“To my mind all music from Monteverdi right up to early Beethoven is essentially chamber music. Composers and musicians were one, and the music they wrote for their fellow musicians contained a great amount of unwritten understanding. That draws me to Baroque music in particular, a combination of its freedom and necessity of choice. I founded Arcangelo to create a community in which everyone shares that instinct and enjoyment. It's a way of making music that’s also a kind of a dance, a game, a puzzle even, in which we all have to be completely engaged and attentive individually, and also with each other. That ‘chamber ethos’ is what in my experience reveals the music most truly, to musicians and to listeners."
Jonathan Cohen
ARCANGELO
We were founded in 2010 by our Artistic Director Jonathan Cohen to bring his 'chamber ethos' to the greatest music of the Baroque and Classical periods with the world's leading ensemble players and soloists. Agile and flexible with no fixed membership or size, we curate bespoke programmes and convene hand-picked musicians for 5-6 projects each year comprising UK and international concerts and broadcasts, and studio audio and film recordings.
The first-ever named Baroque Ensemble in Residence at Wigmore Hall, we have appeared at the BBC Proms, at Carnegie Hall, at Barbican Centre, at the Vienna Konzerthaus, at the Salzburg Festival, at the Santander International Festival, at the Rheingau Festival, at the Liszt Academy Budapest, and at the Teatro Colón Buenos Aires. In 2024, we were proud to be named as the new Principal Ensemble in Residence at the London Handel Festival.
Since 2020, our ongoing commitment to creating outstanding new work for live performance and studio recording has been augmented by a whole-hearted commitment to the next generation. Our New Ensemblists programme provides industry-leading performance experience and career support to outstandingly promising early career instrumentalists.
OUR WORK
Inspired performances
From Schütz to Boccherini, from intimate trio sonatas to grand oratorios: every Arcangelo concert embodies our chamber ethos in performance.
Acclaimed recordings
Arcangelo’s award-winning discography offers a remarkable journey through the music of the Baroque and Classical periods in the company of the world’s leading musicians.
Young Artist development
The Arcangelo New Ensemblists programme is a world-leading scheme of its kind, providing bespoke support to the next generation of outstanding instrumentalists dedicated to period performance.