A new documentary about the harpsichordist and conductor Nicholas McGegan was recently premiered at a private showing in Berkeley. Titled Passion: a Celebration of Music and Community, the documentary was directed by Tal Skloot and was primarily conceived as a present for McGegan’s 75th birthday.
The film concentrates on McGegan’s relationship with J. S. Bach’s St Matthew Passion, and follows the rehearsal process as he prepares the work with the Cantata Collective.
He is presently engaged in a multi-year recording project with the Cantata Collective, and as part of this has released recordings of the St John Passion, Mass in B Minor, Easter Oratorio, and Magnificat on the AVIE Records label. The St Matthew Passion project is scheduled for release in the spring of 2026.
McGegan is best known for his work leading the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra between 1985 and 2019. In that time, he conducted more than a thousand concerts with the group, as well as producing 40 recordings with them.
He has also worked extensively on early repertoire with mainstream symphony orchestras, including New York, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong Philharmonics; the Chicago, Dallas, Milwaukee, Toronto, Sydney, and New Zealand Symphonies; the Philadelphia Orchestra; the Royal Northern Sinfonia and Scottish Chamber Orchestras; and the orchestras of London’s Royal Opera House and Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw.
“I had lots of fun working on the film,” McGegan told San Francisco Classical Voice. “Katrine Gray, who first proposed the idea of making the documentary, is a good friend and I am eternally grateful to her. Tal is someone who I have known for a long time and this is not the first thing that we have done together.”
“I suggested that a few musical friends might be kind enough to be interviewed, and I was both thrilled and touched that all of them said yes!”
“The project was centered around the rehearsals and performance with the Cantata Collective in Berkeley last March but ranges further afield looking back to my early life in the U.K. (with some amusing ‘blackmail’ photos) and other performances such as Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro at the Royal Danish Opera in 2024.”
“Earlier this year, I turned 75 and I am so grateful still to be busy making music. Also, this year marks my 40th year of performing in the Bay Area. So, this film really celebrates both of these.”
“I admire the way Tal has shaped the film. He captures my passion for music and my desire always to put that passion across to my fellow musicians and the audience. Also, how I love making music with friends. I am so privileged that in the Bay Area after 40 years I have so many.”