St Matthew Passion

Residentie Orkest The Hague

Founded The Hague, 1904

Current chief conductor Anja Bihlmaier

Permanent guest conductors Richard Egarr and Jun Märkl

Chief conductors Henri Viotta, Peter van Anrooy, Frits Schuurman, Willem van Otterloo, Jean Martinon, Ferdinand Leitner, Hans Vonk, Evgenii Svetlanov, Jaap van Zweden, Neeme Järvi, Nicholas Collon.

To be seen at Amare, Paard, The National Opera, Royal Concertgebouw, De Doelen, TivoliVredenburg among others .

Education Annual outreach to over 40,000 schoolchildren, adults and amateur musicians in educational projects. Part of this is The Residents, through which the orchestra brings hundreds of children from districts in The Hague into contact with classical music.

Studies Began as a choirboy at York Minster, then Chetham's School of Music (Manchester) and Clare College Cambridge (organ). Harpsichord studies with Gustav and Marie Leonhardt.

Current Position Permanent Guest Conductor Residentie Orkest The Hague, Artistic Partner of St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in Minnesota and Music Director of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale.

Highlights Plays all types of keyboard instruments, performs in a variety of chamber music settings, and is in great demand as a soloist and conductor. Has appeared before The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony and Philadelphia Orchestra, among others, and was Associate Artist of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra from 2011-2017. Was also chief conductor of the Academy of Ancient Music for fifteen years.

Studied Royal College of Music International Opera School in London.

Highlights Acclaimed for his interpretation of evangelist in Bach's passions; for example, The Guardian described him as a "Masterly Evangelist. Sang this role around the world; 2023 recording of the St. John Passion for Deutsche Grammophon with Sir John Eliot Gardiner was nominated for a Grammy Award. In-demand soloist in Baroque through contemporary concert and oratorio repertoire and operas. Sang with Concerto Köln, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, English Concert, Early Opera Academy, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and The Monteverdi Choir, among others, with conductors such as John Butt, Adam Fischer, George Petrou, Raphaël Pichon, Sir András Schiff and Ryan Wigglesworth.

Studied Magdalen College in Oxford and Guildhall School of Music in London.

Highlights Harvey is one of the foremost interpreters of the music of Bach and contemporaries. He performed the role of Christ in Bach's Passions with the English Baroque Soloists, The Monteverdi Choir, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Gabrieli Consort, among others. Worked with ensembles and orchestras such as Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Academy of Ancient Music, The King's Consor, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg with conductors such as Philippe Herreweghe, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Christophe Rousset, Iván Fischer, Bernard Haitink and Richard Egarr. He is founder and conductor of the Magdalena Consort, which focuses on the vocal music of Bach, among others.

Studied in Leuven. Graduated cum laude with Jard van Nes at the New Opera Academy.

Career Sang various opera roles at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Monnaie Theatre in Brussels, among others. Soloized with the Residentie Orkest, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, deFilharmonie with conductors such as Ton Koopman, Jaap van Zweden, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Hartmut Haenchen, Frans Brüggen and Philippe Herreweghe. Won prizes at the Euriade Vocal Competition (Kerkrade), International Vocal Competition ('s-Hertogenbosch) and the ARD Competition (Munich).

Studied Academy of Music in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and Royal Conservatory in The Hague.

Highlights Debuted with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in 2012 and at Carnegie Hall in 2013 in Bach's Matthaus Passion conducted by Iván Fischer. Received rave reviews for her Penelope in Monteverdi's Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in patria with the Academy of Ancient Music and Richard Egarr at London's Barbican Hall. With Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, she toured the world in 2015-16 with Mozart's Requiem, Die Zauberflöte and Mendelssohn's A Midsummernight's Dream. This tour brought her to the BBC Proms, among other venues. Sang in several operas and is in great demand as a concert singer, including with the Residentie Orkest. Recently made her debut as Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde at Oper Leipzig.

Studied York University; Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

Highlights An important milestone in his career was winning several prizes at the prestigious International Vocal Competition in 's-Hertogenbosch in 2006. In-demand soloist in Baroque through contemporary concert and oratorio repertoire and operas. Sang with Concentus Musicus Wien, The English Concert, The Sixteen, BBC Symphony, The Philharmonia, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra with conductors such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Sir Roger Norrington, Harry Christophers, Paul McCreesh and Sir Mark Elder. Soloed on various international stages and festivals.

Studied Hochschule der Künste Berlin; Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

Highlights Winner of the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition. In addition to regular performances at Wigmore Hall, recitals have since taken him to venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus in Vienna and the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. Performed with orchestras such as the MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg and Staatskapelle Dresden. Sang various opera roles at Theater an der Wien, La Monnaie in Brussels and Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, among others.

The Netherlands Chamber Choir has been among the absolute best for nearly ninety years. The choir sings choral repertoire from the early Middle Ages to the music of today, regularly partnering with dancers, poets, actors, filmmakers and scientists. With always surprising, often overwhelming and sometimes downright innovative programs, the choir explores the boundaries of part-song.

The Netherlands Chamber Choir, based in Utrecht, is praised nationally and internationally for its versatility and urgent programming. It has been heard in recent years at Lincoln Center New York, the Hong Kong Arts Festival, the Konzerthaus in Vienna and Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, among others. Numerous composers have written for the choir, from Poulenc to Gubaidoelina, from Michel van der Aa to Caroline Shaw, and from Zad Moultaka to Nico Muhly.

Peter Dijkstra has been chief conductor of the choir since 2015. His predecessors were Hans van den Hombergh, Kerry Woodward, Uwe Gronostay, Tõnu Kaljuste, Stephen Layton and Risto Joost. The choir was founded by Felix de Nobel, who was its first chief conductor until 1972.

The Haags Matrozenkoor was founded in 1928 by conductor Theo van Elferen. The choir consists of a preparatory class and a concert class consisting of sopranos, altos, tenors and basses. The concert class sings a wide repertoire from classical to modern, gives its own concerts and collaborates in productions of well-known choirs and orchestras. At Passion time, the sailors sing along in Matthäus Passion performances around the country, and at Christmas time, A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is traditionally performed. The choir tours abroad annually. Peter van der Leeuw has been conductor of the Hague Matrozen Choir since 2021.