St. James Baroque (Instrumental Ensemble)

Founded: 1984 - London, England

St. James Baroque, one of the UK’s leading period instrument ensembles, was founded in 1984 by Ivor Bolton to accompany his performances of Bach Cantatas at Sunday services at St James Church in London. The St. James's Baroque also performed in some of the concerts that formed part of the 1984 Piccadilly Festival, a wide-ranging arts events organised at the church; the following year the concerts were grouped under the title of the Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music with Ivor Bolton as Musical Director. Since then they have established themselves, under his direction, as one of the most accomplished orchestras in their field.

St. James Baroque appeared at every one of the Lufthansa Festivals of Baroque Music (for many years as the Festival ‘house‘ orchestra) as well as the subsequent London Festivals of Baroque Music that grew out of the Lufthansa Festival. St. James' Baroque many other festival appearances, at home and abroad, include four appearances at the BBC Proms.

Under Ivor Bolton's direction recordings were made of J.S. Bach ‘s solo harpsichord concertos, Purcell‘s Dido and Aeneas and the Charpentier Te Deum. The ensemble recently recorded a CD of anthems by John Blow with Choir of New College, Oxford, under the direction of Robert Quinney.

James O‘Donnell, Organist and Master of the Choristers of Westminster Abbey accepted the invitation to become Music Director of St. James‘ Baroque after many happy collaborations with the Westminster Abbey Choir, including the 2009 pan-European broadcast of George Frideric Handel's Messiah on the 250th anniversary of his death. The ensemble has also been a regular partner for the BBC Singers for many years. During 2013 St. James‘ Baroque had the honour of opening and closing BBC Radio 3's ’Baroque Spring‘ with the Singers.

St. James' Baroque pays close attention to recent historical research, particularly the stringing and set up of period instruments (and modern copies of old instruments).

See also: Orchestra of St. James - Short History

Source: Bits & pieces from various sources; St. James Baroque Website; Photo 02: Peer Lindgreen
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (January 2013, April 2017)

Recordings of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works

Conductor

As

Works

Stephen Cleobury

Orchestra

C-2 (1996-1997): BWV 63, BWV 150, BWV 182 [as Orchestra of St. James]

David Hill

Orchestra

C-2 (2013): BWV 106, BWV 227, BWV 247
V-1 (2012, Audio): BWV 248/1-3

Recordings of Bach’s Instrumental Works

Conductor

As

Works

Ivor Bolton

Orchestra

Concertos for harpsichord, strings & continuo BWV 1052, BWV 1053, BWV 1054, BWV 1055, BWV 1056, BWV 1057, BWV 1058 [w/ harpsichordist Ivor Bolton]

Links to other Sites

St James Baeoque (Official Website)

A Tradition of Renewal: The History of the Lufthansa Festival