Having been at the forefront of the early music revolution Nicholas Kraemer has established an enviable reputation for directing period-informed-performances with modern orchestras. He began his career as a harpsichordist, quickly moving from playing continuo at the back of the orchestra to directing from the harpsichord at the front. In the 1970s, his repertory widened and he conducts repertoire from the classical, early romantic, modern and contemporary eras.
Kraemer is currently Principal Guest Conductor of Music of the Baroque, Chicago. During his long and distinguished career he has held the positions of Artistic Director of the Irish Chamber Orchestra, the London Bach Orchestra and the Bath Festival music programme; Permanent Guest Conductor of the Manchester Camerata; Principal Guest Conductor of the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra and Musikkollegium Winterthur and Associate Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. He was the first Music Director of Opera 80, now English Touring Opera and founder of The Raglan Baroque Players.
Appearing worldwide with many prestigious ensembles Nicholas Kraemer has conducted the Berlin Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, The Hallé, Gothenburg, City of Birmingham, Detroit, Houston, Toronto, West Australia and Colorado Symphony Orchestras and the Minnesota Orchestra. In addition, he has directed specialist ensembles such as the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Philharmonia Baroque and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. He has conducted Ensemble Kanazawa in Japan, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the London Mozart Players and is regularly invited to perform with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia and Musikcollegium Winterthur.
Kraemer’s Opera engagements have taken him to Paris, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Geneva and Marseilles with repertoire ranging from Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo and L’Incoronazione di Poppea to nineteenth- and twentieth-century works including Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos; Britten’s Albert Herring, Noye’s Fludde and Paul Bunyan. He has conducted many Handel operas including Arianna in Creta, Lotario, Tolomeo, Arminio, Ariodante, Il Pastor Fido, Rinaldo, and Orlando, as well as the major Mozart operas. He has conducted The Magic Flute and Handel’s Jeptha at English National Opera, Agrippina for Theater Aachen, Le Nozze di Figaro for Den Nye Opera, Bergen, Idomeneo for Grange Park Opera, La Finta Giardiniera at the Buxton Festival and Ariodante for Scottish Opera.
Nicholas Kraemer’s recordings include Vivaldi concertos with City of London Sinfonia for Naxos; Locatelli Concerto Grossi, Tartini violin concertos, and concertos by Durante, Pergolesi, and Leo with Elizabeth Wallfisch and Raglan Baroque Players for Hyperion; Handel Rodelinda for Virgin Classics; Handel Oratorio Duets with Carolyn Sampson, Robin Blaze and the OAE for BIS and works by Thea Musgrave with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra for Collins Classics. He has contributed to several feature films, most notably as Baroque Music Director for The Madness of King George.
Please note: Biographies are based on information provided to the CSO by the artists or their representatives. More current information may be available on websites of the artists or their management.
