The Freiburger Barockorchester (FBO) is one of today’s leading ensembles for historically informed performance practice. For more than 30 years, it has been shaping international musical life and setting musical standards with its concerts and recordings.
The FBO was founded in 1987 by former students at the Freiburg University of Music. The ensemble soon became one of the most sought-after orchestras with period instruments and gained international renown. The FBO regularly performs in the most important international concert halls, including the Berlin Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall London, Lincoln Center in New York, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Philharmonie de Paris. Concert tours have taken the ensemble to all continents, from South America to Australia. The FBO also has its own subscription series in Freiburg, Stuttgart and Berlin and is a guest at major music festivals such as the Salzburg Festival, the Tanglewood Festival in the USA and the Innsbruck Early Music Festival.
The orchestra’s core repertoire is Baroque and Classical music from the 17th to 18th centuries, but it also frequently performs Romantic music from the 19th century. In the spirit of historically informed performance practice, the FBO usually performs without a conductor, but for selected projects, e.g. opera performances or large orchestral works, the ensemble works with renowned conductors such as Pablo Heras-Casado, Sir Simon Rattle, Teodor Currentzis and especially with René Jacobs.
The artistic directors of the FBO are violinists Cecilia Bernardini and Gottfried von der Goltz. Both artists also appear as soloists. The ensemble also works with renowned instrumentalists and singers, including Kristian Bezuidenhout (Principal Guest Director), Isabelle Faust, Philippe Jaroussky, Christian Gerhaher, Alexander Melnikov, Jean-Guihen Queyras and many others.
The extraordinary musical diversity of the FBO is documented on numerous recordings, which have been honoured with a large number of prizes and awards, including several Echo Klassik prizes, Grammy nominations and German Record Critics’ Awards.