24.03.2026

JAN PETRYKA as the Evangelist in Bach’s St John and St Matthew Passions

In anticipation of the musical Passion season, the weeks ahead offer tenor Jan Petrkya ample opportunity to immerse himself in Bach’s St John Passion and St Matthew Passion, performing them in various settings with different ensembles.

He kicks things off with his debut at Zurich Opera House as part of a concert performance of the St John Passion with the Orchestra La Scintilla, and the Zürcher Sing-Akademie conducted by Florian Helgath. Under his baton, Jan Petryka will bring the story of Jesus’s suffering to life with intensity and narrative power in the role of the Evangelist. The close adherence to the text required for this –keen stylistic awareness in dealing with Baroque performance practice and emotional nuance are interpretative qualities that make him a particularly well-suited performer for this role. 

Following a second performance of the Passion at the French Church in Bern as part of the ‘Les Concert’ concert series, Jan Petryka’s musical journey continues to Essen, where he will join forces with the Les Essences chamber orchestra and the Chorwerk Ruhr to take part in a special project: As the Evangelist – this time in Bach’s St Matthew Passion and once again under the baton of Florian Helgath – he will take centre stage in a performance in which amateur singers from Essen and the surrounding area will be given the opportunity to sing selected chorales from Bach’s masterpiece together with Chorwerk Ruhr, thereby playing an active part in the overall performance. With two separate stages set up in the salt warehouse and UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Zollverein Essen, this creates a 360° concert experience that makes Bach’s music not only audible but also a shared experience – a project of social togetherness and communal listening par excellence.

This intensive musical journey will conclude with two concerts featuring the Noord Nederlands Orkest in Drachten and Groningen, where Jan Petryka will finally take on the role of the Arien tenor as part of a tour conducted by Hartmut Haenchen.