»Music must never be comfortable. It does not
belong in a museum. It needs to stir up the listener,
reach him personally, provoke his thoughts...«
Helmuth Rilling

In 1981, the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart (Stuttgart International Bach Academy) was founded by Helmuth Rilling. The Bach Academy and its ensembles Gächinger Kantorei and Stuttgart Bach Collegium are now internationally acclaimed benchmarks of excellent music production and communication. To this day, Helmuth Rilling as the Academy's artistic leader has been its prevailing influence. Furthermore, he is an eminent figure leading the Gächinger Kantorei and the Stuttgart Bach Collegium as well as being a sought-after guest conductor around the world. Since 2008, director Christian Lorenz has been shaping the Bach Academy's conceptual future. Today, the Academy's work may be best summarised into three fields of activity: Performances, Ensembles, Music mediation.