Concerto Köln

Passionate performance style and an insatiable appetite for venturing into uncharted territory are the trademarks of Concerto Köln. For over 35 years, the orchestra with the distinctive sound has ranked among the leading historically-informed performance practice ensembles. Maintaining deep roots in Cologne's own musical scene while making regular guest appearances in the great music capitals around the world and at renowned festivals, Concerto Köln is synonymous with outstanding interpretations of early music. Concertmasters Mayumi Hirasaki, Evgeny Sviridov and Shunske Sato together with the Artistic Director, Alexander Scherf, assume the leading roles within the self-governed orchestra. With their choice of projects, the musicians manage to prove time and again that artistic standards and popular success are by no means a contradiction in terms.

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Concerto Köln is one of the ensembles that received funding from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) during the disruptions caused by the corona pandemic. With the help of these funds, the ensemble realises six different projects, all of which will be documented in a novel storytelling format. The spectrum ranges from collaborations with the soprano Jeanine De Bique (Mirrors) and the harpsichordist Justin Taylor (Copy & Paste) to romantic string serenades and rediscoveries of unknown works (Project Pisendel). At the end of the year the fruits of this work will be presented on the ensemble's website.

Concerto Köln also interprets well-known repertoire in such a refreshing and "remarkable" way (Die Zeit), as if heard for the first time. Since 2008, Concerto Köln maintains close ties with the label Berlin Classics, and has attracted international attention with recordings of Bach, Handel and Vivaldi, including spectacular live recordings with the high-end specialist MBL. The widely acclaimed one-take recording of the Four Seasons was followed in summer 2020 by the live recording of "Concertos 4 Violins". Concertos for four solo violins by Antonio Vivaldi, Francesco Bonporti, Giuseppe Valentini, Pietro Castrucci and Pietro Locatelli - interpreted by the three permanent concertmasters of the ensemble and the Spanish violinist Jesús Merino Ruiz.

Concerto Köln regularly records for other labels, as for example the current album "Vivaldi" with clarinettist Martin Fröst for Sony Classical. By now, the ensemble is able to boast a discography of over 80 recordings, the majority of which are distinguished with awards such as the ECHO Klassik, the OPUS Klassik, the Grammy Award, the German Record Critics Award, the MIDEM Classic Award, the Choc du Monde de la Musique, the Diapason d’Année and the Diapason d’Or.

The multiannual research project, “Wagner Readings” that was launched in the 2017/18 season has received a great deal of international attention. This project, initiated and led by Concerto Köln together with Kent Nagano, will be an ongoing process in the years ahead and involves working through Richard Wagner's Tetralogy, “The Ring of the Nibelung”, from a historical performance perspective. The Kunststiftung NRW, the Strecker-Stiftung and the Province of North-Rhine Westphalia assist in supporting the ensemble with this artistic-academic project.

In addition to the federal government's cultural funding for the year 2020, Concerto Köln can rely on the support of numerous partners to realize its ideas: The Ministry of Science and Culture of the Province of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Kunststiftung NRW and the Goethe Institute help to support the ensemble in e.g. its research and realization of musical projects. The RheinEnergie Foundation for Culture and the Foundations of the Kreissparkasse Köln play significant supporting roles in the extensive and unique musical education project, “Die Hörpiraten”. TÜV Rheinland aids in supporting the extraordinary concert format, AfterWorkClassix, in which new programs of rediscovered works are presented in a lounge atmosphere. In addition, a close partnership with the High End Audio specialists, MBL, was established in 2009, enabling the orchestra to intensively examine the sound and playback of its recordings.

Get further information under: www.concerto-koeln.de.

As of: Season 2020/2021
Please use this by Weigold & Böhm authorized Biography only.