Jephta was Handel's last work of great dimensions. It was written in 1751 in London. It was performed for the first time at Covent Garden at february, 26. in 1752. Händel's last dramatical work was in the same time the most poetic of his oratories. The tension is not created by action but by the inner aspect of Jephta's unsolvible solitude. Expelled from Gilead by his half-brothers, he grows up in exile and becomes a godfearing army commander, while Gilead is suppressed by the Ammonites. After 18 years of slavery, the eldest of Gilead ask Jephta to free them from their tyrants. As army commander, Jephta swears his god Jehova to sacrifice to him the first creature he will meet after victory. He can't see that it's his own daughter Iphis to take this burdon upon her shoulders. The desperation of Jephta, mother Storge and lover Hamor is met by the courage of Iphis, who comes to show herself as a true heroine. The tragical conflict of the sacrifice of his own daughter is turned to a good end, inspite of the outlines of the old testament. The music is of an overwhelming forcefulness and beauty. Jephta's importance is based in the first place on the imposing choir scenes. The choir has double function: at one hand he takes part in action actively, on the other hand he stays in the backround and comments on the story.

Kirsten Blaise ~ Soprano (Iphis, Jephtha's Daughter & Angel)
Soprano Kirsten Blaise has gained a particular reputation in operatic and concert works of the Baroque and Classical eras, but her repertoire also embraces such composers as Schubert, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Wagner, Mahler and, among leading contemporary figures, John Adams and Michael Finnissy. Born in America, and trained at Indiana University's renowned School of Music, Kirsten Blaise made her professional debut in Indiana in 1996 before moving to Europe to develop her international career. She currently resides in Germany. From 2007 to 2009, as a member of the company at the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe. At Paris' Theâtre du Châtelet she has appeared as Woglinde in Wagner's Ring, conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, and has also performed at the Staatsoper Stuttgart, De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam, the Salzburg Landestheater, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis und Opera Lafayette in Washington D.C. In Summer 2012 she sings Angelica in Haydn's Orlando Paladino at Sweden's Drottningholm Festival. 2011 brought her debut alongside actor John Malkovich in the music-theatre piece The Infernal Comedy, which toured Germany, France, the UK and North and South America. Numbering among her festival appearances are the Holland Festival, Ludwigsburger Schlossfestpiele, the Halle Handel Festival, the Beethoven Easter Festival in Warsaw (with the Bremen Kammerphilharmonie under Trevor Pinnock), Oregon Bach Festival, Carmel Bach Festival. Kirsten Blaise has also collaborated with the Stuttgart Bachakademie and Helmuth Rilling and orchestras such as the BBC Symphony, London Sinfonietta, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Noord Nederlands Orkest, Brooklyn Philharmonic, American Classical Orchestra, Dallas Bach Society, Edmonton Symphony and Le Parlement de Musique.

Annelie Sophie Müller ~ Mezzo-Soprano (Storgè, Iphis' Mother)
Annelie Sophie Müller was born in Freiburg i. Brsg., Germany. At very young age she had already learned to play the violin, the piano, percussion and to dance ballet. She started to take her first singing lessons when she was 19. She studied Vocal, Interpretation of Songs, and Pedagogical Music (main instrument piano) in Stuttgart, Germany. Annelie Sophie Müller got an invitation in 2010 from the Komische Oper Berlin to join the Opera Studio, therefore she finished her studies in this year. She received further musical education through masterclasses with Ks. Brigitte Fassbaender, Ks. Christa Ludwig, Thomas Hampson and Ingeborg Danz, which had influenced her intensely. Now her current teacher is Danish Professor Susanna Eken. Annelie Sophie Müller has performed with conductors such as Maurizio Barbacini, Alexander Vedernikov, Henrik Nánási, Konrad Junghänel, Axel Kober and Patrick Lange. She has also worked with stage directors such as Barrie Kosky, Calixto Bieito and Andreas Homoki. For the part of Pe- Ki, her first big part on stage, Annelie Sophie Müller received a nomination for "best upcoming singer 2012" in the journal "Opernwelt". In 2010 at the International Song Competition of the International Hugo- Wolf- Academie in Stuttgart, Germany, she was given first prize. Annelie Sophie Müller received a scholarship from the Baden- Württemberg- Stipendium and a scholarship from the Richard-Wagner-Organisation Germany. She also took part at the Academie Festival d'Aix-en-Provence in 2011 and she was in the Academy of Heidelberger Frühling in 2012. As an interpret of art songs Annelie Sophie Müller gave several concerts at famous festivals.

David Allsopp ~ Altus, Countertenor (Hamor, in love with Iphis)
The "highly intelligent, vocally brilliant countertenor" David Allsopp began his musical training at an early age as a chorister at Rochester Cathedral and went on to spend four years as a choral scholar at the King's College in Cambridge. From there he moved to the renowned Westminster Cathedral Choir where he combined his growing career as a soloist with the daily services. David sings with many of London's major consort groups and has toured extensively both in Europe and further afield. On the solo platform, he has given many performances - although he specialises mainly in Baroque repertoire, his background means that he is equally at home with renaissance and medieval works and with more modern composers such as Britten and Tavener. Recent appearances have seen David in venues such as Karlsruhe Opera House, the Musikverein in Vienna and St John's, Smith Square in London.

Benjamin Hulett ~ Tenor (Jephtha)
The young and honoured British Tenor is currently principal tenor at the Hamburg State Opera and recently made his debut at the "Bayerische Staatsoper" Munich as "Oronte" in Handel's Alcina. He has appeared for example at the BBC Proms under Sir Andrew Davies, Sir Roger Norrington and Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw under Phillippe Herreweghe, Markus Stenz and Jos van Veldhoven, the Halle Handel Festival under Howard Arman and Frieder Bernius. Other concert appearances include those with the BBC Symphony, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, RPO, King's Consort, Wiener Akademie, Monteverdi Choir, Orchestre des Champs-Elysees, Stavanger Symphony and Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestras. Benjamin Hulett studied musicology at the New College in Oxford and opera and vocal technique at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

Simon Bailey ~ Bass (Zebul, Jephtha's Brother)
Simon Bailey was born in Lincoln and read music at Clare College, Cambridge University. Simon subsequently studied at the La Scala Academy, Milan and won the Concorso Internazionale dell'Accademia del Teatro alla Scala in 1999, the Concorso Vocale Internazionale di Musica Sacra 2004, and was a semi-finalist in the Placido Domingo Operalia competition 2003. In August 2002 he joined the ensemble of Opera Frankfurt as a company principal. Simon's exceptional vocal range has enabled him to perform a rich variety of roles across the bass and baritone repertoire including Figaro Le Nozze di Figaro (La Scala, Rouen and Festival de la Vézere in Limoges), Schaunard La Bohème (La Scala) and Mustafa L'italiana in Algeri (Accademia Rossiniana in Pesaro). He sang the title role in Handel's Hercules at the Athens Festival to critical and public acclaim at the Herodes Atticus Odeon, later repeated in Reims cathedral and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and was invited by Luigi Alva to Lima, Peru to debut Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor. Further guest engagements for Opéra de Lille, Glyndebourne Festival, La Scala, Milan, Truffaldino Theater an der Wien, Opéra de Lille and Dublin etc. Simon has appeared in recital at the Teatro Britanico, Lima, and also several times in recital at La Scala. Engagements in 2012/2013 included Alfonso Cosi fan tutte, Chabrier L'Étoile, Leporello Don Giovanni, Nick Shadow The Rake's Progress, Figaro Le Nozze di Figaro and title role Bluebeard's Castle with Oper Frankfurt and Gurnemanz Parsifal (in concert) in Bad Homburg and Wiesbaden. Subsequent engagements include Méphistophélès Damnation de Faust for Staatstheater Stuttgart.

Maulbronn Chamber Choir (German: 'Maulbronner Kammerchor')
The Maulbronn Chamber Choir was founded in 1983 and counts today as one of the renowned chamber choirs in Europe. Awards like the first places at the Baden-Württemberg Choir Competitions in 1989 and 1997, the second place at the German Choir Competition in 1990, the first prize at the German Choir Competition in 1998, the second place at the International Chamber Choir Competition in Marktoberdorf 2009 and the first place at the Malta Choir Competition show the extraordinary musical calibre of this ensemble. The Chamber Choir has managed to make quite a name for itself on the international scene, too. It was received enthusiastically by audiences and reviewers alike during its debut tour through the USA in 1983, with concerts in New York, Indianapolis and elsewhere. Its concert tours in many European countries, in Israel and Argentina as well as in South Africa and Namibia have also met with a similar response. Since 1997 the choir performs oratorios by George Frideric Handel each year. All these performances were documented on disc; because of that the Maulbronn Chamber Choir holds a leading position as a interpreter of this genre internationally.

Jürgen Budday ~ Conductor & Music Director
Prof. Jürgen Budday (born 1948) is conductor, director of church music, music teacher and artistic director of the concert series at the UNESCO World Heritage Site Maulbronn Abbey. He started teached at the Evangelical Seminar in Maulbronn from 1979 till 2012. This also involved his taking over as artistic director of the Maulbronn Monastery Concerts and the cantor choir in 1979. He studied church music and musicology at the Academy of Music in Stuttgart from 1967 to 1974. In 1992, he was named Director of Studies, in 1995 came the appointment as Director of Church Music and in 1998 he was honored with the "Bundesverdienstkreuz" (German Cross of Merit) as well as the Bruno-Frey Prize from the State Academy in Ochsenhausen for his work in music education. In 1983 Jürgen Budday founded the Maulbronn Chamber Choir (Maulbronner Kammerchor) with whom he won numerous national and international awards. At the Prague International Choir Festival, for example, Jürgen Budday received an award as best director. Since 2002, he has also held the chair of the Choral Committee of the German Music Council and became director and jury chairman of the "German Choir Competition" (Deutscher Chorwettbewerb). In 2008, he received the silver Johannes-Brenz-Medal, the highest honoring of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Wuerttemberg. Jürgen Budday was honoured in 2011 with the honorary title "Professor". In May 2013 Prof. Jürgen Budday was awarded by the Association of German Concert Choirs with the "George-Frideric-Handel-Ring" - one of the highest honors for choir conductors in Germany. Thus Jürgen Budday followed Helmuth Rilling, who was honored with the ring from 2009 till 2013. Jürgen Budday has started a cycle of Handel oratorios that is planned to span several years, which involves working with soloists like wie Emma Kirkby, Miriam Allan, Michael Chance, Nancy Argenta, Mark Le Brocq, Charles Humphries, Stephen Varcoe (to name but a few). The live recordings of these performances, that have received the highest praise from reviewers, has won him international recognition. Till these days 11 oratorios by G.F.Handel are documented on discs. "No conductor and no choir have so consistently recorded so many Handel oratorios as Jürgen Budday and his Maulbronn Chamber Choir." (Dr. Karl Georg Berg, Handel Memoranda Halle 2008).