Gaechinger Cantorey

With the 2016/17 season a new era began for the world-famous ensembles of the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, which since then have performed under the joint name of “Gaechinger Cantorey”. Originally, the choir, which Helmuth Rilling founded in 1954, was called the “Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart”. The historicised spelling of the name “ Gaechinger Cantorey” now refers both to the choir, widely recognised and recently transformed by Hans-Christoph Rademann since he became Akademie Director in 2013, and also to the the newly-formed baroque orchestra of the Internationale Bachakademie which performs alongside the choir.

By deciding to have its own baroque orchestra and a choir formed of singers with practical, performing criteria in mind, the Bachakademie is forging a new path. This new approach underlies the Bachakademie’s decision to commission a historical replica of a chamber organ by the legendary organ builder and contemporary of Bach, Gottfried Silbermann. As an example of the baroque sound, this replica embodies the approach at the very heart of a Bachakademie of the future.

The newly-founded baroque orchestra and the newly-constituted choir of the Bachakademie will perform under the joint name Gaechinger Cantorey from now onwards. Based on the historic foundations of the Bach era, and with roots in the living performance history of the choir, this name represents an integrated musical approach and the aesthetic sound ideal of the baroque.