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Since founding Bach Collegium Japan (BCJ) in 1990, Masaaki Suzuki has established himself as one of the world’s leading authorities on the music of J.S. Bach. As Music Director, he has led the ensemble in performances across Europe, North America, and Asia, and recorded the complete cycle of Bach’s sacred cantatas, an achievement that has earned international acclaim for its expressive depth and stylistic integrity.
In the 2025/26 season, Suzuki continues his work with BCJ, conducting cantata concerts, a performance of Messiah, and subscription series in Japan, as well as appearances at the Chofu International Music Festival. He returns to the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, and makes guest appearances with the Hangzhou Philharmonic, Japan Century Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and St. Luke’s Orchestra. He also conducts Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Bach Vereinigen thoughout Netherlands, reaffirming his reputation as a leading interpreter of the composer’s vocal works.
Recent highlights include his debut with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra in June 2025, as well as his first appearances with the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington), Philadelphia Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. He also returned to the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Bilbao, and Orquestra Sinfònica do Estado de São Paulo. In 2023, Suzuki and BCJ were featured at the BBC Proms and Bachfest Leipzig, where they performed Mendelssohn’s Elias and participated in the cantata cycle. Their touring schedule also included Alice Tully Hall in New York, Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, and venues across Europe.
Suzuki has conducted a wide range of repertoire with orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, hr-Sinfonieorchester, Philharmonia Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Danish National Radio Symphony, Gothenburg Symphony, and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.
His extensive discography on the BIS label includes all of Bach’s major choral works and complete harpsichord repertoire. Suzuki’s recordings of St. John Passion and St. Matthew Passion with BCJ have received the Gramophone Award, and The Times praised his interpretations for their “crispness, sobriety and spiritual vigour.”
Suzuki studied composition and organ performance at Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music and continued his training at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam under Ton Koopman and Piet Kee. He is Founder and Professor Emeritus of the early music department at Tokyo University of the Arts and served on the choral conducting faculty at the Yale School of Music and Yale Institute of Sacred Music from 2009 to 2013, where he remains affiliated as Principal Guest Conductor of Yale Schola Cantorum.
He has received numerous honors, including the Leipzig Bach Medal (2012), the Royal Academy of Music Bach Prize (2013), and Germany’s Verdienstkreuz am Bande des Verdienstordens der Bundesrepublik (2001).
