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About
Founded in 1999 La Cetra Barockorchester Basel is recognized today as one of the world’s leading early music ensembles. The name La Cetra refers to the ancient lyre or zither and is drawn from the title of Antonio Vivaldi’s collection of 12 violin concertos op. 9 first published in Amsterdam in 1727.
La Cetra Vokalensemble Basel was established in 2012 at the initiative of Andrea Marcon and Johannes Keller. As with the orchestra, it’s members are for the most part graduates of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, one of the world’s foremost institutions for early music studies. The Vokalensemble performs regularly with the orchestra in opera and oratorio as well as in its own right. The Chorus Master is Carlos Federico Sepúlveda. La Cetra Barockorchester & Vokalensemble Basel is one of the few baroque ensembles worldwide to boast both an orchestra and a vocal ensemble.
La Cetra’s repertoire extends from the late Renaissance through the Baroque and into the early classical periods. It’s approach to the music is fresh and dynamic and always in the context of historically informed performance practice, whether in concert, opera or in music-theatre. Repertoire and the occasion determine the size of the orchestra and the vocal ensemble going from a smaller Consort to full-fledged orchestra, chorus and soloists.
Artistic Director of La Cetra Barockorchester & Vokalensemble since 2009 is the Italian conductor, harpsichordist and organist Andrea Marcon. Over the years La Cetra has worked regularly with some of the world’s leading conductors such as Jordi Savall, René Jacobs, Attilio Cremonesi or Gustav Leonhardt and soloists Andreas Scholl, Vivica Genaux, Magdalena Kožená, Patricia Petibon, Franco Fagioli, Nicola Benedetti or Giuliano Carmignola, to name a few.