Bach Akademie Australia
It’s Out Now’s Easter selection in Sydney is Bach Akademie Australia’s presentation of Alleluja–an Easter Celebration. Led by Artistic Director and principal violinist Madeleine Easton, the orchestra and choir will sing and perform Bach’s early cantata Christ lag in Todesbanden (BWV 4), the Triple Violin Concerto (BWV 1064R), the motet Singet dem Herrn, (BWV)225, and the Missa Brevis in A (BWV 234).
The Akademie performs the works in two Sydney churches in the week before Easter, echoing the pieces' original intents and settings. These works offer pause for reflection, with pathways to joy associated with the season.
The Akademie’s Easter series initiates its 2021 program: The Many Voices of Bach. Over the coming year, Madeleine aims to reveal more of Bach—the man. As a historical figure, a fully developed persona for Bach remains elusive. Although the documentary record is patchy, Madeleine believes Bach reveals himself fully through his music.
Madeleine established the Akademie in 2017 on her return to Australia after a long association with Sir John Elliot Gardiner—the world’s foremost exponent of Bach. Along with several of his contemporaries, Sir John is a leading proponent of historically informed performance. He has led the Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique. Along with his colleagues, Sir John has helped change how we hear and comprehend Baroque music, bringing new audiences to this extraordinary wellspring of creative expression.
Madeleine rose to the role of first violinist in Sir John’s orchestra. As the Akademie's international patron, Sir John commends Madeleine as “a musician after my own heart... knowing Maddie as I do, it [the Akademie] will combine cutting edge scholarship, imaginative musicianship and playing of dazzling virtuosity.”