Freshly sworn in as Leipzig's Thomaskontor, Johann Sebastian Bach was full of energy in 1723, composing, among other works, the "Magnificat," a eulogy cantata for the Advent season for his new choir. Shortly after the annunciation by the angel Gabriel, Mary tells her cousin the good news of her pregnancy with the Savior. This message sounds especially joyful when Vox Luminis, an outstanding early music ensemble, is on stage.

EPSG:4326

Bach: Magnificat

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

In the two performances of Johann Sebastian Bach's St. John Passion, Sebastian Myrus will take over the role of Pilate from Geoffroy Buffière, who will sing in the ensemble.

St. John Passion — Vox Luminis · Freiburg Baroque Orchestra · Meunier

Kollegienkirche

Timor Dei — Vox Luminis · Meunier

An evening full of baroque drama and spiritual depth: Vox Luminis, the award-winning vocal ensemble conducted by Lionel Meunier, presents three moving 17th-century oratorios. The program includes Giacomo Carissimi's Historia di Jonas und Jephte and Marc-Antoine Charpentier's Le Reniement de Saint Pierre. With its signature sound, which combines soloistic brilliance and vocal cohesion, Vox Luminis brings the biblical stories to life in all their emotional power. A concert that combines musical excellence with touching expressiveness—early music at its most vibrant.

Vox Luminis & Lionel Meunier – Timor Dei

Vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas: Music of Rossi and Carissimi.

Vox Luminis

Emmanuel Church Boston

From its very first notes in 2004, early music ensemble Vox Luminis has claimed the international spotlight with its unique sound. Founder, artistic director and bass Lionel Meunier composed the ensemble in such a way that each voice can shine solo as well as merge into one luminous fabric of sound.

Special Guests: Vox Luminis

St. James by-the-Sea Episcopal Church

Ein Deutsches Barockrequiem: Texts from the Brahms Requiem set by German Baroque masters

New England Conservatory of Music

Last summer, Vox Luminis wowed Berkeley Festival audiences with their numinous, finely tuned sound and exquisite vocal blend. They return to our stage this season with a program showcasing the early Bach cantatas—perhaps not as well known as his later works, but no less worthy of Vox Luminis’ wealth of talent and scholarly approach to the music.

Special Event: Vox Luminis

St. Mark’s Lutheran Church

The Belgian baroque ensemble Vox Luminis has soared to international acclaim since its founding in 2004, garnering two Gramophone awards—Recording of the Year (2012) and Best Choral Album (2019)—among countless others. This concert will feature music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Dietrich Buxtehude, and members of Bach’s family connected with the German town of Arnstadt, where several generations of the Bach family contributed to musical life for more than 200 years.

Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts

Join us for our Festival finale with Vox Luminis, performing Johann Sebastian Bach’s iconic Magnificat, as well as a setting of the same text by Bach’s venerable predecessor at St. Thomas’s Church in Leipzig, Johann Kuhnau. Enjoy these two sumptuous and exuberant works, which demonstrate the high level of instrumental and vocal playing available to Kuhnau and Bach over their seven decades as cantors of St. Thomas. This exultant Christmas in June will leave listeners eagerly awaiting the return of the Festival in 2024.

First Congregational Church

Internationally-renowned Festival favorite Vox Luminis returns with Dietrich Buxtehude’s remarkable meditation on the body of the crucified Christ. A work of deep profundity, the seven-cantata Membra Jesu nostri employs relatively limited vocal and instrumental forces—for the most part, five voice parts, two violins and basso continuo—to create an atmosphere of dramatic exultation. Be prepared to be entranced by Vox Luminis’s traversal of this most ambitious work by the master of Lübeck.

Vox Luminis

Dec 9, 2025

Bach: Magnificat

22 - 23 Jul, 2025

St. John Passion — Vox Luminis · Freiburg Baroque Orchestra · Meunier

Vox Luminis