Features
Performer Focus: William Purefoy
Hear more about the musical career of this week’s performer, countertenor William Purefoy.
The Parable of the Sower
Find out more about three of JS Bach’s great cantatas inspired by the Parable of the Sower.
Performer Focus: Ben Bloor
Nicholas Keyworth talks to organist and continuo player Ben Bloor to hear more about his studies and career in music.
Performer Focus: Jam Orrell
Read about Nicholas Keyworth’s interview with baroque viola player James Orrell and learn more about his musical career.
Bach in Leipzig
In 1723 Bach landed the top job - the most prestigious musical position in Protestant Germany. It was here in Leipzig that Bach’s glittering masterpiece, the Christmas Oratorio was premiered at two of the city’s finest churches. So what exactly was Bach’s role in...
Bach’s Christmas Story
A sumptuous Christmas musical feast awaits us this Christmas Eve with a performance of the first three parts of Bach’s glittering masterpiece - the Christmas Oratorio - at 5pm in the magnificent setting of New College Chapel. But how did Bach go about telling his...
Performer Focus: Bojan Čičić
This month we meet violinist Bojan Čičić. One of the rising stars of the world of period performance, Bojan is the leader of the orchestra for the Oxford Bach Soloists and also the Blenheim Singers, both of which are directed by Tom Hammond Davies. We started by...
What makes an ‘authentic’ performance?
The Oxford Bach Soloists pride themselves on presenting authentic performances of Bach Cantatas - but what does this actually mean? Nicholas Keyworth finds out more from director Tom Hammond Davies. What is the attraction of performing on authentic instruments? The...
Performer Focus: Elspeth Piggott
This month we meet one of the regular performers with the Oxford Bach Soloists, Elspeth Piggott, a young soprano living in Oxford who has recently started out as a free-lance choral professional. Elspeth grew up in a musically oriented environment, both her parents...
‘Wachet Auf’: The Meaning Behind the Music
On 20 November Tom Hammond-Davies directs the Oxford Bach Soloists in a performance of Bach’s famous cantata Wachet Auf! described by the scholar Klaus Hofmann as one of the composer's 'most beautiful, most mature and, at the same time, most popular sacred cantatas'....