Monteverdi Choir @ Hill Auditorium

The Monteverdi Choir was founded in 1964 by Sir John Eliot Gardiner for a performance of the Vespro della Beata Vergine in King's College Chapel, Cambridge. A specialist Baroque ensemble, the Choir has become famous for its stylistic conviction and extensive repertoire, encompassing music from the Renaissance period to Classical music of the 20th century. They often appear with John Eliot Gardiner's orchestras, the English Baroque Soloists and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique. In 2000 the Choir, with the English Baroque Soloists, undertook an ambitious tour, the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage, in which it performed almost all of Johann Sebastian Bach's church cantatas in more than 60 churches in Europe, the UK and the US to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the composer's death. The dates followed the occasions of the liturgical year for which Bach had assigned his compositions. Some of the churches are connected to Bach's life. Recordings of a number of the cantatas were released by Deutsche Grammophon on the Archiv label. However, most of the recordings made during the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage have been released in 28 volumes on Gardiner's own label, Soli Deo Gloria (recordings released by Deutsche Grammophon will not be released again on Soli Deo Gloria). The series was completed in 2012 with a live recording in London of cantatas for Ascension Day that were performed in Salisbury during the pilgrimage, but were not recorded for technical reasons. It is possible that some cantatas which were not performed during the pilgrimage will be added to the recording project, such as works for the inauguration of the Leipzig town council. On 5 March 2014 the Choir celebrated its 50th anniversary with a repeat performance of the Monteverdi Vespers from King's College Chapel, in a live broadcast live by BBC Radio 3.

The English Baroque Soloists is a chamber orchestra playing on period instruments, formed in 1978 by English conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Its repertoire comprises music from the early Baroque period to the Classical period. For Philips it has recorded all of the mature symphonies (as well as the Requiem and Mass in C minor) and for DG Archiv it has recorded the complete piano concerto cycle with Malcolm Bilson, the first on period instruments. 1990 saw the launch of the six-year project to perform throughout Europe, and record for DG Archiv, the seven mature operas by Mozart. The Mozart Opera Project culminated with the London performances in 1995 of Die Zauberflöte, the seventh and final work in this giant undertaking. The seven operas in this project, (Idomeneo, La Clemenza di Tito, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Così fan tutte, Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and most recently Die Zauberflöte) have now been released and have received outstanding critical acclaim, with the recording of Idomeneo, the first of the operas to be released, winning the Best Opera Award in the 1991 Gramophone Awards. The international standing of the EBS has resulted in part from the enormous success of their foreign engagements. Invitations abroad have included such prestigious venues as La Scala, Milan, the outdoor amphitheatre in Pompeii, the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, the Châtelet Theatre in Paris, New York's Lincoln Center, the Sydney Opera House, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw and St Mark's, Venice.

Masaaki Suzuki is an organist, harpsichordist and conductor, and the founder and musical director of the Bach Collegium Japan. He was born in Kobe to parents who were both Christian and amateur musicians. He studied composition and organ at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, and was later taught harpsichord and organ by Ton Koopman and Piet Kee at the Sweelink Conservatory in Holland. In 1993 he began teaching at Kobe University, and founded the Bach Collegium in 1990. The group began giving concerts regularly in 1992, and made its first recordings three years later. He has also recorded Bach's complete works for harpsichord. He is currently professor of organ and harpsichord at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.