Weddings and Parties Over Coffee at St. James Church, King St

Experience unforgettable, homegrown artistry as Bach Akademie Australia presents ‘Weddings & Parties Over Coffee’ a five-city national tour to Brisbane, Newcastle, Sydney, Canberra and Glenbrook, featuring two of Australia’s finest vocalists, award-winning soprano Miriam Allan and her father, acclaimed baritone Christopher Allan, from Wednesday 5th to Sunday 16th August.

Award-winning, Newcastle-born soprano, Miriam Allan, has achieved international fame on the world stage. Allan has performed as a soloist with leading ensembles including Les Arts Florissants, the English Baroque Soloists, and Concerto Copenhagen, and appeared at major venues including New York’s Lincoln Centre, Vienna’s Musikverein, and London’s Barbican Centre.

Joining Allan onstage is her father, Christopher Allan. A former Senior Lecturer and long-time Musical Director of the Newcastle University Choir, Allan is well known as a conductor of choirs, and as a baritone soloist with many choral institutions such as Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Newcastle University Choir, Willoughby Choir and Coro Innominata.

Miriam opens the program with J.S. Bach’s much-loved ‘Wedding Cantata’, a vivid, pastoral depiction of a spring marriage, followed by two arias from ‘Selig ist der Mann’ (‘Blessed is the Man’), and the monumental ‘Ouverture from Orchestra Suite No.2 in B Minor’. Rounding out the program is Bach’s ‘Coffee Cantata’, a comic gem about a disgruntled father and his coffee-obsessed daughter, narrated by well-known performer, composer and conductor, Dan Walker, and W.F. Bach’s striking ‘Sinfonia’ for chamber orchestra.

Under the direction of Bach Akademie Australia’s Artistic Director Madeleine Easton, ‘Weddings & Parties Over Coffee’ is an exhilarating continuation of the ensemble’s 2026 season.

PROGRAM

Johann Sebastian Bach

Wedding Cantata, BWV 202

2 arias from Selig ist der Mann, BWV 57 (Blessed is the man)

Ouverture from Orchestral Suite No.2 in B minor, BWV 1067

Coffee Cantata, BWV 211

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach Sinfonia in D minor, F.6