Bach St Matthew Passion

Bach's St Matthew Passion in Chichester Cathedral
With six solo singers, two choirs, two orchestras and a children’s choir, JS Bach’s telling of the passion of Jesus through the eyes of St Matthew is one of the greatest masterpieces of music. Composed almost three hundred years ago, it tracks the events of Jesus’s final days until his death on the Cross, culminating in the heart-rending chorus ‘In Tears of Grief’.
On Saturday 29th March, conductor Leslie Olive directs the English Arts Chorale and Orchestra in a performance in English in the wonderful acoustic of Chichester’s beautiful cathedral. The fully professional orchestra is drawn from London’s leading orchestras.
Six talented young professional soloists perform Bach's glorious arias, with tenor James Micklethwaite taking the leading role of the storyteller, known as "The Evangelist". The cast of performers is completed by a youth choir from St Bede's School in Redhill, Surrey.
Tickets for this memorable performance are set at £35, £25 and £15 (full-time students £6) and are available here.
Soloists
James Micklethwaite (tenor): The Evangelist
Charlie Baigent (baritone): Jesus
Emilia Bertolini: soprano arias
Florence Pettet: alto arias
Toshi Ogita: tenor arias
Robert Gildon: bass arias, Judas
Charlie has just finished studying for a Master’s degree as a scholar at the Royal College of Music. He enjoys a busy schedule of concert, opera, and ensemble singing, particularly as winner of the 2024 Salvat Beca Bach in Barcelona. His opera roles include Papageno in The Magic Flute and Valentin in Faust for Arcadian Opera, covering Malatesta for Longhope’s Don Pasquale, and Figaro in a contemporary reworking of Marriage of Figaro. Recent concert performances include Bach’s Magnificat in the Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona, Messiah for Waterperry Opera Festival’s winter season, and Brahms Requiem with the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields. This summer, Charlie is looking forward to singing with Longborough Festival Opera.


Japanese tenor Toshi Ogita is fast developing a reputation for his warm, lyric voice. He is a Master’s graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied with Richard Berkeley-Steele and Anna Tilbrook. Toshi was heavily involved in RAM’s Bach cantatas series, and has worked as a soloist with Philippe Herreweghe, Rachel Podger, and John Butt.
Opera scenes at RAM included Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Tonio (La fille du régiment), Nemerino (L’elisir d’amore). Other work on the stage includes Chorus, L'elisir d’amore; Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci; Il barbiere di Siviglia (West Green House Opera), Chorus, Eugene Onegin (Hampstead Garden Opera), and Francesca Caccini's La liberazione di Ruggiero (Brighton Early Music Festival).
Concert performances include Bach John Passion (Evangelist + arias), Haydn Creation, Handel Messiah, Mozart Requiem, and Alban Berg’s Sieben frühe Lieder.
Previously Toshi read History of Art at the University of Edinburgh, and is based in Winchester.
Baritone Robert Gildon studied at Manhattan School of Music in New York, Tanglewood and Aspen Music Festivals in the USA and at the Britten Pears School in the UK. He has performed solos with many leading groups including the London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Garsington Opera in a range of repertoire from the Baroque to the Contemporary. Robert also regularly leads workshops for ENO, Streetwise Opera, Grange Festival, the Mozartists and Britten Pears Arts and has performed in many community pieces for English National Opera, Garsington Opera and Royal Opera House. He lives in Suffolk with a menagerie of animals.
