Music Is: VCHpresents Baroque Festival – Orpheus of Rome by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (Preview)

This April, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra celebrates a golden age of music: the Baroque era. Leader of the famous Academy of Ancient Music, Bojan Cicic, directs this year’s Baroque Festival, which takes place on 11th and 12th April. Across two concerts he and musicians of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra will perform works by familiar names like Vivaldi and Corelli alongside works by composers whose music deserves more attention, such as Locatelli and Colista.

Antonio Vivaldi lived from 1678-1741 and has become one of the most famous composers of all time, thanks to works like The Four Seasons and his Gloria in D. He was nicknamed ‘the red priest’ because of his flaming red hair.

Although his music is now rarely performed, Lelio Colista (1629-1680) was one of the most important musicians of his time, even working in the papal chapel. One contemporary described him as ‘vere Romanae urbis Orpheus’, or ‘truly, the Orpheus of the city of Rome’.

Known for his intelligent and virtuosic playing on both the violin and viola d’amore, Bojan Cicic specialises in repertoire ranging from the late 16th century to the violin concertos of Mendelssohn and Beethoven.

He has recently appeared as a soloist with the Kioi Hall Chamber Orchestra Tokyo, Instruments of Time and Truth, the Budapest Festival Orchestra and appears regularly as a leader and director with the European Union Baroque Orchestra. Bojan has featured as leader on numerous recordings with ensemble Florilegium, La Nuova Musica and the Arcangelo Consort. His recording of J.S. Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins with Rachel Podger was recently named the best available recording of the work by BBC Music Magazine.

In 2016 Bojan was appointed Professor of Baroque Violin at the Royal College of Music, and is passionate about training the next generation of instrumentalists in historically-informed playing styles. In April 2018 he was appointed the leader of the Academy of Ancient Music.

VCHpresents Baroque Festival – Orpheus of Rome plays on 12th April 2020 at the Victoria Concert Hall. Tickets available from SISTIC