Image of fireworks over a bridge with boats on the river and a crowd

Resident Company

Baroque Blockbusters!

Music of the Baroque

Performances

Mar 2 Mon 07:30PM

Performance Run Time:

Prepare for Baroque brilliance with Richard Egarr at the helm. The former director of Philharmonia Baroque and Academy of Ancient Music leads heart-stopping hits from the 17th and 18th centuries and moves to the harpsichord for the electrifying solos in Bach’s Fifth Brandenburg Concerto. Rowan Pierce, whose silvery soprano enchanted fans of the Netflix series Bridgerton, makes her Music of the Baroque debut with Handel’s virtuosic “Silete venti” (“Be silent, winds”). Selections from Purcell’s joyful Fairy Queen complete this spectacular program.

BACH | Brandenburg Concerto No. 5
HANDEL | Motet, “Silete venti”
PURCELL | Suite from The Fairy Queen

Music of the Baroque Orchestra
Richard Egarr, conductor & harpsichord
Rowan Pierce, soprano

About Richard Egarr

Richard Egarr brings a joyful sense of adventure and a keen, enquiring mind to all his music-making–whether conducting, directing from the keyboard, giving recitals, playing chamber music, and talking about music at every opportunity. These performances mark his debut with Music of the Baroque

Since 2019 he has been Principal Guest of the Residentie Orkest and Artistic Partner of the St. Paul Chamber. He was Music Director (now Emeritus) of the Philharmonia Baroque 2020-2024, Music Director of the Academy of Ancient Music 2005-2020, and Associate Artist with the Scottish Chamber 2011-2017. He straddles the worlds of historically informed and modern symphonic performance and has conducted many leading symphony orchestras, notably the London Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw, and Philadelphia orchestras. He made his Glyndebourne debut in 2007 and conducted opera cycles of Monteverdi, Purcell, and Mozart with AAM at the Barbican; Handel oratorios lie at the heart of his repertoire.

Recent appearances include leading the London Philharmonic at the Southbank Centre in a program ranging from the Baroque to the contemporary. He returned to the Cincinnati Symphony, Finnish Radio Symphony, Essen Philharmonic, Seoul Philharmonic, Nederlands Bach Society, Philharmonie Zuidnederlands, and led a project with the Spanish National Youth Orchestra JONDE. Highlights with the Residentie Orkest and St. Paul Chamber this season include Beethoven's Egmont (complete), a program of Chopin and Saint-Saens, and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and the Brandenburg concerti.

Headshots for Richard Egarr. A man in a button up shirt.

About Rowan Pierce

Saltburn-by-the-sea soprano Rowan Pierce was awarded the President’s Award by HRH Prince of Wales, now King Charles III, at the Royal College of Music in 2017. She won both the Song Prize and First Prize at the inaugural Grange Festival International Singing Competition in 2017, the first Schubert Society Singer Prize in 2014, and the Van Someren Godfery Prize at the RCM. These performances mark her debut with Music of the Baroque.

Rowan Pierce performs on concert platforms worldwide, appearing regularly with ensembles including the Academy of Ancient Music, Dunedin Consort, Early Opera Company, Les Arts Florissants, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Gabrieli Consort, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and the Royal Northern Sinfonia.

Other highlights include performances with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Les Violons du Roy, Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Freiburg Baroque, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC NOW, and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. She was the voice of the singer Siena Rosso in the Netflix series Bridgerton. Her most recent recording is a disc of Schubert songs with Roderick Williams and Christopher Glynn for Signum.