During the winter of 1705, Johann Sebastian Bach, then aged 20, undertook a journey on foot of more than 400 kilometres from Arnstadt to Lübeck to meet the greatest organist in Northern Europe: Dietrich Buxtehude. From this famous episode, which undoubtedly constituted for the young man a quest both spiritual and artistic, we will imagine a show associating the music of JS Bach with the writing of poems in German, Italian and French, interpreted by 3 poetry slammers from these 3 countries.

Inspired by the artistic path proposed by the illustrious composer, the interaction between music and poetry will be nourished by the richness of the music of JS Bach and will constitute a common language for the participants of the project. The poets will start working on their texts in summer 2022 and travel to an artists' residency to meet the musicians in March 2023. Performances will happen in Lyon, Saint-Donat, Leipzig and Modena between March and May 2023. During their preparatory phase the poets will either lead or take part in workshops with students in their respective countries and take the topics discussed there as inspiration into their own work. The artistic direction of Babel Bach is entrusted to slam poet Mehdi Krüger and ensemble leader Franck-Emmanuel Comte.