The Baroque Collective Players
The Baroque Collective is a period instrument orchestra based in Lewes, East Sussex.
Directed by conductor and singer John Hancorn and violinist Alison Bury, The Baroque Collective offers an enticing and flexible range of programmes from Locke and Purcell to Mozart and from trios to major works with chorus. Performances include Handel’s Messiah with the East Sussex Bach Choir and Bach’s St John Passion with the Esterházy Chamber Choir in Lewes; Purcell’s King Arthur with the Fletching Singers; ‘The Cares of Lovers’ at the Uckfield Festival and Handel’s Acis and Galatea at the Montpelier and Powis Festival, Brighton; and regular performances of major baroque choral works with the East Sussex Bach Choir and the Baroque Collective Singers.
Concerts in 2017 included an all-Purcell programme with the Baroque Collective Singers on Sunday 19 February 2017 at St Michael’s Church, Lewes, featuring a concert performance of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Chacony in G minor and Suite in G major, and Haydn’s Creation with the East Sussex Bach Choir. Concerts in 2018 included J S Bach’s Mass in B minor with the Baroque Collective Singers and East Sussex Bach Choir on 21 April 2018. Concerts in 2019 included Bach’s St John Passion and Handel’s Israel in Egypt with East Sussex Bach Choir and Vivaldi’s Gloria with the Baroque Collective Singers. The Baroque Collective performed Handel’s Messiah with the Baroque Collective Singers and a fantastic line-up of international soloists on Sunday 22 December 2019 and joined them for a performance of Handel’s Dixit Dominus at the Lewes Baroquefest in July 2021. They performed Handel’s Messiah with Heathfield Choral Society on Saturday 11 December 2021, Bach’s St John Passion with the Choir of Hampstead Parish Church on Sunday 3 April 2022, Handel’s Coronation Anthems with The Baroque Collective Singers in Lewes Baroquefest in July 2022 and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with East Sussex Bach Choir in January 2022. Concerts in 2023 included Bach’s Orchestral Suite No.3 in D major and Handel’s ‘The Ways of Zion do Mourn’ with the Baroque Collective Singers in April 2023 and a charity performance of Handel’s Messiah for Doctors for Nepal on Sunday 17 December 2023.
Future plans include two performances of Bach’s St John Passion in London in March 2024: Sunday 17 March 2024 with the Choir of Hampstead Parish Church directed by Geoffrey Webber; and Wednesday 20 March 2024 with Les Voix de Notre Dame directed by Simon Lawford.