Masaaki Suzuki Joins Faculty

                                  Photo: Borrgreave

Visiting Professor of Choral Conducting and Director of Yale Schola Cantorum

The Yale Institute of Sacred Music and Yale School of Music are pleased to announce the joint appointment of Masaaki Suzuki as Visiting Professor of Choral Conducting and conductor of Yale Schola Cantorum, the University’s renowned chamber choir. The two year appointment will begin July 1, 2009.

Since founding Bach Collegium Japan in 1990, Masaaki Suzuki has established himself as a leading authority on the works of Bach. He has remained the Collegium’s music director ever since, taking the group regularly to major venues and festivals in Europe and the USA and building up an outstanding reputation for the expressive refinement and truth of his performances. In addition to conducting, Suzuki is also renowned as an organist and harpsichordist.

He is regularly invited to work with renowned European soloists and groups, such as Collegium Vocale Gent and the Freiburger Barockorchester; he recently appeared in London with the Britten Sinfonia in a program of Britten, Mozart and Stravinsky. Forthcoming engagements with other ensembles include the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Nagoya Philharmonic and the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic Orchestras. In 2001 Suzuki was decorated with the Federal Order of Merit from Germany.

Suzuki's impressive discography on the BIS label includes his interpretations with Bach Collegium Japan of Bach's major choral works and sacred cantatas. With forty volumes now completed, the Times has written: "it would take an iron bar not to be moved by his crispness, sobriety and spiritual vigor.”

His commitment to sacred music is reflected both in his deep reflection on theological meanings in the music he conducts, and also in his interest in music of congregations. Following his return to Japan from the Netherlands, he launched a project to translate the entire Genevan Psalter into Japanese. This collection is now used in Christian Churches throughout Japan.

Martin D. Jean, director of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, announced the appointment. “Suzuki’s exquisite artistry, insightful interpretations of Baroque music, and his deep spiritual connections to sacred music make him an ideal colleague,” Prof. Jean said. “He will make a valuable contribution to the interdisciplinary work of the Institute.”

Robert Blocker, the Henry and Lucy Moses Dean of Music, added that “Masaaki Suzuki’s artistry as conductor, organist, and harpsichordist can be measured only in superlatives. His recordings of the Bach choral and harpsichord works offer insight into his understanding and passion for the musical arts. Suzuki’s international stature and his commitment to teaching ideally suit him for the joint Visiting Professorship in the Institute and School.”

Suzuki takes the place of Simon Carrington, the founder of Yale Schola Cantorum, who retires in June.

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