Beginning in January 2021, One World Baroque embarked on an extended performance project on Part 1 of J.S. Bach’s magnificent masterwork, The St Matthew Passion.

The “SMPP” was undertaken in part through a three-month rehearsal period (Passion Project) and in part through a one-week intensive (Passion School).

We met on Zoom to rehearse, to learn German, to share in Bach-themed social events, and to take part in intimate conversations with leading Bach experts, who were exceptionally generous with our singers.

Following our live sessions, our choristers, soloists, and organists undertook the colossal challenge of recording all of Part 1 of Bach’s magnificent work, part by part, entirely in isolation.

Apart from those few you will see together on screen in our final performance, no one met in person during the project.

More than 2000 individual files, all recorded on cell phones or tablets, are blended into our final performance.

Funded only by choristers’ subscriptions, and completed through the generosity of many musicians, audiographers, and videographers, this project was a refuge in friendship and in beauty.

We are grateful to our choristers, soloists, technical team, and to our visiting experts, whose inspiration is heard in every note.

Above all, we owe a huge debt of gratitude to J.S. Bach, whose sublime vision of the light eternal brought us fellowship and hope in the darkest of times. 

Special guests include:

Paul McCreesh, Charles Daniels, Howard Dyck, and Dame Emma Kirkby