Holland Baroque Society
Holland Baroque (Instrumental Ensemble)

Founded: Utrecht, The Netherlands

Free of fuss and convention, Holland Baroque Society (= HBS) (now: Holland Baroque) takes to the stage with a variety of programmes. Baroque music is the key, but these musicians build bridges to other styles and arts. Balanced between tradition and renewal, they pursue the topicality of musical experience. In recent years Holland Baroque Society has collaborated with prominent Baroque musicians including Paolo Pandolfo, Quator Mosaïques, Emma Kirkby, Milos Valent and Hidemi Suzuki, and with composer Nico Muhly, singer and songwriter Teitur and jazz trumpeter Eric Vloeimans. For this innovative approach the ensemble was awarded the Kersjes Prize and the VSCD Classical Music Prize in 2008, and more recently the Diapason d'Or 2012. It has brought Holland Baroque Society to all sorts of venues, from the Vienna Konzerthaus to the Amsterdam pop temple Paradiso, and from Vredenburg concert hall in Utrecht to the World Exhibition in Shanghai. There are more projects under preparation, with Porgy Franssen, Marcus Creed, Giora Feidman, Amandine Beyer, Calefax Rietkwintet, Cappella Amsterdam, Orkater and Sergio Azzolini.

Holland Baroque Society has invested just as much ambition and energy in countless Kids Only concerts and educational projects, through which thousands of children have made acquain- tance with classical music. The aim is to give them a pure listening experience, and this pro- duces pure reactions like "I'd never heard of those sunny instruments before."

The world of Baroque music is a gold mine for composers, avant-gardists, adventurers and realists. It is this luxurious world that Holland Baroque calls home. With its productions and six CD's released by Channel Classics, the ensemble convinces a large and varied audience of the flexibilty and vitality of (Baroque) music.

Holland Baroque (previously: Holland Baroque Society) presents Antonio Vivaldi from a Japanese viewpoint, connects Reinbert de Leeuw to J.S. Bach and demonstrates how percussionists define the heartbeat of Baroque. The core of our projects is the collaboration with other ensembles and soloists, who help us take music from the past to the present.

Holland Baroque had successful encounters with inspiring soloists like Giovanni Sollima, Eric Vloeimans, Lars Ulrik Mortensen and Aisslinn Nosky, with numerous ensembles, such as Orkater, Vox Luminis (Director: Lionel Meunier) and Quatuor Mosaïques, performing on stages such as Radialsystem V, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Konzerthaus Wien.

The result of these encounters was captured by Dutch newspaper De Stentor as follows: ‘The instruments and the divergent styles contrast in form, but intensify each other in significance. That is how something new is born.’ Always starting from tradition, innovation, surprise and a hint of entertainment.

Musicians:

Tineke Steenbrink (Harpsichord, Organ | Artistic Team)
Esther van der Eijk (Viola)
Tomasz Pokrzywiński (Cello)
Filip Rekieć (Violin)
Judith Steenbrink (Violin | Artistic Team)
Stefano Rossi (Violin, Viola)
Judith-Maria Blomsterberg (Cello)
Katarina Aleksic (Violin)
Daniele Caminiti (Theorbe, Lute, Baroque Guitar)
Dasa Valentova (Violin)
Christoph Sommer (Lute, Guitar, Theorbe)
Christine Sticher (Double-bass, Violone)
Lambert Colson (Recorder, Cornett)

Sources:
Holland Baroque Society Website & Facebook Profile (2013)
Holland Baroque Website (2017)
Photos 11, 12, 15: Wouter Jansen Photography
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (October 2013, October 2017)

Holland Baroque Society: Short History | Bach Discography: Recordings of Vocal Works | Recordings of Instrumental Works

Recordings of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works

Conductor

As

Works

Reinbert de Leeuw

Orchestra

[V-1] (2016, 3-CD+2-DVD): BWV 244
[VV-1] (2018, Video): BWV 245

Links to other Sites

Holland Baroque Society (Official Website) [Dutch/English]
Holland Baroque Society on Facebook
Holland Baroque Society (Channel Classics Records)
Holland Baroque (Official Website)