The Academy of Ancient Music is one of the world’s first and foremost period-instrument orchestras. Concerts across six continents and over 250 recordings since its formation in 1973 demonstrate the AAM’s pre-eminence in music of the Baroque and Classical periods. Richard Egarr, Music director of the AAM since September 2006, made his debut with the orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and his first recording directing the Academy of Ancient Music, Handel’s Opus 3 Sonatas, was awarded the 2007 Gramophone Award for baroque instrumental music. The vitality of the AAM’s music-making is fostered by a range of guest directors, such as the renowned baroque expert Masaaki Suzuki and violinists Giuliano Carmignola and Pavlo Beznosiuk. The AAM collaborates also with the choirs of King’s College Cambridge and Trinity College Cambridge.

In addition to the numerous Decca releases, further projects have resulted in recordings for EMI, Chandos, Erato and Harmonia Mundi, including discs of Bach, Händel, Vivaldi and Purcell with the Choir of King’s College Cambridge, and English coronation music and Handel’s Messiah with the Choir of New College Oxford. The AAM’s recent releases include Baroque double concertos on Wigmore Hall Live and Händel Concerti Grossi Op. 3 with Richard Egarr.

The Academy of Ancient Music is Orchestra-in-Residence at the University of Cambridge.

Pavlo Beznosiuk (Director & violin)

A major presence on the early-music scene for over twenty five years, violinist Pavlo Beznosiuk has been described as an artist with "star quality" whose "playing is full of fantasy" and "whose range of ideas seems every time more amazing". A rare performer who is equally at home on instruments as diverse as modern, classical, Baroque and Renaissance violins, viola and medieval fiddles, he has been praised for his versatility and virtuosity. Beznosiuk is renowned as soloist, chamber musician, concertmaster and director, and has led and directed numerous period-instrument orchestras including the Academy of Ancient Music (AAM), the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlighenment (OAE). Leader of the Parley of Instruments in the 1980s, Beznosiuk was ingeniously involved in the use of Renaissance violins. As a result, his improvisational abilities earned him the soubriquet "Heifetz of The Medieval Fiddle".

In recent years, Beznosiuk's performances of the entire cycle of Biber's Rosary' Sonatas have met with critical acclaim. He is currently engaged in recording Avison's entire output with The Avison Ensemble. A testament to Pavlo Beznosiuk's popularity as one of the field's outstanding performers, his extensive list of recordings includes all of the solos in Bach's Brandenburg Concertos with The New London Consort, Vivaldi's Op. 6 Violin Concertos with the AAM and Christopher Hogwood (Decca), and prizewinning recordings of the Schubert Octet and Cherubini’s String Quartets with the ensemble Hausmusik.

Pavlo Beznosiuk is a professor of Baroque violin at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Frank de Bruine (oboe)

Frank de Bruine studied the modern oboe with Heinz Friesen and the Baroque oboe with Bruce Haynes and Ku Ebbinge at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, where he graduated with distinction. Upon receiving the Nicolai Prize, De Bruine appeared with numerous period orchestras in Europe. Currently, he is the Principal oboe of the Academy of Ancient Music (AAM), the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, the Hanover Band, and the Concerto Copenhagen. De Bruine is also renowned as a soloist, performing across Europe, the USA, South America and Japan, and he is an active chamber musician. He is a founding member of the Biedermeier Wind Quintet and he regularly performs with the Schönbrunn Ensemble.

He has recorded a number of oboe concertos by Vivaldi and Albinoni with the AAM and Christopher Hogwood for Decca, as well as recordings for the Wigmore Hall Live Label and Harmonia Mundi. With the Hanover Band, he has recorded C.P.E. Bach's Oboe Concerto in E flat major, which was filmed in the Palace Sanssouci in Potsdam.

Frank de Bruine is a professor of early oboe at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and at the Utrecht Conservatory.

PROGRAMME:

Handel - Concerto Grosso in F major Op.6 No.2 HWV320

Vivaldi - Concerto in B flat major for oboe and violin RV548

Benda - Concerto in D minor for violin

Interval

Albinoni - Concerto in D minor for oboe Op.9 No.2 12'

Handel - Concerto Grosso in A minor Op.6 No.4 HWV322

JS Bach - Concerto in C minor for oboe and violin BWV1060