In Bach cantatas there were usually two groups of singers: concertists and ripienists.
The so-called concertists were the better-trained singers and therefore the soloists Bach needed for his complex music. Concertists sang throughout the cantata. Ripienists – either one per part or more – simply doubled the soloists at the less complex tutti marked sections and were needed for the singing of chorales.

Die Konzertisten

Die Konzertisten aims to perform choral and vocal works to the highest of professional standards with committed and passionate singing. Founded in 2008, the group aims to promote a variety of musical styles and has presented a series of concerts ranging from the Renaissance and Baroque eras through to romantic, modern and contemporary. Highlights of performances since September 2008 include Bach’s St John Passion, St Matthew Passion and his six motets.

Receiving high acclaim for its previous performances, Die Konzertisten has recently been invited to collaborate with professional bodies in Hong Kong. The group was invited by the Chinese University of Hong Kong to be the designated choir for its 2010 Master of Music choral conducting programme. It is currently collaborating with the Hong Kong Arts Festival as the performing choir in the ‘All About Bach’ series, including the Bach In Situ tours involving performances of all 6 Bach’s motets, and the master-class with Maestro Georg Christoph Biller, cantor of the world-famous St Thomas Boys Choir, Leipzig.

In April 2011, Die Konzertisten performed two Requiems by John Rutter and Bob Chilcott with the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong (CCOHK) conducted by the English conductor Nicholas Cleobury. In August the choir and CCOHK will perform Bach’s B Minor Mass conducted by Helmuth Rilling, the internationally-acclaimed conductor and founder of the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart and other Bach Academies worldwide.