Apollo's Fire
Encyclopedia
Apollo's Fire, The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra is a popular and critically acclaimedAllmusic period-instrument ensemble specializing in early music
(Renaissance, Baroque
and early Classical) based in Cleveland, Ohio
. The ensemble unites a select pool of early music specialists from throughout North America and Europe. Under the direction of Artistic Director Jeannette Sorrell
, the ensemble has been praised internationally for a fresh and vibrant approach to baroque performance, and for creative and innovative programming.
(now with the BBC). The orchestra received a startup grant from the Cleveland Foundation
in 1992, and made its debut to critical acclaim in June of that year. Since then, Apollo’s Fire has performed at such venues as the Aspen Music Festival and School
, the Boston Early Music Festival
, the Chautauqua Institution
, the Library of Congress
, the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival in Michigan, and the New World Symphony Orchestra
’s Baroque Festival in Miami.
Apollo’s Fire is frequently broadcast on National Public Radio, including SymphonyCast, NPR World of Opera, and Performance Today, as well as many holdiay specials. The ensemble can also be heard on Britain
’s BBC
, Canada
’s CBC Radio 2, and the European Broadcasting Union
.
Together with Jeannette Sorrell, Apollo’s Fire received the 1995 Noah Greenberg
Award from the American Musicological Society
, given for an outstanding project involving the collaboration of scholars and performers, and was awarded the 1998 Northern Ohio Live Achievement Award for Classical Music.
Apollo's Fire also has a crossover/folk wing, specializing in traditional music of the British Isles and North America, performed on period instruments in an historically informed aesthetic. The ensemble was awarded a major grant through the NEA American Masterpieces initiative in 2009, for Jeannette Sorrell's innovative crossover program, "Come to the River: An Early American Gathering."
Early music
Early music is generally understood as comprising all music from the earliest times up to the Renaissance. However, today this term has come to include "any music for which a historically appropriate style of performance must be reconstructed on the basis of surviving scores, treatises,...
(Renaissance, Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
and early Classical) based in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
. The ensemble unites a select pool of early music specialists from throughout North America and Europe. Under the direction of Artistic Director Jeannette Sorrell
Jeannette Sorrell
Jeannette Sorrell is an American musician and the founder and musical director of Apollo's Fire, the Cleveland baroque orchestra.She studied at the Tanglewood Music Festival under Roger Norrington and Leonard Bernstein, and served as a conducting fellow at the Aspen Music Festival...
, the ensemble has been praised internationally for a fresh and vibrant approach to baroque performance, and for creative and innovative programming.
History
Apollo's Fire was founded in 1992 Jeannette Sorrell, with the assistance of Roger Wright, then Artistic Administrator of the Cleveland OrchestraCleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1918, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Severance Hall...
(now with the BBC). The orchestra received a startup grant from the Cleveland Foundation
Cleveland Foundation
Established in 1914, the Cleveland Foundation was the world's first community foundation. , it is America's second-largest community foundation, with assets of $1.62 billion and annual grants of around $84 million....
in 1992, and made its debut to critical acclaim in June of that year. Since then, Apollo’s Fire has performed at such venues as the Aspen Music Festival and School
Aspen Music Festival and School
The Aspen Music Festival and School, founded in 1949, is an internationally renowned classical music festival that presents music in an intimate, small-town setting...
, the Boston Early Music Festival
Boston Early Music Festival
The Boston Early Music Festival is a music festival held every two years in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, for all people interested in historical music performance....
, the Chautauqua Institution
Chautauqua Institution
The Chautauqua Institution is a non-profit adult education center and summer resort located on 750 acres in Chautauqua, New York, 17 miles northwest of Jamestown in the western part of New York State...
, the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
, the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival in Michigan, and the New World Symphony Orchestra
New World Symphony Orchestra
The New World Symphony is the United States' only full-time orchestral academy preparing musicians for careers in symphony orchestras and ensembles...
’s Baroque Festival in Miami.
Apollo’s Fire is frequently broadcast on National Public Radio, including SymphonyCast, NPR World of Opera, and Performance Today, as well as many holdiay specials. The ensemble can also be heard on Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
’s BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
’s CBC Radio 2, and the European Broadcasting Union
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union is a confederation of 74 broadcasting organisations from 56 countries, and 49 associate broadcasters from a further 25...
.
Together with Jeannette Sorrell, Apollo’s Fire received the 1995 Noah Greenberg
Noah Greenberg
Noah Greenberg was an American choral conductor.In 1937, aged 18, Greenberg joined the Socialist Workers Party of Max Schachtman, and worked as a lathe operator and party activist. He lost work-related draft deferment in 1944 and joined the U.S. Merchant Marine till 1949. By this time he had lost...
Award from the American Musicological Society
American Musicological Society
The American Musicological Society is a membership-based musicological organization founded in 1934 to advance scholarly research in the various fields of music as a branch of learning and scholarship; it grew out of a small contingent of the Music Teachers National Association and, more directly,...
, given for an outstanding project involving the collaboration of scholars and performers, and was awarded the 1998 Northern Ohio Live Achievement Award for Classical Music.
Apollo's Fire also has a crossover/folk wing, specializing in traditional music of the British Isles and North America, performed on period instruments in an historically informed aesthetic. The ensemble was awarded a major grant through the NEA American Masterpieces initiative in 2009, for Jeannette Sorrell's innovative crossover program, "Come to the River: An Early American Gathering."
Discography
- Telemann
- Don Quixote
- Concertos and Suites
- Released Summer 2005, KOCH KIC CD 7576
- Mozart
- Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K.466 and
- Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K.488
- Released Spring 2005, KOCH KIC CD 7575
- Scarborough Fayre:
- Traditional tunes from the British Isles & the New World
- Released May 2004, KOCH KIC CD 7552
- Mozart
- Symphony No.35 in D, K.385 (Haffner),
- Symphony No. 41 in C, K.551 (Jupiter) and Overture to Don Giovanni
- Released May 2004, KOCH KIC CD 7574
- Vivaldi and Friends
- Released October. 2001, ECLECTRA ECCD-2059
- Vivaldi Concerto in B minor for Four Violins - Allegro (457KB, 3:53)
- Vivaldi Four Seasons - Summer - Presto (374KB, 3:12)
- Bach Concerto for Four Harpsichords - Largo (244KB, 2:04)
- Monteverdi
- L’Orfeo
- Released April. 2001, ECLECTRA ECCD-2052
- J.S.Bach
- Brandenburg Concertos
- Released Sept. 2000, ECLECTRA ECCD-2047
- Bach
- St. John Passion
- Released Mar. 2000, ECLECTRA ECCD-2044
- Noels and Carols from the Old World
- Released Oct. 1999, ECLECTRA ECCD-2041
- Monteverdi
- Vespers of the Blessed Virgin
- Released Apr. 1999, ECLECTRA ECCD-2038
- Handel
- Messiah
- Released Nov. 1996, ONDA