Johannes Leertouwer has a long personal history with the St Matthew Passion, and is considered one of the foremost experts in the field of the execution of this masterpiece. He frequently performed the work as concertmaster of the Netherlands Bach Society. After conducting the St Matthew for the first time in 2002 alongside the legendary Gustav Leonhardt, he also conducted performances with the North Netherlands Symphony Orchestra and the North Netherlands Concert Choir for a number of years. From 2012 he performed the Matthäus with 10 singers, leading from the concertmaster’s chair with the Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht. The choice of instruments and repertoire distinguishes the Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht from other orchestras. The orchestra performs early music from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.

In 2025, Johannes Leertouwer and the Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht will perform the St. Matthew Passion again in the well-known double-choir version. In recent years, the St. Matthew Passion has received rave reviews under his direction. Paul Witteman wrote, long ago, about Johannes: “When I think of a first violinist, I think of Johannes Leertouwer, concertmaster of the Netherlands Bach Society for many years. On Good Friday he played the violin part in the aria Erbarme Dich from Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. I have seen armoured bank managers shed a tear when listening to the violinist introduce the melody and feel the attention of a full hall or church drawn to him. He knew that any wrong note could break the spell. (…) This was the moment of the day for the audience.”