Sir John Eliot Gardiner will celebrate his 70th birthday next year with a mammoth 12-hour Bach Marathon at London's Royal Albert Hall. Held on April 1, 2013, the Easter Monday event will open and conclude with Gardiner conducting his Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists in the St John Passion and B Minor Mass. The day's 12 events will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

‘Some of the milestones in my life seem to be associated with the music of JS Bach and 2013 is no exception,’ said Gardiner. ‘Bach seems to appeal to a wide variety of people from all walks of life. To spend an entire day in the company of fellow musicians, writers and scientists to perform and discuss the music of this supreme composer whose music lights our lives more than 300 years after his death is the best birthday present I could hope for.'

Also taking part in the Marathon will be violinist Viktoria Mullova in Bach’s famous Chaconne, Alban Gerhardt in the Sixth Cello Suite, organist Cameron Carpenter, and Robert Levin conducting the Britten Sinfonia. Further highlights include Howard Moody and Woven Gold - a choir comprising musicians and refugees from around the world; musicians from the Royal Academy of Music; and an exploration of Bach’s universal appeal with neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, philosopher and doctor Raymond Tallis, and scholar and conductor Robert Levin.

Next year Gardiner will also present a BBC Two documentary on Bach in March 2013; release the final recording in his Bach Cantatas Pilgrimage series, the 'Ascension' Cantatas, in March 2013; and publish his biography of the composer through Penguin’s Allen Lane in Autumn 2013.