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Julian Perkins was just announced as the new Artistic Director of Portland Baroque Orchestra. The keyboardist and conductor is based in the UK, and is also Artistic Director of Cambridge Handel Opera and Sounds Baroque. Julian Perkins has directed the Academy of Ancient Music and has been the soloist with ensembles including the Royal Northern […]

Today’s Beautiful Music features Advent Music by Johann Sebastian Bach performed by the wonderful Pacific MusicWorks from a December 2017 performance. Their vocal soloists are soprano Tess Altiveros, alto Laura Pudwell, tenor Zach Finkelstein, and baritone Zachary Lenox.

Today’s Beautiful Music features UponReflection: An Opera in Ten Images by Frances White and Wendy Steiner. Soprano Sherezade Panthaki and Parthenia Viol Consort present this open rehearsal to give you a peek into the process of preparing this new work. It’s fascinating to watch it come together in the hands of such accomplished musicians.

Double bass player Christian Gray is in his first season as a member of the bass section of The Philadelphia Orchestra. Previously he was a member of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra from 2017 to 2022. You can watch an interview with the Sphinx Competition alum using the link below. Today’s Beautiful Music features

Javier Romero is a young cellist who studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music of Madrid and Royal Academy of London. Today’s Beautiful Music features Javier Romero playing the Suite #1 in G BWV 1007 by Johann Sebastian Bach.

The Canadian quartet Infusion Baroque held a performance series called VIRTUOSA, in which they featured music by women composers. They turned their series into a recording by the same name, released in 2022. I chose the marvelous recording for this year’s Sunday Baroque Holiday Gift List. (see the link below to the complete gift list)

Héloïse Gaillard and her group Ensemble Amarillis champion music by 18th century Frenchwoman Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre. She was a virtuoso keyboard player and a gifted composer. Their recently-released recording of her music features her cantatas Judith and Sémélé, and some instrumental works. Today’s Beautiful Music is one of the latter — the Trio

Happy 190th Birthday to Jonathan, still going strongl Jonathan is a tortoise who holds the Guinness Book of World records title as the world’s oldest living land animal. He is believed to have been born in 1832 — he won’t reveal his exact birthdate — and you can read more about him using the link

Violinist Julien Chauvin and his group, Le Concert de la Loge, are featured on a recent installment of The Vivaldi Edition, a massive ongoing series of recordings of Vivaldi manuscripts from a Turin archive. I chose this spirited and joyful new recording for the 2022 Sunday Baroque Holiday Gift list, and you can sample it

Soprano Jeanine De Bique is a brilliant musician, and MIRRORS is her debut solo recording. She collaborated with Concerto Köln, led by Luca Quintavalle, to perform baroque opera arias. Jeanine De Bique’s impressive technical prowess and luminous artistry are why I chose MIRRORS for my 2022 Sunday Baroque Holiday Gift List. Today’s Beautiful Music samples