Music of the Baroque

Jane Glover
Edward Zelnis
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Music of the Baroque’s principal guest conductor since 2002, Nicholas Kraemer began his career as a harpsichordist, quickly moving from playing continuo at the back of the orchestra to directing from the harpsichord at the front. While performing with the English Chamber Orchestra in the 1970s, his repertory widened, taking in the 19th and 20th centuries as well as the Baroque. In 1978, he formed Raglan Baroque Players.

From 1983 to 1985, Mr. Kraemer was Associate Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and from 1986 to 1992 he was Artistic Director of the Irish Chamber Orchestra. He was Artistic Director of the London Bach Orchestra from 1985 to 1993, and is currently the permanent guest conductor of the Manchester Camerata.

Nicholas Kraemer has appeared with Kioi Sinfonietta and Ensemble Kanazawa in Japan, the Berlin Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Orquesta Sinfonica de Sevilla, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Israel Chamber Orchestra, London Mozart Players, City of London Sinfonia, and numerous other groups.

Recent engagements have included performances with the Toronto Symphony, Philharmonia Baroque, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Northern Sinfonia. Last season's highlights included his débuts with the Chicago and Detroit Symphony Orchestras and the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra (Norway), as well as appearances with the BBC Philharmonic and the orchestras of Bergen, Gothenburg, Wintertur, and West Australia.

In addition to his appearances with Music of the Baroque, Mr. Kraemer's 2008–09 season includes return engagements with the Detroit Symphony, Northern Sinfonia, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and BBC Philharmonic. He is currently working to establish a permanent chamber orchestra as part of El Sistema, the internationally known Venezuelan music education program that includes the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra.

Mr. Kraemer’s opera repertoire ranges from Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo and L’incoronazione di Poppea to 19th- and 20th-century works including Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos; Britten’s Albert Herring, Noye’s Fludde and Paul Bunyan; and Stephen Oliver’s Tom Jones, The Beauty and the Beast and Euridice. He has conducted many Handel operas including Arianna in Creta, Lotario, Tolomeo, Arminio, Ariodante, Il Pastor Fido, Rinaldo and Orlando, as well as the major Mozart operas. He conducted at Glyndebourne from 1980 to 1983, and was the first music director of Opera 80, now English Touring Opera. Recent opera engagements include The Magic Flute and Handel’s Jeptha at English National Opera, Agrippina for Theater Aachen (Germany), and L'incoronazione di Poppea with the Central City Opera (Colorado).

Among Nicholas Kraemer’s recordings are several discs of Vivaldi concertos with City of London Sinfonia for Naxos; Locatelli concerto grossi, Tartini violin concertos and concertos by Durante, Pergolesi and Leo with Elizabeth Wallfisch and Raglan Baroque Players for Hyperion; Handel’s Rodelinda for Virgin Classics; and works by Thea Musgrave with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra for Collins Classics. He has contributed to several feature films, most notably as Baroque music director for The Madness of King George.