Wednesday 14 October 2026
6:00pm – 7:00pm

Baroque Music in Japan

Presented by Masato Suzuki, Principal Conductor of Bach Collegium Japan

13/14 Cornwall Terrace, Outer Circle (entrance facing Regent's Park), London NW1 4QP

the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation Organised by

The Japanese are widely renowned for their appreciation of classical music, as demonstrated by the international activities of Japanese musicians as well as the excellent quality of Japan’s concert halls and its supportive concertgoers. But what about Baroque music? Are there historic venues or institutions in Japan comparable to those in Europe? More fundamentally, what is the difference between classical and Baroque music, and how does one become a specialist in the latter?

In this talk, Masato Suzuki will speak about his career and activities, and how Baroque music is also appreciated in Japan by performers and audiences alike. This year, Bach Collegium Japan will be celebrating its 25th consecutive performance of Handel’s Messiah at Suntory Hall (a Christmas tradition since 2001). In addition, the ensemble led by Masato Suzuki will perform in Europe and Singapore. For those who are yet to make it their tradition to listen to the Messiah around the festive period, Suzuki will also highlight some of the features of Handel’s masterpiece.

This event is organised in collaboration with Bach Collegium Japan.

About the contributors

Masato Suzuki

Masato Suzuki is a graduate of Tokyo University of the Arts and the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, and studied at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. Apart from his commitments to Bach Collegium Japan, he is Principal Guest Conductor of the Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra and Music Director of Ensemble Genesis. As a conductor, Suzuki has appeared with leading orchestras in Japan and abroad, such as the NHK Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre de Paris. He also actively produces Baroque opera productions in Japan and has presented works through the Masato Suzuki Produces/BCJ Opera Series, and engages in public outreach through being a regular host on NHK-FM’s Enjoying Early Music and frequent media appearances, including TV Asahi’s Untitled Concert and NHK’s Classic TV. Suzuki is a recipient of numerous awards, including the 71st Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award for New Artists and the 18th Hideo Saito Memorial Fund Award, amongst others.

Thomas Cressy (moderator)

Dr. Thomas A. Cressy is currently George Kingsley Roth Research Fellow at Christ’s College, University of Cambridge. He publishes work on music and Japan from an anthropological perspective, including topics such as global and cultural reception histories of European baroque music, affect theory, popular culture, ritual and religion, and material anthropology. As a MEXT scholar, and a scholar for the Japan Foundation, he conducted historical and ethnographic work on J.S. Bach’s music in Japan. He sits on the editorial board for BACH: Journal of the Riemenschneider Bach Institute and Journal of Sound and Music in Games, and also sits on the Royal Anthropological Institute’s Ethnomusicology and Ethnochoreology Committee and the Council of Bach Network. He has published widely on the music of J.S. Bach and received the American Bach Society’s William H. Sheide Prize in 2024 and his doctoral dissertation was awarded a Donald J. Grout Memorial Prize from Cornell University in 2025.