English Baroque Soloists

For over 40 years, the English Baroque Soloists has been one of the most innovative period-instrument ensembles, consistently challenging the preconceptions of audiences around the world.

Equally at home in chamber, symphonic and operatic repertoire, its distinctively warm and incisive playing is instantly recognisable in music ranging from Monteverdi to Mozart. The orchestra has performed at many of the world’s most prestigious venues, including Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Sydney Opera House.

The EBS’s current season has seen them expand their repertoire and conductor collaborations, highlighting a drive for new creative challenges with a year that includes Mozart with Marc Minkowski, Bach with Masaaki Suzuki, and Handel with Christophe Rousset.

The EBS and the Monteverdi Choir are appearing at the 2025 Edinburgh International Festival with ‘Sing to the Lord a New Song’, which will feature a selection of works by Purcell, Bach and Handel (including Dixit Dominus), conducted by Jonathan Sells.

In December 2024, the ensemble performed Bach and Charpentier with the Monteverdi Choir on a European tour to La Scala Milan, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and St Martin-in-the-Fields, its London home. The tour was conducted by renowned French Baroque specialist Christophe Rousset, making his MCO debut. These performances were universally greeted with praise, with The Guardian describing it as “joyous and immaculate,” while Operawire noted “a fresh sense of artistic renewal”.

Also in 2024, the EBS joined the Monteverdi Choir for performances of Handel’s oratorio Israel in Egypt, conducted by Peter Whelan. This programme toured to the Palau de la Música Barcelona, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Chapelle Royale Château de Versailles, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and Haus für Mozart, Salzburg. In 2023, the EBS and the Monteverdi Choir were honoured to perform at the Coronation of HM The King.

The ensemble famously took part in the iconic Bach Cantata Pilgrimage in 2000 alongside the Monteverdi Choir, performing all of Bach’s sacred cantatas throughout Europe, and recorded for Soli Deo Gloria, the MCO’s own label. They also made the earliest recording of Mozart's complete piano concertos on period instruments, as well as his greatest operas for Deutsche Grammophon.

Founded in 1978 by John Eliot Gardiner, the EBS has also participated in major opera productions alongside the Monteverdi Choir in works by Handel, Purcell and Monteverdi.

“The strings created a beautifully earthy sound.” – New York Times

“Intricate and detailed throughout, but in its overall jubilant, assertive, even combative monumentality, it was brilliant.” – Die Presse