Augustana Students Perform Sacred Cantatas Through Bach Collegium

For the second year, Augustana University students will have the opportunity to perform the works of Johann Sebastian Bach through the School of Music's Bach Collegium, led by Dr. David Chin, visiting assistant professor of music. The collegium's first-semester performances will take place on campus in September and November.

"A collegium - in Bach's time in the 18th century in Leipzig, Germany - was a musical club where university students and community members came together and made music," Chin said. "For the collegium at Augustana, we audition and have some of the best singers and instrumentalists in this group, where we dedicate our time to study and perform the music of Bach."

Chin leads an ensemble of 25-30 singers and instrumentalists. The students practice historically-informed performances (HIP) by researching and singing Bach's works, specifically his cantatas, in German, their original language.

A cantata is a narrative, musical composition intended to be sung, alongside instrumental accompaniment. Bach's "sacred cantatas," of which there are about 200, often reflected the readings of that week's church services.

"Each of these cantatas are very deep; they talk about all conditions of human life according to the lectionary, or teaching, of the day in Sunday service," said Chin. "(The cantatas) talk about hope, despair, loneliness, loss, but always lead us to light - always give us hope. And, I think this is what our society, our world, needs the most."

The Bach Collegium's first performance of the academic year will be at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 26, in the Augustana Chapel of Reconciliation. The second will be at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 3, also in Augustana's chapel.

Both performances will be presented in a lecture-concert format. Chin will take the audience through the cantata movement by movement, play excerpts, explain the various instrumental parts and, then, perform the entire cantata.

"This is very scholastic, as well as artistic," Chin said. "We try to bring our understanding of how this music should be performed as it was performed in the time of Bach."

At the end of the performance, the audience will join the collegium in song.

"The last movement is usually a congregational hymn that the audience will sing together with us and the pipe organ in the chapel," Chin said. "It's very special and very moving."

For Chin, who's the founder and artistic director of Bachfest Malaysia and conductor of the Malaysia Bach Festival Singers and Orchestra, Augustana has been the perfect platform for Bach's music.

"There's no better place than a university with a Lutheran tradition, so I'm very excited about that," Chin said. "We are doing this in the context of the 21st century, and at the same time, we are inheriting the Lutheran tradition and tradition of the university. So, it's both innovation and tradition."

In the spring, the Bach Collegium will perform a special concert on Tuesday, April 15, in the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Sioux Falls - performing Bach's "St John Passion," the telling of the passion of Christ, according to St. John's Gospel.

Chin and the students' most exciting performance, however, will be in March 2026 when they travel to Leipzig, Germany, to sing at St. Thomas Church - where Bach first composed and performed his cantatas, and the place of his burial.

While the performances are special, Chin said his favorite part of the collegium is everything leading up to them.

"The faces of the students when they have a new discovery about something in Bach's music - that's fulfillment that money cannot buy," said Chin. "When they see that, 'Wow, I can actually do this. I didn't know I could' - that is something I really cherish."

Beginning in the 2025-26 academic year, the School of Music will begin offering the Bach Collegium Scholarship for vocal and instrumental students. Scholarships will be awarded at $9,000 annually. An audition is required. Learn more at augie.edu/MusicScholarships.

Performances & Tickets

• Thursday, Sept. 26 | 7:30 p.m. | Augustana Chapel of Reconciliation | Tickets
• Sunday, Nov. 3 | 3 p.m. | Augustana Chapel of Reconciliation | Tickets
• Tickets for School of Music events are $5 per person, and free for Augustana students, staff and retirees.
• Tuesday, April 15 | 7:30 p.m. | Cathedral of Saint Joseph | Additional information

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