Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Profile
In 1986 a group of the finest exponents of period instruments in the UK pooled their resources to found their own self-governing orchestra: the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE) was quickly recognised as exceptional and, in 1992, scored a further coup when it persuaded Frans Brüggen and Sir Simon Rattle to put their names to the Orchestra as Principal Guest Conductors.Bruggen and Rattle jointly sum up the OAE's commitment to combining period authenticity with contemporary values, a point that is reinforced by the roster of international conductors with whom the Orchestra continually collaborates. This season, as ever, a great range of repertoire and approaches are to be illustrated through their performances.
An important feature of the Orchestra’s work is the performance of music not usually heard on period instruments. This was perfectly demonstrated in the Orchestra’s 2001/02 season, which saw them explore the Romantic repertoire through the aural vision of Sir Roger Norrington (Mahler), Mark Elder (Verdi) and Vladimir Jurowski (Glinka and Borodin). They continued this exploration in the 2002/03 season, performing a Dvorak symphony - No. 7 - for the first time, conducted by Mark Elder. The Orchestra are currently taking the lead role in the OAE/SBC Haydn: The Creative Genius series, performing six of the total nine concerts exploring the diversity and originality of this master composer.
The OAE is in its tenth season as Associate of the Royal Festival Hall. Regularly heard at Glyndebourne since they were invited for The Marriage of Figaro under Sir Simon Rattle in 1989 - who made his debut with the Orchestra in 1986 with a ground-breaking performance of Idomeneo - the OAE’s relationship with Glyndebourne has been recently formalised as “Associate Orchestra”. The OAE also enjoys regular collaborations in the UK with Symphony Hall, Birmingham and abroad with Paris and Lincoln Center, New York. The OAE has toured more than 20 - predominantly European - countries, including South America and the US in 2002, and has been invited to tour South East Asia in 2003. Their discography covers over fifty recordings in music from Purcell to Verdi.
As the UK's leading period instrument ensemble, the OAE has, since the establishment of its education and outreach programme in 1994, drawn inspiration from music of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries to form the basis of its composition, performance and drama projects. The projects are designed to enhance awareness and appreciation of music and encourage creativity and participation in the arts. 2002/3 has seen the launch of several new initiatives including a music and science project A Celebration of Life on Earth in collaboration with Imperial College, a tour of UK Museums and Galleries in partnership with the National Art Collections Fund and the Jerwood/OAE Experience for Young Players, the first apprenticeship scheme to be offered by a period instrument orchestra.
Entirely dependent on sponsorship for its core activities, the OAE has particularly successful relationships with Jupiter Unit Trust Managers who sponsored the Beethoven Series in 1999, twelve UK concerts in 2000/01 and are the Orchestra’s Principal Sponsor; Rolex Watch USA who sponsored the recent North American tour with Cecilia Bartoli; Goldman Sachs who sponsored two European tours; Derwent Valley Holdings who have supported the OAE's London season since 1994; GlaxoSmithKline, who made The Art of Water Music a reality; and, Charterhouse who for ten years were the principal sponsors of the Orchestra.
