The Bach Players

The Bach Players is a collective of like-minded musicians who are drawn together by their passion for the music of J.S. Bach: our enduring inspiration and the apotheosis of the Baroque. We play on original instruments and all vocal music is sung in its original language. We play without a conductor, and with forces that are as small as possible (mostly single strings and single voices). A genuine spirit of enquiry and reassessment pervades all aspects of our performance.

Founded in 1996, we established a series of programmes of Bach cantatas in St John’s Wood Parish Church in London. There we began to introduce some of these lesser-known works to a wider audience. As a result of this we have been invited to play all over Britain and have built up a faithful following. In 1999 we were invited to perform the St John Passion for the opening of the Berliner Bachtage. We have recently started to make programmes in which Bach is linked to other composers.

In 2007 we launched a new series from St John’s Downshire Hill, in Hampstead. This is a recently restored church of 1818–23; we feel that it is an ideal venue for both Bach cantatas and chamber music. From September 2009 we are twinning each of these concerts with one, usually the day before, at The King of Hearts in Norwich. Also, in 2010–11 we are among the artists chosen for the Concert Promoter’s Network, which helps to arrange concerts across the UK. Details of all our concerts are in the diary.

In 2008 we started a series of CD recordings: the first two have now been released.

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