“Boston Baroque, one of the world’s leading period-instrument orchestras...is a high energy ensemble with a dazzling, inviting sound.”
6 Grammy® Nominations
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1st Period Orchestra Performing at New York City's Carnegie Hall
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26 Commercial Recordings
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6 Grammy® Nominations • 1st Period Orchestra Performing at New York City's Carnegie Hall • 26 Commercial Recordings •
Founded in 1973 by Music Director Martin Pearlman, Boston Baroque has garnered a global reputation for its lively, groundbreaking, emotionally-charged performances and recordings that bring early music to life for modern audiences. Boston Baroque’s orchestra is composed of some of the finest period instrumentalists performing today, and is frequently joined by the ensemble’s professional chorus and by a roster of soloists who grace the world’s most renowned concert halls and stages. The ensemble performs Baroque and Classical music using period instruments and performance techniques that reflect the time in which the music was composed. Boston Baroque believes that Baroque and Classical music is music for all times.
Since 2020, Boston Baroque’s global reach has expanded to include audiences across 55 countries on six continents (North America, South America, Asia, Africa, Europe, and Australia) through its partnership with IDAGIO, the world’s leading classical music streaming service. Its 2021-2022 Season was the first full season by a Baroque orchestra to stream on the platform.
Under Music Director Martin Pearlman’s charismatic direction, Boston Baroque remains a trailblazer in the field of early music. The organization was the first period instrument orchestra to perform at New York City’s Carnegie Hall, Los Angeles’ Disney Hall, San Juan’s Casals Festival, and numerous festivals in the United States and abroad. Boston Baroque has given numerous American period-instrument premieres including Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Don Giovanni, Rameau’s Zoroastre, the Boston premiere of Beethoven’s Fidelio, and the modern premiere of The Philosopher’s Stone, a recently-discovered singspiel composed in part by Mozart. The organization presented Boston’s first complete cycle of Monteverdi’s three surviving operas, with performing editions by Pearlman. The ensemble can be heard on the soundtrack to the major motion picture Face/Off featuring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage.
“Pearlman masterminded one of the most important American operatic productions of the century. The Monteverdi masterpiece was given in an edition prepared by Martin Pearlman… the only wholly convincing one I’ve encountered.”
Boston Baroque’s 26 acclaimed commercial recordings reach a global audience, and are frequently heard by millions on classical radio stations in North America and Europe, as well as on Boston Baroque Radio, Boston Baroque’s streaming channel. Boston Baroque’s recordings have received six GRAMMY® Award Nominations: its 1992 release of Handel’s Messiah, 1998 release of Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, 2000 release of Bach’s Mass in B Minor, 2014 release of Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in patria (two nominations), and 2017 release of Biber’s Mystery Sonatas. In 2012, Boston Baroque became the first American orchestra to record with the highly-regarded UK audiophile label, Linn Records, following a long and fruitful relationship with the Telarc label.
“Each [Boston Baroque recording] is an incomparable gem...”
Boston Baroque has performed at major music centers across the United States, including Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and festivals at Ravinia and Tanglewood. Boston Baroque was the first period instrument ensemble to be invited to participate at the famous Casals Festival in Puerto Rico. The ensemble made its European debut in 2003, performing Handel’s Messiah at the prestigious Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival in Poland; it returned to Poland for the 2015 Festival, giving performances of Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 and Handel’s Messiah.
Boston Baroque is proud to be streaming partners with IDAGIO.