At a meeting of the Foundation Council chaired by the Lord Mayor of the City of Leipzig Burkhard Jung, Ton Koopman was chosen to be the new President of the Leipzig Bach Archive Foundation on 13 May 2019. In this function, the Dutch Bach specialist will become part of the three-strong Foundation management board with immediate effect, the other members being the Leipzig Bach Archive Director, Bach scholar Prof. Dr. Peter Wollny, and its CEO, Franziska Grimm.

Ton Koopman’s deep, scholarly knowledge of the life and work of Bach make him predestined for the role of Foundation President, as does his outstanding career as a musician: he is the founder of the renowned Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Amsterdam Baroque Choir, and has been invited to perform as a soloist and ensemble director at all the major concert halls and festivals all over the world. He is also a guest conductor of major orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. He is Professor emeritus of Historically Informed Performance of Early Music at Leiden University, an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music in London, artistic director of the Itinéraire Baroque festival and President of the International Dieterich Buxtehude Society. For his services, Ton Koopman has won numerous international awards, including the City of Leipzig Bach Medal.

We are happy to announce our new president Ton Koopman today! In this position he succeeds John Eliot Gardiner. We´re looking forward to work with Ton Koopman and we want to send out a big Thank You to John Eliot Gardiner!

Source: www.bach-leipzig.de