My first performances for 2025 are at the Sydney Festival with Bach Akademie Australia from 9-11 January. It’s one of my favourite times to be in Sydney - and in the height of what is usually a very warm summer I like to escape into the cool of the concert hall or theatre when I can!

The two performances are at Walsh Bay (The Nielsen, Pier 2/3 home of the ACO) and form part of a myriad of events being held at ‘The Wharf’ as part of the Festival.

From the Sydney Festival website

When Galileo’s father, Vincenzo, was composing in the 16th century, the heavens were thought to have their own music, audible to the soul. Even today, the ‘heavenly dance’ of the stars and planets evokes a sense of inevitable destiny, elegant precision and timeless mystery. Those same qualities can be heard in the intricate creations of Johann Sebastian Bach, and it’s one of the reasons his music continues to resonate. 

The music of Bach – perfect and universal – is the connecting thread in a compelling program that looks to the heavens for inspiration. Voices and instruments will dance and resound in music from the high Renaissance to our own time, from Europe to the Pacific and First Nations Australia – with the Morning Star as our guiding light.

It’s the kind of concert for which Madeleine Easton and the Bach Akademie Australia have become known: intellectually satisfying, emotionally rewarding and thrilling to the senses. 

PROGRAM

J.S. Bach Sinfonia and Chorus from ‘Himmelskönig, sei willkommen’ – Cantata, BWV 182 
Tomás Luis de Victoria O magnum mysterium 
J.S. Bach Prelude and Fugue No.1 in C major from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2
Vincenzo Galilei Highlights from ‘The Well-Tempered Lute’, arr. for string quartet
J.S. Bach Highlights from the Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
James MacMillan O Radiant Dawn
Troy Russell Clans, arr. for solo violin
J.S. Bach Aria and Chorale from ‘Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern’ – Cantata, BWV 1