dream of Gerontius in Toulouse, a European tour of Handel's Messiah with RIAS Kammerchor, Tippett's The Vision of St Augustine with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales at the 2005 BBC Proms, Henze's Elegy for Young Lovers with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the world premiere of Birtwistle's The Ring Dance of the Nazarene with VARA Radio (repeated at the BBC Proms), performances of Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen at La Scala, concerts with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in San Francisco, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and a concert with Bach Collegium Japan at the Edinburgh Festival.

Recent and future operatic engagements include Oronte in Charpentier's Medée, Toby Kramer in Van der Aa's Sunken Garden and Sharpless / Madam Butterfly for English National Opera, the title role in Eugene Onegin for Garsington Opera, the title role in Billy Budd for Opera North, Van der Aa's After Life at Melbourne State Theatre and at Opera de Lyon, and Van de Aa's Upload for Netherlands Opera, the Bregenz Festival, Cologne Opera and at the Park Avenue Armory in New York, Captain Balstrode / Peter Grimes in a concert performance with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Papageno and Ulisse / Il ritorno di Ulisse in Patria for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Toby Kramer for Dallas Opera, a concert performance of Ned Keene/Peter Grimes with Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Van de Aa's Upload for Netherlands Opera, Oper Koln and the Bregenz Festival, and Christus / St John Passion in staged performances with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment both under Sir Simon Rattle.

Recent and future concert engagements include performances with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Hallé, Britten Sinfonia, City of London Sinfonia, King's College Cambridge, Goldsmiths Choral Union, Ex Cathedra, The Sixteen, The King's Consort, New London Consort, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Le Concert Spirituel, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Berlin Philharmonic, Rias Kammerchor, Orquesta Sinfonica de Euskadi, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Iceland Symphony, Danish National Radio Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Utah Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Music of the Baroque Chicago, Bayerische Rundfunk, Bach Collegium Japan, Cappella Amsterdam, New York Philharmonic, Britten War Requiem with the Maggio Musicale and Semyon Bychkov in Florence, the UK premiere of Sally Beamish's Judas Passion with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment as well as with Philharmonia Baroque. In 2014 Roderick was the featured soloist at the BBC Last Night of the Proms and returned in 2021 for a performance of the St Matthew Passion and the world premiere of Matthew Kaner's 'Pearl' in 2022.

He is an accomplished recital artist who can be heard regularly at venues and festivals including the Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, LSO St Luke's, the Perth Concert Hall, the Concertgebouw, Oxford Lieder Festival, London Song Festival, Howard Assembly Room, the Musikverein, Vienna and on Radio 3, where he has participated on Iain Burnside's Voices programme. Recent and future recitals include various performances at the Wigmore Hall including the three Schubert cycles, recitals for the BBC, the Concertgebouw and appearances at the Ludlow Song Festival, Oxford Lieder Festival, Three Choirs Festival, Edinburgh International Festival and at the Bath International Music Festival.

His numerous recordings include Vaughan Williams, Berkeley and Britten operas for Chandos, and an extensive repertoire of English song with pianist Iain Burnside for Naxos. He recently recorded the three Schubert Cycles for Chandos as well as recordings of Stanford and Somervell for Somm.

He is also a composer and has had works premiered at the Wigmore and Barbican Halls, the Purcell Room and live on national radio. Recent commissions include a major work, World without End, for the Rias Kammerchor and BBC Singers as well as a commission to celebrate the centenary of the RAF. He was Artistic Director of Leeds Lieder + in April 2016 and was Artist in Residence with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra between 2020-2022 as well as 'singer-in-residence' for Music in the Round in Sheffield, presenting concerts and leading on dynamic and innovative learning and participation projects that introduce amateur singers, young and old, to performing classical song repertoire. From 2022/23 season he takes the position of Composer in Association of the BBC Singers. He was awarded an OBE for services to music in June 2017.

2022/23 TISCH MUSIC SEASON

In this first season curated by 92NY's new Vice President of Tisch Music Amy Lam, the season features 39 events, more than 20 92NY debuts, 31 premieres, and four 92NY commissions. The 22/23 season includes premieres of Joseph Schwantner's guitar quintet Song of a Dreaming Sparrow, a song cycle by Anthony Cheung, and works by Laurie Anderson, Timo Andres, Marcos Balter, Christopher Cerrone, Nicholas DiBerardino, Reena Esmail, inti figgis-vizueta, John Glover, Ted Hearne, Fred Hersch, Stephen Hough, Jimmy López, Missy Mazzoli, Nico Muhly, Angélica Negrón, Mary Prescott, Caroline Shaw, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Darian Donovan Thomas, Scott Wollschleger, Pamela Z, and more.

Select Highlights:

This season marks the first time 92NY is presenting a fully integrated concert season across genres, including performances by Kate Baldwin, Joshua Bell, Regina Carter, Angela Hewitt, Larisa Martinez, Branford Marsalis,Kelli O'Hara, Eric Owens, Pepe Romero, Caroline Shaw, Sir András Schiff, Daniil Trifonov, and Jessica Vosk.

The World Premiere of a 92NY-commissioned piece from composer Jimmy López, performed by J'Nai Bridges and theCatalyst Quartet.

The New York premiere of Difficult Grace by cellist Seth Parker Woods and dancer Roderick George, presented in collaboration with Harkness Dance Center.

An in-depth two-day Julius Eastman retrospective featuring LA-based music collective Wild Up in three concerts, as well as exhibits, and panel discussions with Eastman friends and scholars examining the life of one of the 20th century's most iconoclastic voices.

The Bach Collegium Japan, conducted by Masaaki Suzuki with baritone Roderick Williams

92NY's signature series exploring the American songbook, Lyrics and Lyricists, continues to explore the best of Broadway, while also highlighting significant contributions to American culture by singer-songwriters across a variety of musical genres such as Marvin Gaye, Joni Mitchell, Nina Simone, the Mamas and the Papas, and more.

Two performances as part of an ongoing partnerships with The Curtis Institute of Music.

Jazz, which has been a staple of 92NY's Tisch season since Thelonius Monk and Charles Mingus took to the stage in 1955, will be performed by world-class musicians like Branford Marsalis, Fred Hersch, and Regina Carter not just within the renowned Jazz in July series, but throughout the year.





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