Lyra Baroque marks its 40th season with search for artistic director

ROCHESTER — Lyra Baroque, the only exclusively Baroque orchestra in the Upper Midwest, is taking a cue from a Rochester classical music organization to find its new leader.

Four finalist candidates for the ensemble's artistic director will lead this season's Lyra Baroque performances in Rochester and the Twin Cities.

When you hear a piece of music performed by Lyra Baroque, there's a chance the composition hasn't been played in centuries. Instrumentation the music was written for wasn't always standard either.

It's up to the ensemble conductor to have the knowledge of history and context about the piece to try to play it as the composer intended to write it.

"There's a huge component of research and scholarship behind it," said Eva Skanse, executive director of Lyra Baroque Orchestra. "It takes experience and knowledge of these scores to know how they're played."

That's why Lyra Baroque is looking for someone with as much knowledge of history as skill in conducting to lead the group.

Longtime artistic director and conductor Jacques Ogg is stepping down from leading Minnesota-based Lyra Baroque.

More than 40 people from around the world applied to be his successor and lead Minnesota's Lyra Baroque. Skanse said for the specific skills and experience the position requires, that's a big pool of candidates.

Baroque music is an older category of Western classical music composed from about 1580 to 1750. Lyra Baroque musicians not only perform the pieces as composed but also use period instrumentation making for a unique concert experience for listeners.

There aren't many opportunities for experienced Baroque performers and scholars to apply their training, Skanse said it wasn't much of a surprise the position generated so much interest.

Last year, the Rochester Symphony Orchestra similarly selected its new artistic director via a series of guest conducted performances before naming Chia Hsuan Lin as conductor. Lyra Baroque hopes to have the same success. Skanse said given the strength of the large pool of candidates, that's likely.

"It was hard enough to narrow them down to four," Skanse said.

The first candidate, Judith Steenbrink, of the Netherlands, and co-founder of Holland Baroque, leads a program featuring the work of Georg Philipp Telemann, a German composer and contemporary of J.S. Bach.

Holland Baroque is a female Baroque group that has grown into one of the most respected baroque groups in Europe in the short time since Steenbrink and her sister founded the organization.

Telemann was one of the most inventive, and prolific composers of the Baroque period. The concert features selections to introduce listeners to his work in a friendly, approachable way Steenbrink dubbed "Telemann's Tavern."

A friend and influencer to Bach and godfather of Bach's son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Telemann was well liked and beloved by his contemporaries.

Steenbrink will present works selected to introduce the personable side of the composer, Skanse said.

"She's trying to make a personal connection between the audience and Telemann himself," she said.

The other guest conducted concerts include: