Passionate musicianship and an unquenchable thirst for undiscovered sources are the hallmarks of Concerto Köln. For more than thirty years the orchestra has been one of the leading ensembles in the field of period performance practice.
Mayumi Hirasaki, Markus Hoffmann, Shunske Sato and Evgeny Sviridov as permanent concertmaster and Lorenzo Alpert as Artistic Director guide the fortunes of the self-administered orchestra.
Regular appearances at the world’s music hubs and at world-renowned festivals coupled with numerous album releases are proof of its broad stylistic spectrum and exceptional interpretations of early music. An essential part of Cologne’s music scene, the orchestra has built upon its role as EU Cultural Ambassador 2012 to take a pivotal position in the musical life of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Celebrated soloists, renowned vocal ensembles and respected conductors play regularly with the ensemble; a long-standing association links the orchestra with Midori Seiler.
2017 saw Concerto Köln embrace the “Wagner Readings” project initiated and directed by Kent Nagano, with Wagner’s “Ring of the Nibelung” the first work to be approached from the point of view of historical performance practice.
Numerous partners are supporting the orchestra’s projects: the Ministry for Arts and Sciences of the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia, the NRW Art Foundation, the Goethe Institute, the RheinEnergie Cultural Foundation, the foundations of regional savings bank Kreissparkasse Köln, TÜV Rheinland and high-end audio specialist MBL.
Photo: Harald Hoffmann
