Concerto Köln

Founded in 1985 by students of the Musikhochschule Köln, Concerto Köln specializes in performances of 18th- and 19th-century works in their original sound. It quickly rose to become a leading ensemble in the early music scene, giving guest appearances all over the world. This led to numerous recordings that have won such distinctions as the Grammy Award, the German Record Critics’ Award, the Opus Klassik, and the Diapason d’or. Concerto Köln began 2023 with a tour of the United States that included a performance at Carnegie Hall in New York. The orchestra also appeared at the Handel Festivals in Göttingen as well as in Halle and, in July, at the Herrenchiemsee Festival in a program of music from the Classical and Romantic eras led by its Honorary Conductor Kent Nagano. Among its current Artistic Partners are the soprano Julia Lezhneva, the tenor Daniel Behle, the violinist Giuliano Carmignola, the conductor Václav Luks, the pianist Tobias Koch, the clarinetist Martin Fröst, and the recorder player Max Volbers. Concerto Köln broke new ground that set a milestone in the history of interpretation with its historically informed performance of Wagner’s Das Rheingold under Nagano in the fall of 2021. Together with the Dresden Festival Orchestra, all four music dramas of the Ring are now being prepared and presented in a project that will last until 2026. Concerto Köln is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Kunststiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen, the Goethe Institut, the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture, and the Strecker Foundation.

Lucerne Festival debut on 18 August 2002, in a program with works by Mozart and his contemporaries juxtaposed with Turkish music.

July 2023