Collegium Musicum 90 is an English baroque orchestra playing on

period instruments In the historically informed performance movement, musicians perform classical music using restored or replicated versions of the instruments for which it was originally written. Often performances by such musicians are said to be "on authentic ...

. It was founded by

violinist The following lists of violinists are available: * List of classical violinists * List of contemporary classical violinists * List of jazz violinists * List of popular music violinists * List of Indian violinists * List of Persian violinists * Li ...

Simon Standage and conductor

Richard Hickox Richard Sidney Hickox (5 March 1948 – 23 November 2008) was an English conductor of choral, orchestral and operatic music. Early life and education Hickox was born in Stokenchurch in Buckinghamshire into a musical family. After attending ...

in 1990 and was jointly directed by them (either together or separately) until the death of Hickox in November 2008. '' Collegium Musicum'' means something like ''musical guild'' and was used generically as the name of musical societies and ensembles in the baroque era, and is sometimes used similarly today by ensembles playing

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750) or Ancient music (before 500 AD). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad Dates of classical ...

. Simon Standage was leader of baroque orchestra The English Concert under Trevor Pinnock from 1973 to 1991, often performing as violin soloist, while Richard Hickox had an initial background as a

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

scholar and then became a conductor. Hickox founded the City of London Sinfonia and the Richard Hickox Singers in 1971 for the performance of Baroque music on modern instruments, for which Standage was

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German language, German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the Conducting, conductor, the concertma ...

, then went on to pursue a career as a choral conductor of the London Symphony Chorus, as well as conducting large

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

s and

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

. Collegium Musicum 90 was founded to be a standing period instrument orchestra specialising in

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

and early classical music which would enable Standage to direct regularly for the first time and Hickox to return emphatically to the baroque repertoire. The orchestra has recorded extensively for

Chandos Records Chandos Records is a British independent classical music recording company based in Colchester. It was founded in 1979 by Brian Couzens.concerti grossi The concerto grosso (; Italian language, Italian for ''big concert(o)'', plural ''concerti grossi'' ) is a form of baroque music in which the musical material is passed between a small group of soloists (the ''#Concertino, concertino'') and full or ...

with himself as soloist, and Hickox has directed large-scale vocal repertoire with the group. They have toured around

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and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, and performed at the Proms and other music festivals.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collegium Musicum 90 Early music choirs Early music orchestras Musical groups established in 1990 English choirs English orchestras