Welcome to our 2026 Season
As a new year dawns, so does Bach Akademie Australia’s next chapter! In this, our eighth year, we continue our journey exploring the profundity, originality and joy of Johann Sebastian Bach’s music in four compelling programs encompassing some of the composer’s most well-known works and collections, placing them in historical context, as well as that of his musical contemporaries.
The season opens with a performance of all Bach’s surviving vocal motets. We are extremely excited to be presenting these works of unmitigated genius in collaboration with The Song Company.
In June, we visit the Collegium Musicum, the Leipzig concert society founded by Bach’s great friend Telemann. Bach in turn nurtured and fostered the Collegium into a place of learning, teaching, science and philosophy – the environment in which many of his most famous works were adapted and born, including his double violin concerto in D minor.
In August, we feature internationally acclaimed Australian soprano Miriam Allan in Bach’s Coffee Cantata – a comic opera in all but name – and his beautiful Wedding Cantata.
We close the year with a special Christmas celebration featuring our full choir and orchestra in Charpentier’s beautiful Messe de Minuit pour Noel, alongside two of Bach’s most joyful festive cantatas.
Tickets for all programs go on sale on Monday 16 February, through this website.
Thank you for being part of the Bach Akademie Australia family and supporting our uniquely Australian approach to Johann Sebastian Bach’s timeless masterpieces. We cannot wait to share our programs and more with you throughout the year.
Madeleine Easton
Artistic Director
“Bach Akademie Australia did more than perform—they conjured a world, an era, and a spirit.”
What’s The Show
“It was probably the most enjoyable musical experience I have ever had. I do like Baroque music and Bach Akademie Australia brings it all to life for me.”
Concert Patron
BACH’s MOTETS
After hearing Bach's motet Singet dem Herrn for the first time in Leipzig in 1789, Mozart exclaimed, "Now there is something from which one can learn!”
J.S. Bach’s vocal motets represent the highest art of vocal writing achieved in the Baroque period and continue to have deep spiritual and emotional resonance. The only vocal works of Bach that remained in constant performance until the Bach revival of the early 19th century, the motet’s themes of comfort, resurrection, and joy reflect their use in funerals and celebrations.
Bach Akademie Australia collaborates with Australia’s premier vocal ensemble The Song Company to present Bach’s seven surviving motets alongside two works of contemporary genius, Australian composer Sandra Milliken’s Herr Jesus Christus and O Radiant Dawn by James MacMillan.
Bach Akademie Australia
The Song Company
Iris Korfker, guest alto
Madeleine Easton, Artistic Director
Collegium Musicum
An atmosphere of musical and scientific enlightenment.
In 1702, Telemann founded Leipzig’s Collegium Musicum, blending public performance with academic pursuits. When J.S. Bach arrived in the city in 1723, he inherited this now famous concert society and it became the setting for many of his masterpieces. This program features highlights from Telemann’s Tafelmusik and Bach’s Double Violin Concerto, celebrating works performed at this remarkable place of enlightenment by Bach and his colleagues.
Friday 12–Sunday 14 June
Mosman, Sydney CBD, Bowral
Weddings and Parties over Coffee
Solo Cantatas with Miriam Allan
Internationally acclaimed Australian soprano Miriam Allan returns home for a special Bach program that pairs his poignant Wedding Cantata with the witty Coffee Cantata. Miriam will perform alongside her father, baritone Christopher Allan, in this comic gem about a disgruntled father and his coffee-obsessed daughter. Experience authenticity and true artistry as this award-winning star brings Bach’s brilliance to life.
Wednesday 5–Sunday 16 August
Brisbane, Newcastle, Sydney CBD, Canberra, Glenbrook
Bach & Charpentier – Music for Christmas
No piece of music encompasses the spirit of a French Christmas as perfectly as Charpentier’s Messe de minuit, his Midnight Mass. As Christmas was the only time of year when traditional French carols were permitted to be sung in church, Charpentier made full use of them, building his entire mass around these joyous, dancing melodies.
We then return to our roots and round out the year with two of Bach’s most loved and joyous Advent cantatas, bringing the sense of hope and expectation that only this composer can give.
Friday 13–Sunday 15 November
Glenbrook, Chatswood, Sydney CBD
