Who we are
The English Concert is one of Europe’s leading chamber orchestras specialising in historically informed performance. Created by Trevor Pinnock in 1973, the orchestra appointed Harry Bicket as its Artistic Director in 2007.
The English Concert has a wide touring brief and the 2014-15 season will, as usual, see them appear across the UK, Europe and beyond. Recent highlights include European and US tours with Joyce DiDonato, Alice Coote, Sara Mingardo, Anna Caterina Antonacci, Iestyn Davies, David Daniels and Andreas Scholl as well as the orchestra’s first tour to mainland China. Following the success of our 2013 Radamisto tour, Carnegie Hall commissioned one Handel opera per season from The English Concert. Theodora and Alcina followed in 2014, with performances across the United States as well as at the Theater an der Wien, Théâtre des Champs Elysées and the Barbican amongst others. Tours of Hercules and Orlando are scheduled for 2015 and 2016, along with performances in Mexico and a return to China.
The English Concert’s discography includes more than 100 recordings with Trevor Pinnock for Deutsche Grammophon Archiv, and a further series for Harmonia Mundi with violinist Andrew Manze. The orchestra's recent critically acclaimed recordings under Harry Bicket document our work with singers such as Lucy Crowe, Danielle de Niese, Alice Coote, Ian Bostridge and Sarah Connolly, while our ongoing collaboration with Alison Balsom has so far resulted in a recording for EMI Classics and 16 performances at Shakespeare's Globe, with concerts scheduled in the UK and Spain later this year.
The English Concert works with several distinguished guest directors, including Rachel Podger, forte pianist Kristian Bezuidenhout (who is also our Principal Guest Director) and harpsichordist Laurence Cummings.