The JUNO award winning Ottawa Bach Choir (OBC) has been invited to the world’s most prestigious international Bach festival, Bachfest Leipzig 2022, as one of a select number of ensembles worldwide—and the only Canadian ensemble—to present the entire chorale cantata cycle of Bach, performing with the Pauliner Baroque Ensemble. As part of its fifth European tour, the choir also embarks on  A Bach Pilgrimage, following its two performances at Bachfest Leipzig, to the places where Bach lived and worked, including Eisenach, Arnstadt, Mühlhausen, Weimar, and other influential venues in Wittenberg, Halle and Berlin, singing works by German Baroque masters, as well as Contemporary gems, including Canadian Kelly-Marie Murphy. Canadian soloists, soprano Jana Miller, countertenor Nicholas Burns, tenor Nils Brown and baritone David John Pike, along with organist Jonathan Oldengarm, join the choir on this historic tour.

“We are honoured to be invited to return to Bachfest Leipzig, performing in the Thomaskirche, where Bach was  employed for 27 years, in the worldwide presentation of his second cycle of chorale cantatas,” says Founder and  Artistic Director, Lisette Canton. We also travel throughout Germany to perform in the very places where Bach lived  and worked, including the Georgenkirche in Eisenach, Bach/Stadtkirche in Arnstadt, Bachkirche Divi Blasii in Mühlhausen, the Herderkirche St. Peter and Paul in Weimar, as well as the Schloßkirche in Wittenberg, where Martin Luther posted his 95 theses, the Händelhaus in Handel’s birthplace of Halle, and finishing in Berlin.”

The Ottawa Bach Choir, founded in 2002 by Dr. Lisette Canton, offers a wide range of choral music from all historical periods. With the combination of a scholarly and emotional approach, the OBC provides an unforgettable experience of choral music at its best. The OBC won the 2020 JUNO Award for its album, Handel: Dixit Dominus; Bach & Schütz: Motets, in the category “Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral”. The professional ensemble has also toured extensively in Canada, the United States, Europe, and China, and had the honour of being the first Canadian choir ever to be among the performers in Bachfest Leipzig 2014.

For interviews and information, please contact:

Dr. Lisette Canton, Founder and Artistic Director, lisette.canton@ottawabachchoir.ca

Listing information:

Ottawa Bach Choir

Dr. Lisette Canton, conductor

with Canadian soloists soprano Jana Miller, countertenor Nicholas Burns, tenor Nils Brown, baritone David John Pike and organist Jonathan Oldengarm                                                   

Bachfest Leipzig 2022 and A Bach Pilgrimage Tour

June 13: Bachfest Leipzig “Mette”, Thomaskirche, Leipzig

June 17: Bachfest Leizpig, “Cantate Domino!”, Thomaskirche Leipzig

June 18: Schloßkirche, Wittenberg

June 19: Georgenkirche, Eisenach

June 20: Händelhaus, Halle; Bachkirche Divi Blasii, Mühlhausen

June 21: Bach/Stadtkirche, Arnstadt; Herderkirche St. Peter and Paul, Weimar

Information: info@ottawabachchoir.ca