"Intet nytt under solen", Bach er og har vært inspirasjonskilde for svært mange skapende mennesker - uavhengig av kunstform og sjanger. Albert Schweitzer mente alt fører til Bach, i forståelsen at Bach var et vendepunkt som alt pekte frem mot før, og alt i ettertid pekte tilbake til. 

As a conductor heading the Bach Collegium Japan, Maestro Suzuki is considered one of the foremost interpreters in the world of Bach's choral music.

His love affair with Bach began at age 12 at home in Japan, when he received as a gift from his father a recording of the Mass in B Minor conducted by Karl Richter, the famed German interpreter of Bach. 

It was a great shock to me," Mr. Suzuki said. "It was a revelation, even though I couldn't understand then what it meant. I listened to it every night after my family went to sleep. I couldn't stop.

- Masaaki Suzuki

MASAAKI SUZUKI

Since founding Bach Collegium Japan in 1990, Masaaki Suzuki has established himself as a leading authority on the works of Bach. He has remained their Music Director ever since, taking them regularly to major venues and festivals in Europe and the USA and building up an outstanding reputation for the expressive refinement and truth of his performances.

Suzuki's impressive discography on the BIS label, featuring all Bach's major choral works as well as complete works for harpsichord, has brought him many critical plaudits - the Times has written: "it would take an iron bar not to be moved by his crispness, sobriety and spiritual vigour". 2014 marked the triumphant conclusion of Bach Collegium Japan's epic recording of the complete Church Cantatas initiated in 1995 and comprising fifty-five volumes. This major achievement has been recognised with a 2014 ECHO Klassick 'Editorial Achievement of the Year' award. In 2010, Suzuki and his ensemble were awarded both a German Record Critics' Award (Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik) and a Diapason d'Or de l'Année for their recording of Bach motets, which was also honoured in 2011 with a BBC Music Magazine Award. The ensemble has now embarked upon extending their repertoire with recent releases of Mozart's Requiem and Mass in C minor; Suzuki recently released a disc of works by Stravinsky with the Tapiola Sinfonietta.

En omreisende worldwide festivalkunstner og et "Homo Ludens" - et lekende menneske

MATTEUSPASJONEN - NY INNSPILLING

Gi oss din fred - Dona nobis pacem!

Like Georg Christoph Biller, Leipzig's earlier Thomaskantor and Bach's sixteenth successor in that position, Suzuki sees himself as a missionary. "I am spreading Bach's message, which is a biblical one," he said, echoing the Swetheologian and Lutheran archbishop Nathan Söderblom (1866-1931), who called Bach's music "the fifth Gospel." A member of the Reformed Church, Suzuki makes sure his musicians, mostly non-Christians, get that point. During rehearsals he teaches them Scripture. "It is impossible to say how many of my performers and listeners will ultimately become Christians," Suzuki said. He believes, however, that Bach has already converted tens of thousands of Japanese to the Christian faith.