1. Mission, vision, artistic profile and artistic quality
‘I found the Netherlands Bach Society only a few months ago. What a joy to have an update to take me away, momentarily, from the earthly cares of the day. Thank you.’
The Netherlands Bach Society was founded over a hundred years ago, and these words from a fan at one of our YouTube videos, illustrate the timelessness of our mission. With heart and soul, we are committed to making the world of Bach accessible to everyone.
1.1 Mission
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is perhaps the most inclusive composer we know. From amateur to virtuoso, from choir singer to jazz musician, theoretically or practically educated, religious or notBach is there for everyone. His music is a constant, a resting point in a hectic world. Across generations, countless people find inspiration, emotion, comfort and contemplation in Bach’s music. We wish for everyone to have such a reliable and meaningful beacon, which is why ‘Bach for all’ is our mission.
1.2 Vision
Whether you like hip-hop or baroque, music enriches life. It makes sense that new generations pay particular attention to the stars of their own era; however the eloquence of the old masters does not diminish. Bach’s universal, multifaceted music effortlessly stands the test of time. The Netherlands Bach Society sees it as its task and responsibility to ensure this musical wealth remains available to all. We emphasise the relevance of early music to every new generation first and foremost by making that music sound at its very best - our live concerts are the backbone of everything we do. Because we also want to reach people who do not yet know Bach (so well), we experiment with performance forms: thematic programs, collaborations with other disciplines, fringe programming, presentation. We also investigate what barriers we can remove that would impede people from listening to Bach’s music. For example, there are people who would rather not enter a church, who have no money to go to concerts, who feel lost on their own in a crowded theater, or who think they need to know a lot about Bach before they can listen to his music. It is precisely for these people that we want to make Bach’s music accessible and so that is what our activities in 2025-2028 are focused on - more than ever.
1.3 Artistic profile
Founded in 1921 to perform Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in Grote Kerk Naarden, the Netherlands Bach Society has grown in recent decades into a leading vocal-instrumental ensemble of international significance. The Bach Society performs music by J.S. Bach and his contemporaries and kindred spirits, basing its interpretation on source research and the latest insights from historically and culturally informed performance practice. Our musicians play authentic instruments (or copies thereof) that do justice to the period in which the music was written. From that background, we build bridges to the current time in which the audience listens to our concerts. In doing so, we do not shun experimentation. As far as we are concerned, there is no one single correct way of doing justice to all facets of Bach’s music; on the contrary, there are countless possibilities. The Bach Society aims to explore these possibilities and bring them to life: a never-ending quest that we want to share with as many people as possible.
The Bach Society is different from similar institutions by several important factors. For example, the Bach Society has not been formed by or around one defining artistic leader: in its more than 100 years of existence, the organization has seen several artistic leaders come and go. The artistic DNA is anchored within the organization itself and more defining than the musician leading the ensemble.
I have lost count of how many times my inner voice tells me that I won’t survive another hour without Bach [...]. This brings back balance and the desire to live fully in this challenging and often very trying time. It is an endless source of comfort and inner peace. Thank you Johan Sebastian and thank you all musicians, engineers, operators and just everybody connected to this incredible project for providing this fantastic performance to the world!
@iggykarpov at YouTube.com/ Bach
Also, since the 1980s, the Bach Society has grown into an authoritative institution that is more than just an ensemble. Our live and online programming, as well as our educational modules, the ‘Young Bach Fellowship’ talent development program and our participation activities involve as many people as possible in Bach’s timeless music, now and in the future. Everyone is welcome at the Bach Society.
1.4 Artistic-content quality
Expertise: a flexible top ensemble
That the Bach Society dares to experiment is due in part to its close-knit ensemble of instrumentalists and vocalists, the core of which have worked together for decades. All our musicians are specialists in early music and are completely in tune with each other. Not only have they earned their accolades with the Bach Society, but outside the ensemble they regularly perform as soloists, in chamber music formations or smaller vocal ensembles. Many of our musicians also teach at conservatories at home and abroad, thus passing on their knowledge to a new generation. Together they determine the high artistic level and playing quality of the Bach Society. This stable basis also provides comfort for substitutes, talents and guest musicians. In the coming years we will gradually say goodbye to the oldest generation, who are reaching retirement age. These key players will be succeeded by young specialists who will bring their own energy, but will always fit the DNA of the Bach Society: enterprising, artistic and with a great sense of responsibility for the cultural heritage to which the Bach Society is committed.
Inflow and outflow, quality control
New musicians are recruited through auditions; after a trial period, a musician may be admitted to the core ensemble. If there are concerns about a musician’s performance, we have an extensive procedure for evaluation and improvement or - in exceptional cases - farewell. The Collective Labour Agreement for Music Ensembles stipulates that musicians retire upon reaching retirement age.
Working with several top-level artistic directors ensures an open and flexible approach to our repertoire and high quality in performance and interpretation. To take the level and unique sound of the vocal ensemble to an even higher level, we will be working with a vocal coach in the coming season.
Talent development: transferring professional expertise to a new generation
The Bach Society’s talent programs are founded on coaching and stage experience. To transfer the expertise of our musicians to a new generation and to offer young musicians opportunities for a career in early music, the Bach Society has had its own talent development program since 2013: Young Bach Fellowship. Through this two-year talent development program, we offer eight musicians (SATB singers and instrumentalists), selected on the basis of auditions, guidance in all responsibilities that come with having a career as a professional musician. In addition, they are given opportunities to perform with the ensemble in at least two productions per season and we often ask them to serve as substitutes. Within the ensemble, each fellow has a mentor. In addition to musical feedback, fellows receive guidance on marketing, finance, positioning and programming. That the investment in talent is also worthwhile for the Bach Society itself is proven by the fact that several former fellows have since joined the core ensemble.
Expressiveness: an engaged and grateful audience
Very convincing evidence that our activities appeal to visitors can be found in reviews and the countless positive comments on our videos of All of Bach and the heartwarming audience responses we receive via email, Facebook and Instagram. Between 2025 and 2028, we are also introducing a new form of social impact. We use our creative expressions to offer people a different perspective on current issues and we ask them to think about social issues from the unprecedented power that art can offer us. In doing so, we put mental wellbeing and interfaith dialogue at the center. We are convinced that the Bach Society in particular has the knowledge and curiosity to approach these topics from a new perspective.
Originality: a unique approach to the world around Bach
The Bach Society is the only vocal-instrumental ensemble in the Netherlands and is the only ensemble to bring attention to the repertoire of and around Bach through concerts, recordings, educational activities and participation projects. The approach to Bach’s vocal-instrumental repertoire is distinctive in this regard: for example, in addition to vocal soloists, we work with ripienists, who reinforce the soloist in the background and thus ensure the ensemble’s unique, individual sound. ‘Typically Bach Society’ is also the two-track approach we apply to most of our activities: live and online.
The Bach Society is in good company in the Netherlands. Our most important sister companies are the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, which focuses primarily on classical and early Romantic repertoire in larger ensembles, and Holland Baroque, which specializes in daring collaborations with musicians from other musical genres. Internationally, there are numerous ensembles in the field of early music, but not one of them spreads the work of a single composer in such a distinctive way as the Netherlands Bach Society with All of Bach.
2. Reflection on the 2021-2024 period
2.1 The organization in 2021-2024
The period 2021-2024 was like nothing else for cultural institutions. Never before had the world been affected by a pandemic on such a large scale, and never before had the culture sector had to keep its doors closed for such long periods. The awarding of grants in June 2020 was therefore unusual: immediately in 2021 we were asked to create an adjusted activity plan with a matching budget. What the corona period in any case showed is that the Netherlands Bach Society is a vital, resilient and creative organization. We all came together and made the best of it! Even so, the effects of the pandemic lingered on for a long time, even to this day. For example, the first production of 2024 is an opera that was originally programmed for January 2022 but got canceled. Furthermore, a lot of things have happened administratively, financially and organizationally.
Governance
After the transition from Board to Supervisory Board (late 2019), the merger between the Netherlands Bach Society (NBV) and the Friends of the NBV Foundation followed in January 2021. In 2022 Ab van der Touw handed over the gavel to Hanne Buis (a.i.), at that time vice-chairman. A new chairman will start in May 2024.
The Bach Society went through a challenging period as far as the management is concerned, started off by the corona crisis, followed by the announcement of the departure of artistic director Shunske Sato in October 2022. Also, after six intensive years, managing director Willemijn Mooij will hand over the baton on Feb. 1, 2024, to Janneke Slokkers, a highly experienced administrator in the cultural sector.
It was especially important in 2023 for all parties to stick to their appointed roles and responsibilities, because the supervisory board had to recruit a new managing director. Responsibilities and mandates were openly discussed on several occasions to prevent supervisors from encroaching too much onto the field of business operations. The director, supervisors and board secretary held each other accountable in case of doubt.
Organizational Culture
For the organization, the past year has been marked by a cultural change. Under the guidance of Healthy Company Consultants, work was done on different and better communication, strengthening participation, better cooperation between staff and musicians and more involvement with the artistic content. All this came together in the way the policy plan for 2025-2028 was developed: in various working groups musicians and staff sat around the table together under the chairmanship of the managing director to discuss plans for the future, particularly in the areas of artistic direction, our social significance and accessibility. The result of this collaboration can be found in the present plan.
Financial position 2021-2024
See under Financial Position and budget notes.
2.2 Artistic development 2021-2024
The Apocalypse is more than a bold idea; it is fullblooded opera.
For OPERA2DAY, turning the opera genre inside out is a given; it’s a credit to the NBS, guardians of the Naarden St Matthew’s tradition, that they showed the courage to undertake this project. **** NRC, Feb. 10, 2022
In the run-up to the 2021-2024 period, the Netherlands Bach Society, under the leadership of Shunske Sato, was committed to a movement from “All of Bach” to “Bach for All”. A strong focus on intrinsic value and quality, which the Bach Society has earned its reputation with, carries the risk of paying insufficient attention to context and audience. The Bach Society is aware of this risk and in the current subsidy period it has explicitly taken the social relevance of Bach’s music as its starting point.
Artistic director and ensemble
Because artistic director/concertmaster Shunske Sato announced in October 2022 that he would be retiring from the Bach Society at the end of the season, the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 seasons are dedicated to the search of a successor. The new artistic director - like Sato did - will have to dispose of the Bach Society’s musical DNA to work with the ensemble towards a shining future in a curious and open manner. With Sato’s departure, the search for a new concertmaster is a simultaneous exercise. We are working with several candidates in the current and coming season and believe we will have found the perfect match in the course of the new season.
New initiatives 2021-2024
Important, distinctive elements of our programming in 2021-2024, compared to previous policy periods, were opera (with Opera2Day), alternative Passions (with the NTR Saturday Matinee) and the festival we organized to celebrate our 100 year anniversary in 2022. Due to covid restrictions, the St. Matthew’s tour of 2021 was cancelled. Instead, thanks to the NTR, we made a beautiful recording of Bach’s St. John’s Passion conducted by René Jacobs in the (empty) Grote Kerk Naarden.
J.S. Bach – The Apocalypse, the opera Bach never wrote, in collaboration with OPERA2DAY, 2024
J.S. Bach - The Apocalypse, the “opera Bach never wrote” should have been the heart of our anniversary season, but due to the pandemic we had to decide to limit the project to the rehearsal period and the premiere in early 2022. In the first half of 2024 we will (re)perform this opera in theaters in the Netherlands, Münster and Leipzig. The opera is based on the story of Jan van Leiden, who founded an Anabaptist community in Münster in 1534, after which total chaos ensued. The story is of all times and also extremely relevant in today’s world. The opera is accompanied by a podcast, which tells the story of John of Leiden in an accessible manner: Jan van Leiden en het einde der tijden
Together with TivoliVredenburg, the Bach Society developed the enthusiastically received series “Bezin met Bach” for season 2022-2023, in which we bring together spoken texts on current life questions and music by Bach for a moment of reflection. Each edition has its own theme and speaker. We will continue the series “Bezin met Bach” in the upcoming seasons.
On the occasion of our 100 years anniversary, we expanded our St. Matthew tradition with a new element: the Good Friday lecture, in which the speaker connects the St. Matthew Passion to a current or universal theme. With this social perspective, we illustrate the relevance of the piece, place Bach in the present time and make connections to other areas of expertise. We publish the lecture on our website for all to read. The first edition was given by Ivo van Hove, the second by Abdelkader Benali, and in 2024 Adriana Esmeijer, an expert on philanthropy, will give the Good Friday lecture.
During our three-day jubilee festival in May 2022 there was plenty to experience: a scratch and a pub quiz; children could build their own instruments and attend a musical puppet show with live music in collaboration with Koomans Poppentheater; there was an interactive seminar on artificial intelligence and music by Lucas Keijning; we showed All of Bach videos and a documentary; there were concerts by our own musicians and guest ensembles. In the exhilarating final concert, our core ensemble, the musicians of the Young Bach Fellowship and the Utrecht amateur ensemble Collegium Musicum Traiectum, as well as the audience, provided a dazzling program.
The St. John Passion by the Netherlands Bach Society primetime on TV is just what we needed
Merlijn Kerkhof, Volkskrant April 3, 2021
New collaborations
In the period 2021-2023, the Bach Society worked with light artist Folkert Uhde, among others, on the anniversary performance of the Kunst der Fuge, attended by the Royal Couple (2021). In 2022, with director Marc Pantus and Alzheimer’s expert Prof. Dr. Philip Scheltens, we created the theatrical program Tricks of the Mind, about the effects of music on the human brain. Holland Baroque, the Netherlands Bach Society, the Nederlands Kamerkoor and the Kathedrale Koorscholen of Utrecht and Suriname provided the festive closing concert in celebration of the 900th anniversary of the city of Utrecht.
For the opening program of the 2022-2023 season, featuring music by Bach and Telemann, director Caecilia Thunnissen chose a theatrical approach with an emphasis on gender diversity. That this approach took some getting used to, both for us and the audience, strengthens our conviction that the Bach Society should not shy away from experimentation in order to fulfill its mission “Bach for all”.
The Bach Society’s international touring ambitions for the 2021-2024 period have been modest because of the pandemic. We gave some concerts in Belgium, performed at the Musikfest Bremen, the Thuringen Bachwochen and at the prestigious Bachfest Leipzig in Germany. We traveled to Fribourg in Switzerland and toured four different Spanish cities with our 2023 Christmas program.
Special productions related to corona
During the pandemic, we tried to make the most of a difficult situation. While performing in halls was not possible due to lockdowns, making recordings was, sometimes in very special locations. For example, thanks to sponsor Deloitte, we made beautiful recordings in the Mauritshuis, which was closed to the public, and thanks to sponsor MWH4impact, we recorded Bach’s Musikalisches Opfer in the large hall of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw that had been stripped of its seats. Using innovative video techniques, the music is visually explained.
In the empty main hall of TivoliVredenburg, we made a recording of one of Bach’s most beautiful cantatas: Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, a recording that has since been viewed more than 735,000 times.
When we were allowed to perform (on a limited basis) for live audiences again, we made our programs shorter, played two concerts in one evening (and sometimes five in one weekend), and collaborated twice on “Walk the Line” in TivoliVredenburg: these were highlights in an otherwise complicated time.
3. Activities 2025-2028: Social significance and accessibility.
The vocal-instrumental ensemble is the beating heart of the Bach Society. In recent years, in addition to giving live concerts, we have made more and more room in our activity program for All of Bach, talent development and education. This allows us to fulfill our social objectives in a broader way. This is why the Bach Society considers this entire range of activities, also in the period 2025-2028, to be its core task.
Bach, Musikalisches Opfer, recording for All of Bach
3.1 Bach’s music as an inspiration for understanding and conversation
Everyone who creates art for the public wants to have impact. Artists hope to inspire people, move them, make them think, give them new perspectives or even shock them. Art has the power to do all these things, and that gives the artist an important responsibility. The Bach Society is aware of this responsibility. What effect are we aiming for with our art? What are the needs in society? How can we use our art to make a constructive, meaningful contribution to the challenges we face in our time?
There are quite a few important social issues today: climate change, migration, poverty, inequality, polarization et cetera. We cannot solve those problems, but we can give our audience food for thought. We can connect with other social domains and as such try to contribute to the awareness of these major issues of today. And we want to do just that.
In his highly recommended lecture, “Art as Moral Action,” playwright Peter Sellars sees the artist’s task primarily in opening doors: to possibility, imagination, inclusion, compassion and recognition. The Bach Society recognizes itself in this vision and shows this in its activity plan for the coming period. We focus in particular on mental well-being and interfaith dialogue.
Mental wellbeing, enrichment for the mind
There is much attention in society on the positive impact of exercise on one’s physical well-being. What has not been emphasized enough is how important art, especially music, is to one’s mental well-being. In the 2021 program Tricks of the Mind, we already showed how much patients with Alzheimer’s disease benefited from the effects of music. Comments under our videos on All of Bach illustrate time and again the enormous impact Bach’s music has on the well-being of our audience.
How does music affect the brain? How can we contribute to the mental health of our audience through our activities? If the motto is ‘Not a Day Without Bach’, we can make the world a little better like no other. Our focus is not only on conventional concert audiences, but also on people for whom going to concerts is not an option: using the universal music of Bach, we investigate all kinds of forms of musical experience.
Together with our sponsor Deloitte, we will give substance to the theme of mental health in the coming years, specifically focused on neurodiversity. To this end, we will develop a number of small-scale initiatives related to the concert or music experience of neurodiverse individuals. We are working together with the Deloitte Neurodiversity Network.
Bach’s music as a breeding ground for interfaith dialogue
We receive countless enthusiastic responses to our concerts and videos, but we also regularly receive angry or indignant comments; sometimes even with racist or otherwise hostile undertones: Bach’s music can evoke resistance: the St. John and St. Matthew Passions contain some anti-Semitic passages. Around the exhibition ‘Bach, Luther und die Juden’ held in Eisenach (Bach’s hometown) in 2016, a fierce discourse arose about precisely this much-loved part of Bach’s oeuvre: is it still possible to perform these works? Should we provide more context to the texts in the program book? Is it conceivable to provide Bach’s music with a different text?
During the development of the opera J.S. Bach - The Apocalypse, we dealt with similar issues. The Utrecht Passion performed in the Festival Oude Muziek 2022 is an inspiration: based on a true story - the persecution of homosexuals in 1730/31 that degenerated into the infamous Utrecht sodomy trials - Thomas Höft wrote a new libretto for Bach’s St. John Passion, performed by ARTHOUSE 17. Bach himself was very familiar with this procedure. He regularly provided his own cantatas with new texts: see, for example, the Christmas Oratorio, which is partly based on secular cantatas. We made the video Bach’s Christmas Oratorio - Bridging the earthly and the heavenly about this, in which we explain how Bach proceeded.
I just came across this astounding performance. It has saved me from drowning in the dark waters of this hellish year. I am a conductor who has been deprived of live music since the spring that never came. This sublime performance (perhaps the finest I have ever heard) has helped to beat back the despair and deprivation that still hovers over us all. That such beauty even exists in this world is the greatest of wonders!
@markhenderson5431 at our Hohe Messe on Youtube, 2021
Can we? May we? We continue to explore it. We believe that Bach’s music in particularperformed in the secular setting of a concert - provides an excellent breeding ground for (interfaith) dialogue. We concretize this with large productions such as the opera Jesus in India, and on a smaller scale in ‘Cantatas now’ and ‘Bezin met Bach’.
Opera and Musical Theatre
Opera and musical theater are excellent ways to bring early music to the attention of a wider audience. After previous successful collaborations (around the music of Vivaldi and Bach), we are developing two productions with our regular partner OPERA2DAY in the upcoming period. We are also working with composer/poet/theater maker Micha Hamel on a passion cantata about endurance, loss and hope.
Ancient Magic
(working title, 2026 - 25 performances nationwide) with OPERA2DAY
Sustainability, diversity and creativity meet in this enchanting performance. We look at magical stories featuring classic, female heroines like Medusa, Alcina and Medea from a new perspective: English classics scholar Natalie Haynes shows that classic stories have often been distorted by misogyny throughout history. We portray these women as they truly were. In doing so, we use music from the seventeenth century (when classical themes and magical stories were strongly represented in opera) by female composers such as Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, Francesca Caccini and Barbara Strozzi.
In addition to the magic of the classical story and the enchanting music, we apply the “ancient magic” of ancient theater technology to the stage: we make the technology visible, as part of the stage image, taking an optimistic approach to the sustainability theme: creativity instead of electricity! As always in our collaboration with OPERA2DAY, the performance is accompanied by an education and participation program, in which we work with amateur musicians, interns and volunteers.
Jesus in India
(2028 - 25 performances across the country) with OPERA2DAY and KALPANARTS
There is nothing in the Bible about Jesus’ life between the ages of 12 and 29. That sparks the imagination! Some researchers think that he went to India via the Silk Road and came into contact with enlightened thinkers. Subsequently, Jesus supposedly did not die on the cross, but merely got intoxicated: he was cared for in his tomb not with embalming but with revival herbs. After his “resurrection,” Jesus is said to have returned to Kashmir, where “his” supposed grave can be found in the town of Srinagar to this day.
Our opera Jesus in India is based on this fascinating alternative to the traditional Passion story. We demonstrate the kinship between various religions and cultural traditions by bringing together religion, philosophy and music from different cultures. In Jesus in India, for example, Yiddish, Persian and Indian music come together. OPERA2DAY and the Bach Society are collaborating with the Indian dance company KALPANARTS on this production. Leading up to the performances in 2028, we are presenting trial scenes and musical styles, and organizing public lectures and interviews with experts on world religions. In order to make a substantial contribution to social discourse (diversity, inclusion and interfaith dialogue) with this performance, we are taking some years to carefully build the performance and fringe programming with the right partners and audience approach.
Micha Hamel: Licht der Sinnen
(working title, 2027 - # performances to be confirmed, possible festival production)
In the musical theater performance Licht der Sinnen, we draw a parallel between the church passion tradition and the suffering of disappearing organisms, languages and cultures as a result of aggressive globalization. Where species, landscapes, communities and ways of life cease to exist, so do ways of experiencing reality, of making sensory discoveries. In Licht der Sinnen, composer, poet and playwright Micha Hamel gives voice to all these tragedies.
Licht der Sinnen is “an interdisciplinary cantata about the sensory universe losing its richness,” and is the third part of Hamel’s cycle of full-length musical theater pieces on the theme of climate catastrophe. We are developing this production in collaboration with marine biologist Lisa Becking (specialist in coral reefs and tourism), sensory historian Caro Verbeek and German writer Sabine Kuegler, who grew up in the jungle, where her senses were tuned in a completely unique way. The performance offers a perspective on the current climate catastrophe other than a message of pure loss. The performance sharpens the audience’s senses, gives insight into the influence of sensory awareness and ultimately provides a message of hope.
Performances for children and their (grand)parents
Children are curious, receptive, ask good questions and are honest in their responses. Making music for or with children is therefore fantastic. In the upcoming period, the Bach Society will offer more activities to the very young: both on stage (see below) and off stage (education, see there). We want to give them nothing less than a lifelong love of music.
Finally! A St. Matthew Passion for children by the Netherlands Bach Society
As one of the main guardians of the St Matthew tradition in the Netherlands, we are asked every year if we can’t develop a Children’s St Matthew. To our regret, the answer has always been that it would be too expensive and that we do not have any musicians available (because they play in our ‘regular’ St Matthew tour). But we have really wanted it for a long time. That is why we are very happy that we have found a way to make it happen: sustainably (the production must be able to be repeated annually and not become outdated too quickly), with the use of young talent and an appealing narrator, at manageable costs and accessible to the entire world through a recording for All of Bach. Talks with potential creators will begin in 2024; we are also trying to involve a broadcaster in this project. Target audience: children ages 8 and up (and their parents and grandparents); and it could possibly be developed into a school performance.
Expected completion: season 2027-2028.
Family performances
A successful collaboration with Kooman’s Poppentheater (The Hague) during our anniversary festival, in which four of our Young Bach Fellows participated in a puppet theater performance, showed us that there is a substantial market for (grand)parents with their (grand)children. The four performances we gave as part of the festival sold out in no time and were highly rated. We want more of that: in the coming years we will develop two family performances, which we can play at various locations around the country spread out over the season. Here too we are looking for a sustainable approach: a performance that we can use several seasons, that involves a limited number of players/singers, that we can travel around the country with and that can be repeated at short notice. Target audience: children ages 8 and up (and their parents and grandparents); and it could possibly be developed into a school performance.
Expected completion: season 2025-2026.
Listening to Bach with different ears
Bezin met Bach - (three editions per season, in cooperation with TivoliVredenburg)
This series was a great success from its first edition in season 2022-2023. The combination of a theme-specific speaker, Bach’s unparalleled music and the inspiring contribution of Flemish word artist Maud Vanhauwaert proved to be a golden combination. To sell tickets, we collaborated with TivoliVredenburg’s Opinion & Debate department, which meant that we also view people in the audience who might not normally go to a Bach Society concert. Target audience: adults interested in social issues and music. Realization: ongoing, three times per season.
Wow what a beautifully enriching way to experience the music with the story. I thoroughly enjoyed this. How fantastic that the crossed out music was preserved to grant us an intimate insight into Bach’s process! Bridging Heaven and Earth - the eternal quest through time! @Briannalamar, comments on YouTube at documentary on Bach’s WeihnachtsOratorium
Cantatas of today
In the coming period we will use cantatas by Bach in one or more programs as inspiration for a new interpretation. This may be with a new text, a translation, a recounting or a new perspective in the form of a short composition assignment. In doing so, we take a different (than ProtestantChristian) view of the text and make connections with other (religious or humanistic) beliefs. In 2024 we kick off with harpsichordist and musical director John Butt, who explores the theme of “free will” based on three cantatas by Bach. In 2025, organ player Bart Naessens will do the same based on a theme of his own choosing. Target audience: music lovers curious about an idiosyncratic approach to Bach’s music.
Realization: as of season 2024-2025, one program per season
Easter, Christmas and All Souls: the great traditions, different every year
St. Matthew Passion
The “icon” of the Netherlands Bach Society is an annual highlight of our programming, bringing together many things that we consider important: tradition, innovation, talent development, education, social significance, accessibility and regional ties. The Good Friday lecture adds a new, current perspective each year. The annual walk to the Matthew Passion has for a large part of our audience the value of a ritual, especially in Grote Kerk Naarden, where the tradition has been given the official status of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
At the same time, we also seek to innovate precisely with this greatest work by Bach. On the one hand by working with young talent (soloists, musicians and conductors), on the other by always looking for an interesting vision of the work, or by choosing a version that is not often performed. In the coming period we would like to present two special versions of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion:
• The so-called Früh-Fassung (BWV 244b, single-choir version), touring and recording for All of Bach;
• Developing a “Children’s St Matthew,” touring and recording for All of Bach (see above).
Christmas programs
The Christmas season is also a time when the Bach Society wants to reach many audiences. Although an annual tour of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio would be an obvious option and commercially attractive, we also want audiences to hear other beloved repertoire in December. In 2024-2025 we will collaborate with harpsichordist Lars-Ulrik Mortensen (cantatas 4-6 from the WeihnachtsOratorium, combined with a recording for All of Bach in early 2025); in December 2025 we will tour Bach’s Hohe Messe under the direction of Richard Egarr. We are in discussions with soprano/ conductor Barbara Hannigan about a distinctive Christmas program in 2026 or 2027.
All Souls
For centuries, November 2 in Western Christian tradition has been the day of remembrance for the departed, under the name All Souls’ Day. A day on which joy and sorrow meet. Sadness for loss, joy for beautiful memories or the comforting thought of a heavenly afterlife. With such luminaries as Leonardo García Alarcón, Jos van Veldhoven and René Jacobs, in recent years we have explored the repertoire that connects to the day of remembrance for the dead. We will continue this cherished tradition in the coming years with Lionel Meunier (2025) and - we hope - Andreas Scholl (2026), among others.
3.2. Digital strategy: All of Bach - Bach online, for the whole world
If there is one place where the Bach Society’s entrepreneurship and commitment to accessibility are reflected, it is within the online video platform All of Bach. Over the past decade, we have come to realise that our digital strategy is and will continue to be an integral part of the Bach Society’s program of activities. In the future, we plan to offer our material on other platforms as well (Spotify, Apple Music). To this end, we still need to overcome some legal hurdles. At the time of this writing, the YouTube channel has 863 unique recordings, over 457,000 subscribers and over 116 million page views. What is also unique about the project is that it is largely supported financially by sponsors and individuals: their involvement is indispensable.
Plans All of Bach 2025-2028: deepening and broadening
All of Bach is an increasingly complete platform for our activities. We began with exclusively (live) recordings in concert settings, but over the years we have increasingly opted for a more artistic and distinctive way of recording; sometimes also without an audience, so that we could work at unusual locations and adopt different camera angles. In addition, our activities outside the concert stage have found a place within the context of our online platform: education and talent development find their own translation to All of Bach.
Connecting to our themes of mental health and interfaith dialogue
• Participatory project: a coral for...
Together with NPO Classical, we are starting a participation project, following a number of amateur choirs who will work with four singers from the NBV.
• Interfaith dialogue: What does this text mean to me?
Short videos in which people from different religious backgrounds talk about what touches or disturbs them in the music of Bach. Here we link up with the ‘stage projects’ in which this plays a role, such as the passions, Bezin met Bach and Cantatas van nu.
Education on All of Bach
Increasingly, we are using our platform as an educational resource: with engaging mini-documentaries, we provide background information on Bach’s music, the difference between “authentic” and “modern” instruments, what is challenging about singing Bach, etc.
• In our “How we sing and play Bach” series, we will be paying attention to the Baroque oboe, traverso and Baroque bass in the coming years;
• Explanation of a Baroque musical term: excerpts from All of Bach are enriched with an animation layer and a voice-over;
• Educational videos within All of Bach are better grouped and made findable.
Talent development within All of Bach
Young talent (ages 12-18) has its own place within All of Bach: meanwhile, through our platform, we have offered a stage to children who were introduced to the harpsichord, the Baroque violin and the baroque cello. In 2026, we will again choose the (baroque) violin; in 2028 we will work with young singers. In the latter project we involve our own singers and partners such as the Kathedrale Koorschool Utrecht and/or Vocaal Talent Nederland. We also cooperate with the young talent departments of the Dutch conservatories, especially those of The Hague and Amsterdam.
Our own Young Bach Fellows play and sing in our programs and also have the opportunity to gain recording experience. For the new batch of fellows, starting in September 2024, we are developing plans that are suitable for the composition of the group.
Innovation: we never stand still De Technology does not stand still and we are happy to show this at All of Bach as well. Some of the plans:
Wonderful talent - it’s heartening to know that Bach’s music resonates with the next generation. Thank you, NBS, for showcasing these remarkable individuals. And presenting them in such an exquisite manner-the sound quality, camera work, etc., is outstanding, in keeping with literally every other performance I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of watching from the NBS library. God bless you folks. @gerryhill4820, comments on project for young cellists, 2022
• A recording in which the viewer can choose which spot to sit in: this way you experience the performance from the perspective of a singer, the harpsichordist or the concertmaster, for example.
• The recording of a harpsichord work with a “green screen” or LED screen where images/ thoughts a musician has about a piece or images of an artist are projected on the screen during the playing (possibly in collaboration with HKU). If possible performed live, combined with recording (simultaneously or afterwards).
• Special short productions for younger viewers: shorts for TikTok or Instagram, possibly using animation.
3.3. Accessibility
The pursuit of optimal accessibility is embodied in our mission: Bach for all! We want to give everyone the opportunity to listen (live and online), learn (education, live and online) and participate (participation, live). The audience approach is consistent with this: we focus on a younger audience, groups from society with different religious beliefs, and people who are less easily exposed to art and culture due to their socioeconomic position.
3.3.1. Listening: audience and geographical distribution of activities.
Composition of audience DIP
What does the audience of our concerts look like? It’s a justified question, which is not easy to answer. Although the Bach Society is affiliated with DIP (Digital Information Platform for the Performing Arts), the venues where we regularly play are not. In the coming years we will continue to participate in DIP through the NAPK. We see the added value for the sector, with the Audience Monitor in particular being a useful tool. But as long as the majority of concert halls are not prepared to share data, either with us or with DIP, an adequate analysis of the structure of our audience - with the exception of our own productions for which we sell our own tickets - will remain impossible.
Public concerts in-house
The Bach Society has its own ticket system (Tixly), which does provide (limited) insight into the audience composition of the concerts we organize ourselves. Almost 80% of our Friends (donors) and other visitors of concerts in Naarden are between 50 and 80 years old. The audience is quite homogeneous: (we suspect) mostly highly educated and socio-economically belonging to the upper middle class. With a large part of its audience the Bach Society has maintained a long and close relationship, sometimes for many decades.
Pricing Policy
To keep our concerts accessible, we have a tiered pricing policy.
For the best seats at our St Matthew performances, we charge a price that does justice to the scarcity of these tickets (150 euros), which also allows us to offer a contingent of tickets for 20 euros. We apply the usual CJP (Cultural Youth Passport) and City Pass discounts. In addition, we are building the possibility to participate in “Give an encore” into our ordering process. The resulting budget will be used with the help of the Armoedecoalitie to enable culture lovers on a tight budget to attend our concerts.
Ambitions around audience expansion
In the coming years, we are committed to broadening and attracting a younger audience, working from three focal points: socioeconomics, life stage and philosophy.
Bach for those with limited financial resources
To make and keep our activities accessible to as many people as possible, we also target culture lovers who do not have sufficient means to go to the theater or concert hall.
For example, we have been working with the Armoedecoalitie since 2023. Through their mediation, we were able to welcome eighty people at the try-out of Shunske Sato’s farewell concert in Utrecht’s Geertekerk who otherwise rarely go to concerts: refugees and people with limited financial resources. The explanations (spoken in English) accompanying the music were particularly appreciated. We will continue this cooperation at several concerts per season.
In Naarden, we are working with Versa Welzijn to involve refugees in our concerts in the Grote Kerk. We will also continue this initiative. We pay extra attention to accessibility by welcoming these visitors separately and giving them context to the music.
Bach erbij! Towards a younger audience for Bach
To reach a younger audience, we developed the online campaign Bach erbij (Better with Bach), aimed at the 25-55 age group, targeted at the cities where the Bach Society most frequently gives concerts. The campaign ran through Facebook, Instagram and DPG Media (including Volkskrant, AD, nu.nl). In response to a catchy “problem statement”, Bach erbij is offered as a solution. By clicking on Bach erbij, via the landing page of the campaign, you get to see and hear an All of Bach video that can serve as a solution to the ‘problem’. In the second instance, the visitor is then enticed into attending a concert. We involve the very young in our activities by developing special productions (see “Performances for children and their (grand)parents”) and a brand new education package for primary schools.
Philosophy of Life
Bach’s music is ideally suited to topics related to philosophy and dialogue. This is reflected in our programming in various new and existing initiatives. For each production, we determine which target groups we want to reach. Philosophy of life is central in ‘Bezin met Bach’. In ‘Cantatas van nu’, we discuss live and online (via All of Bach) various religious and humanistic views on Bach’s texts. A multi-year program is being developed around the opera Jesus in India (2028), in which various world religions are discussed, in language and music.
Geographic distribution of activities
The Netherlands Bach Society has an (inter)national function and therefore spreads its projects across the country as much as possible. This policy is also consistent with the mission “Bach for all”. Outside our core cities of Utrecht, Naarden and Amsterdam (where we have our own series) we play all over the country: from Groningen to Maastricht, from Arnhem to Middelburg, from Oss to Aardenburg - in as many places as possible we want to be able to perform live. Through the cooperation with OPERA2DAY, we will also play - outside concert halls and churches - frequently on the national theater circuit in the coming years. We aim to keep this spread as wide in 20252028, but note that our spreading ambitions are no longer in line with our budgets. For this, see the reflection on the financial position 2021-2024 and beyond in the chapter Financial Position.
Listening without barriers - the Bach Society online
Through our very comprehensive online program All of Bach we remove barriers: both physically (you don’t have to come to a hall to listen to our music), financially (the offer is free), and possible knowledge barriers: expertise is not required and at the same time there is plenty for the Bach connoisseur to discover. Because of our international context, we use two languages in our communications: Dutch and English. We provide more and more of our videos with subtitles so that they are accessible worldwide.
All of Bach’s YouTube channel is very successful. In recent years, the channel’s subscribers have grown to over 450,000 and now 25 videos have passed the 1 million views mark. YouTube Analytics provides great insight into the channel’s viewers and their viewing behavior.
• In geography, it is notable that out of a total of 49 countries, most viewers come from the United States (15.2%), followed by Japan (8.5%) and Germany (7.7%). The Netherlands takes fourth place (with 6.5%). Over the past year alone, there have been around 1.3 million Dutch views on the channel: a significant reach.
• In terms of age, it is notable that the largest age group is 65+ (20.5%). However, this group is directly followed by the 25-34 age group (18.8%). The age groups in between (35-64 years old) are not far behind either, at just over 15%. In short, the YouTube channel attracts relatively many “younger” viewers, especially compared to the average age of the audience that attends Bach Society concerts.
3.3.2. Learning: Education for all ages - live and online
The Netherlands Bach Society finds education very important: with only twelve (!) municipal music schools left in the Netherlands, the responsibility for strengthening the love of classical music in a contemporary and appealing way has been left to venues, festivals and performing organisations such as the Bach Society. Here, too, the Bach Society opts for live and online.
Live: musicians in the classroom, concert and rehearsal visits
The Bach Society has two educational programs for secondary schools. Our educational packages are currently running at schools in Tilburg, Terneuzen, Bilthoven, Bussum (two schools), Utrecht, Amersfoort, The Hague and Baarn. By 2024, a total of more than 310 students (spread across 12 schools) are participating in our secondary education programs. In the coming years, we hope to expand the number of schools for both Oog in oog met de Matthäus and Bach@School. We reserve a minimum of 400 concert tickets per season for educational purposes in future years.
Oog in Oog met de Matthäus-Passion is a program for secondary schools, in which the teacher and a musician from the Bach Society prepare the class for a concert visit: the whole class visits the St Matthew Passion of the Netherlands Bach Society. For 2024 we have reserved a contingent of a total of 475 free tickets (divided over five halls/churches) so that schoolchildren can attend a performance of our St. Matthew Passion.
Bach@School is our education project for secondary school students who have chosen music in their curriculum. Learning to improvise - an important part of baroque music - using themes from the baroque era is the central element of this package. Bach@School consists of a preparatory lesson, a guest lesson by a musician (or several musicians) from the Bach Society who improvises with the students, and a concluding concert or rehearsal visit.
Rehearsal Visit
To get even closer to Bach and the Bach Society ensemble, every year we invite school students (secondary school) to attend the dress rehearsal of the St. Matthew Passion. The students sit close to the ensemble or even next to the musicians, are allowed to ask questions and thus get in touch with the finest we have to offer.
Ambition: an education package for primary education
For primary education, we are currently developing a new education package. A pilot with this package will start in April 2024 at elementary school De Pionier in Maarssen. This involves interactive concerts by small groups of our musicians with accessible music which lasts about 45 minutes, each time slightly adapted according to the age group. For the preschoolers this will be different from the higher years onwards. After the pilot and possible adjustments, the package will be offered to elementary schools in the Netherlands starting in school year 2024-2025.
Online for all ages, through our website and YouTube.com/@bach
• All about Bach: Our website contains a lot of background information about the world around J.S. Bach. Enriched with video material, the information provides an insight into the themes of life, character, composing and Bach’s legacy.
• All of Bach: see Digital strategy
3.3.3. Participate: play and sing along with Bach
Not every music lover can or wants to develop a career as a musician, but music is a beloved hobby for many. The musicians of the Bach Society enjoy contributing to the playing and singing pleasure of amateurs.
• Since the season of 2018-2019, our musicians have been coaching the ensemble Collegium Musicum Traiectum. This Utrecht-based vocal-instrumental ensemble consists of passionate amateur musicians. Both experienced professionals and enthusiastic amateurs find the interaction very inspiring.
• During our anniversary festival we provided a “scratch”: amateur musicians performed parts of Bach’s Hohe Messe together with the ensemble of the Bach Society. We want more of this! In the period 2025-2028 we want to organize a scratch once a season during a tour with a major work by Bach.
• At All of Bach we introduce the participation project A Coral for... (see under digital strategy)
• After an enjoyable and successful collaboration as part of Utrecht 900 with Holland Baroque and the Nederlands Kamerkoor, we are considering the possibility of joining forces again in the period of 2025-2028. An important goal of this cooperation is to allow amateurs (probably mainly children) to participate.
• Opera lovers get their money’s worth through the participation programs we develop around the productions with OPERA2DAY. Sometimes these involve amateur theater societies, sometimes amateur choirs. For the Jesus in India project, we are looking at the possibility of collaborating on amateur dance.
3.4. The Bach Society and the codes
To make all these activities possible, careful handling of people and resources is essential. The Bach Society subscribes to the three codes for the cultural sector and embeds the principles of the codes throughout its operations, at all levels. The Fair Practice Code is discussed below; the principles of the Diversity & Inclusion Code are found throughout the application and in particular in the Accessibility chapter. The Culture Governance Code is specifically addressed in the chapter on Corporate Health.
Fair Practice Code
The Bach Society considers good employment practices a prerequisite for healthy business operations and is therefore committed to a careful personnel policy (recruitment, work-life balance, fair remuneration, thoughtful team building, training budget) and a safe working atmosphere.
Solidarity (Fair pay)
For years the organization has been committed to fair pay for freelancers; the Bach Society was also involved in the creation of the Collective Labour Agreement for Music Ensembles. The organization joined the new CLA as of the first possible date (March 1, 2022). To prepare for this, we increased fees by 10% in 2020-2021 and formed an earmarked reserve “improvement of working conditions” for the period 2021-2023. Although the CLA started as an introductory CLA, the Bach Society chose to follow the CLA on all points immediately. We also compensate freelancers in full accordance with the CLA. All employees, including the managing director, are paid in accordance with the CLA for Music Ensembles.
Solidarity goes beyond one’s own institution. The Bach Society is affiliated with the NAPK, Kunsten ‘92 and the Utrechts Muziek Overleg. One of the best aspects of our sector is the solidarity between ensembles. We help each other with information exchange, relevant contacts, sharing knowledge and - in some cases - even personnel. In 2023, the director participated in the NAPK’s START program, which pairs a young business leader with an experienced director. The NBV remains eager to engage in this type of talent development as well.
Sustainable employability: careful handling of personnel Office staff and musicians are recruited based on their abilities. We value diversity in the office team and in the ensemble and therefore, when vacancies arise, we explicitly invite people of all orientations and backgrounds to apply. The Bach Society’s staff (musicians and staff) is diverse in terms of nationality, age, gender and sexual orientation. There are no gender-specific dress codes for musicians and other stage staff. We believe it is important that everyone can be themselves at the Bach Society.
Ensemble members are educated at conservatories and office workers are predominantly theoretically trained. The nature of the work (dissemination of Western cultural heritage) implies that diversity in cultural background in the workplace is low. Wherever possible - starting with the Supervisory Board - the Bach Society has made an explicit commitment to cultural diversity. In general, employees stay with the Bach Society for a relatively long time. We therefore try to invest in the development of our employees wherever possible. From our training budget we support and facilitate employees’ training wishes, in time and/or financially.
Talent Development Project with cellist Lucia Swarts, October 2022
Sustainability and our environment
The Netherlands Bach Society is well aware of the importance of sustainability and is continually exploring opportunities to ‘green’ its activities. On the one hand, we achieve quick wins by, for example, providing vegetarian meals during tours, no longer using plastic cups, separating waste and using ecological cleaning products. Our monumental office building in the Utrecht city center was thoroughly renovated in 2023, with investments in double glazing and a new draftfree back facade. On the other hand, we sometimes have to weigh interests, such as when we are invited abroad and we contrast our ambitions and audience revenues with the climate impact of air travel. The basic principle is that we choose the most sustainable solution, unless there are overriding reasons not to. We will develop concrete policies for this in the period 2025-2028.
Trust: social safety
Social safety is an important issue in the performing arts. Since 2018, the Bach Society has had an (external) confidential counsellor for musicians and staff and is affiliated with the Social Safety Foundation for the Performing Arts (SSVP) through membership in the NAPK. This foundation not only provides preventive support (e.g. through training and workshops) but also facilitates a confidential committee for transgressive behavior. Since 2023, a supervisor has the subject of social safety in her portfolio. In 2024, the entire organization will attend training(s) to increase awareness around the topic of social safety. An organization-wide code of conduct is under development; it will be available to all in the first half of 2024.
4. Occupational health
The Netherlands Bach Society is a professional organization that is able to bring artistic activities to fruition thanks to a stable foundation of good governance and realistic entrepreneurship. This means that we apply the principles of the Governance Code for Culture, that we work on the basis of realistic budgets and only plan activities that we can actually carry out. We invest in research and innovation, enter into sustainable collaborations and cherish both rich tradition and adventurous experimentation. Of course, entrepreneurship involves a certain degree of risk; we have a solid safety net for that.
4.1 Financial position, funding mix and risk management
4.1.1. Reflection financial position 2021-2024
In financial terms, the 2021-2024 period is special compared to previous years.
• The years 2021 and 2022 are financially dominated by the corona crisis;
• In 2022, the Bach Society joined the first CLA Music Ensembles, which has a significant impact on the budget;
• In addition, the year 2022 experienced high inflation, which had a significant impact on activity costs;
• Management and activity costs for personnel increase sharply in 2024 due to an unusually high indexation of salaries of 6.9% as of Jan. 1.
Since the introduction of the Collective Labour Agreement and high inflation in 2022, expenses have continually increased. These cost increases were partly unforeseen and have caused the years 20232024 to be budgeted with a deficit. Commitments made and budgeted in 2022 (or earlier) show a different financial picture in 2024: higher costs. We have also chosen to reprise the opera J.S. Bach - The Apocalypse in 2024: a significant cost, but important to our profile. We can cover the budgeted deficit in 2023 and 2024 with earmarked reserves and income from an estate.
Featured: joining Collective Labour Agreement (CLA) in 2022
In 2022, the Netherlands Bach Society joined the first CLA for Music Ensembles. We knew that a Collective Labour Agreement was coming, but what it would entail we did not know in 2019-2020 (at the time of writing the 2021-2024 application). The implementation of the CLA has caused a permanent increase in personnel costs, especially on the activity side.
• Musicians are no longer paid as free lancers, but are salaried on a per-project basis; paying employer fees has increased the cost per hour worked;
• The total number of billable hours increased sharply as travel hours of musicians to concert venues and schools (education projects) are fully reimbursed.
The implications of this are profound:
• The continued payment of travel time means that we have to limit our ambitions in terms of geographical reach. Playing in Groningen or Zeeland easily costs each musician six extra hours per concert. In practice, this means approximately €8,000-10,000 in extra costs per concert for distant venues. These costs are not compensated by the venues, which in turn rely on their own insufficient budgets, among other things due to sharply increased energy prices.
• The ensemble of the Bach Society has an international composition: many of the core musicians live abroad or are not taxable in the Netherlands. In accordance with the CLA, they receive 150% of their hourly rate, plus travel and accommodation expenses. This also drives up our costs.
• Full pay for a musician’s illness during a project is a good thing. This part of the CLA has also caused a substantial increase in our costs. After all, every musician must be replaced one-on-one in case of illness.
2025-2028: towards a new balance between activities and resources
As mentioned above, with a constant level of activity, expenses have increased permanently. We were able to absorb this imbalance in 2023-2024 with incidental measures. In the coming period we will steer towards a structurally healthy balance between income and expenses. In addition, our social ambitions and our wishes in terms of accessibility bring additional costs. To make all this possible, we have made a number of choices.
Cost control:
• A number of projects are occupied with a smaller ensemble than originally anticipated;
• We look critically at the use and fees of (vocal) soloists;
• We keep the office staff as compact as possible.
Increase own income:
• We are making greater use of private funds, especially for the projects in the areas of social significance and accessibility;
• We are intensifying our commitment to acquiring estates; the head of fundraising and estate planning is undergoing training to this end in 2024;
• We are betting even more strongly on the high net worth market;
• We are developing a new proposition for our Friends to optimize benefits from this important group of supporters;
• The ‘Stichting Ondersteuning’ – the Foundation Supporting the Netherlands Bach Society contributes financially to our ambitions in the field of social engagement and accessibility through an annual earmarked amount.
4.1.2. Funding mix
It has always been a guiding principle of the Bach Society to have a high own income percentage: this lowers the dependence on government subsidies and provides a solid base for to the organization. Our own income in recent years has averaged 75-80%, excluding the corona years. Within the 80% own income, the ratio income from ticket sales - other own income (business sponsors, donors, Friends) is about 45-35%.
• For the next period, we are applying for a higher grant amount. We can thus offset part of the aforementioned cost increases due to joining the Collective Labour Agreement. The own income percentage thus drops to approximately 70% per year. See the notes to the budget for this.
• We expect audience revenues (based on the historical average) to remain stable in the coming years. We take into account a possible increase in VAT on concert tickets to 21%: an overly drastic price increase does not contribute to our accessibility.
• The political climate may change, as may the starting points for cultural funding: in 2029 there will be a new system. In the coming years, resilience will be more important than ever, and with it, acquiring (even) more of your own income from individuals and businesses will be crucial.
4.2 Governance
The Netherlands Bach Society is a foundation and since 2019 has had a managing director (hereafter ‘the director’) and a Supervisory Board. At the managerial level, the Governance Code for Culture has been commonplace for years. In 2023, a number of plenary meetings with staff and musicians paid extra attention to the way the Bach Society is organized, a clear division of mandates and responsibilities and how the supervisory model works in practice. Also, with the advice of two external consultants, significant steps were taken in improving the internal culture, where inclusive processes, transparency and open communication are keywords.
The director is in charge of the daily management of the organization and monitors the functioning of the Bach Society as a whole. She balances the artistic ambitions and the financial resources. The social objective of the organization is leading in this, and she safeguards the (artistic) integrity and independence. The director keeps abreast of relevant laws and regulations, including membership of the NAPK, attending meetings, training and regularly seeking external advice. Internally, the director regularly seeks advice and feedback and thus facilitates dissent.
The duties and responsibilities of the director and the supervisors are defined in the bylaws, management regulations and the Supervisory Board’s own regulations. The director and Supervisory Board members operate independently, with integrity and in accordance with the principles of the GCC. Both the articles of association and the regulations include provisions prescribing how to act in the unlikely event of a case of (the appearance of) a conflict of interest.
The Supervisory Board is aware of its supervisory role and maintains sufficient distance from the director to be able to perform its duties properly. The Supervisory Board is aware of the dynamics of the performing arts sector and offers the director sufficient room for entrepreneurship. The articles of association stipulate which of the director’s decisions are subject to prior approval by the Supervisory Board. This includes in any case the adoption of budgets, policy plans and annual accounts.
The Supervisory Board meets at least four times a year, with or without the presence of the director.
The director provides the Supervisory Board, solicited and unsolicited, orally and in writing, all the information the supervisors need to perform their duties. Once a year the Supervisory Board evaluates itself (in the absence of the director), of which once every three years under the guidance of an external expert. The performance of the director and the mutual cooperation with the Supervisory Board are evaluated annually. Reports are made of all evaluations.
The Supervisory Board is carefully composed, ensuring expertise, diversity and independence. The council aims to appoint its seventh member in 2024; vacancies are advertised and profiles based on a competence matrix. The appointment schedule provides for a maximum of two terms of office of no more than four years each. The positions of chairman and vice-chairman have been appointed within the Supervisory Board. Two members of the RvT explicitly oversee the Friends policy of the Bach Society. One supervisor has social safety in her portfolio. There is an audit committee, consisting of two (or three) members of the Supervisory Board, which meets at least twice a year, once of which in the presence of the external auditor. The Supervisory Board appoints a different auditor every four years, and also a new audit firm every eight years. Supervisory Board members are unpaid.
Geographic distribution: location Utrecht
The Bach Society is part of the urban cultural region of Utrecht. Because of its central location in the country, the Bach Society is easily accessible for its (international) musicians and audiences, and most provinces are easily reached on our national tours. We consider ourselves fortunate with our position in the heart of the country, in a rapidly growing city rich in high-quality art institutions, especially in (classical) music. Within the city we have a number of collaborative partners, such as TivoliVredenburg, Organisatie Oude Muziek, Holland Baroque, the Netherlands Chamber Choir, Collegium Musicum Traiectum and the Poverty Coalition. In the period 2025-2028 we also seek cooperation with the Kathedrale Koorschool Utrecht and/or Vocaal Talent Nederland The Bach Society, under the banner of Utrecht Marketing, participates in joint cultural activities in the city, is a member of the Utrechts Muziek Overleg (UMO) and participates in the Utrecht cultural target group model.
In conclusion
The Netherlands Bach Society takes pride and pleasure in making sure everyone enjoys the music of Bach. We hope to continue to earn appreciation for our activities!