FREIBURGER BAROCKORCHESTER

Many refer to them briefly as the "Freiburgers". This is an expression not just of a great liking for the musicians, but also of the fact that the Freiburger Barockorchester has long-since become an established entity on the music scene.

The orchestra has been playing at venues worldwide with continued success for 17 years. And Baroque music is no longer its sole repertoire; they have meantime extended it far beyond classical and into the late romantic period. Even up to contemporary music. Currently, at the initiative of the Siemens Arts Program, five European composers are writing works for the Freiburger Barockorchester (premiere: 27.8.2005 at the Lucerne Festival). The music of the 17th and 18th centuries, however, remains the musical homeground of the "Freiburgers".

In addition to concerts with guest conductors like Ivor Bolton, Philippe Herreweghe, René Jacobs, Gustav Leonhardt or Trevor Pinnock, they mostly work under the musical direction of Gottfried von der Goltz and Petra Müllejans, who even conduct works for a larger orchestra from the first violinistšs chair.

With this recipe for success the Freiburger Barockorchester has been invited to prestigious concert events throughout the world, such as the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, the Tanglewood Festival, the New York Lincoln Center, the Cité de la Musique in Paris, the large concert halls in Mexico City, Havanna and Buenos Aires, the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, the Proms in London, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Festival in Lucerne, the Innsbruck Festival and the Salzburg Festival.

The musicians, still a self-governing ensemble, have a long-term contract with the harmonia mundi france. The success of this collaboration is documented in their CDs to date. In the coming season, a collaboration begun in 2003 with the singer Cecilia Bartoli will be continued. Furthermore, concerts are arranged, among others, in New York, Shanghai, Tokyo, at the Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg, a tour with Thomas Quasthoff in London, Vienna, Cologne, Brussels, Caen and Paris. In late January and February the orchestra will play in an elaborate production of Monteverdišs opera Poppea conducted by Ivor Bolton at the Opera Garnier in Paris. Along with further concerts in Spain, Holland, France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany, in the 2004/5 season the "Freiburgers" will also hold their own successful concert series at the Konzerthaus in Freiburg, at the Liederhalle in Stuttgart and at the Berliner Philharmonie.