Bach, by Arrangement! Naomi Okuda (recorder) & Oliver John Ruthven (organ)

A fascinating programme of familiar and lesser known works by Johann Sebastian Bach arranged and performed on recorders and positiv organ. They are centred around performances of Bach’s magnificent Trio sonatas for organ - arranged…

Sonata in G major 
after the Organ Trio Sonata BWV525 

Sonata in G minor
after the Organ Trio Sonata BWV527

Allemande 
from Partita II in D minor BWV1004 

Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ
from Chorale Preludes BWV639 

Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein 
from Chorale Preludes BWV641


and others...

Naomi Okuda (recorder)
Naomi was born in Japan. She studied modern flute at the Osaka College of Music in Japan and recorder at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (the postgraduate early music course) in London. After graduation from the GSMD, she returned to Japan and has performed widely as a baroque music specialist ever since; giving recitals, playing with orchestras such as Bach Collegium Japan, and recording for NHK. She was one of the recommendation artist of Osaka City in 2003. 
In 2010, Naomi moved permanently to the UK. She has taught the Advanced Baroque Recorder Course at Benslow Music Trust, Morley College, Blackheath Conservatoire and Wellington College, and she teaches at James Allen’s Girls’ School and Alleyn’s School.
Naomi has given solo recitals, recordings and teaches actively in both UK and Japan. 
She has made a number of recordings and her solo CD ‘Airs Anglois’ was released to considerable critical acclaim in the Japanese and English musical press. And also CD ‘Shakespeare’s Music’ from the Hamamatsu Museum of Musical Instruments (Japan), on which Naomi is one of the principal players has received the highest critical acclaim in 'The Record Geijutsu', the principal Japanese music journal.


Oliver John Ruthven (organ)
Oliver John Ruthven is a conductor and continuo player based in London. He began his musical career as a chorister at Westminster Abbey, and went on from there to Tonbridge School and the University of Manchester. He graduated from Manchester in 2006 with a 1st Class Honours Degree in Music.
In opera, Oliver John was Music Director of Hampstead Garden Opera from 2008 to 2017, conducting a huge variety of repertoire ranging from Monteverdi to Jonathan Dove via Handel, Mozart and Donizetti. He has worked for the Royal Opera, Opera North, The Grange Festival, Garsington Opera, and The Early Opera Company.
Since 2010, Oliver John has worked with the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists under the direction of John Eliot Gardiner. This has principally been as a continuo keyboard player, but he has also sung as a tenor in the choir, acted as assistant conductor on several tours, and produced a recording of renaissance and early Baroque polyphony, which was released in April 2019.
He is in much demand as a continuo player, working as harpsichordist and organist for the English Baroque Soloists under Gardiner, and as a founder member of Musica Poetica. He has also played with Stile Antico, The Academy of Ancient Music, The Hanover Band, His Majesty's Sackbuts & Cornets, the English Cornet & Sackbut Ensemble, and Solomon’s Knot.
As a choral conductor and accompanist, Oliver John has worked with the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, the Hallé Youth Choir, the Brighton Early Music Festival, and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment's education department.
He has been conductor of the Morgan Stanley Choir since 2013 and was recently appointed as conductor of Invicta Voices.