Cape Town Baroque Orchestra

The Cape Town Baroque Orchestra (CTB) is the leading South African baroque ensemble playing on period instruments. It was founded by violinist Quentin Crida in July 2004 as Camerata Tinta Barocca. As of July 2021 the ensemble has adopted the name Cape Town Baroque Orchestra, carrying it into a new age of growth and artistic excellence.

Members include some of South Africa’s finest musicians who embrace a historically informed performance approach. Mostly playing music from the 18th century, CTB has worked with international leaders in their respective fields, such as baroque violinists Antoinette Lohmann and Pauline Nobes; soprano Stefanie True; countertenors Lawrence Zazzo and Christopher Ainslie; male soprano Philipp Mathmann; recorder players Stefan Temmingh, Erik Bosgraaf and Anna Fusek; baroque oboist and recorder player Carin van Heerden, mandolin player Alon Sariel and conductor Arjan Tien.

Apart from CTB’s annual concert series in St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Cape Town, the ensemble regularly accompanies opera and oratorio performances, performs in festivals throughout South Africa and has an active outreach and education programme. CTB’s concerts have been broadcast on Fine Music Radio and kykNET, and have received critical acclaim in the Cape Times and Die Burger.

Since 2011 CTB has gradually moved towards playing on period instruments. Currently CTB is the only ensemble in South Africa that regularly plays in orchestral format, performing all of its annual concerts on period appropriate instruments. In 2013 CTB, in collaboration with the Cape Consort, gave the first South African period performance of Handel’s Messiah. During November 2016 CTB played for Cape Town Opera’s first production with a period instrument orchestra, in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, directed by Jaco Bouwer and conducted by Erik Dippenaar. In December 2016 CTB was nominated for a kykNET Fiësta award for a programme titled Handel in the drawing room presented during the 2016 Klein Karoo Klassique festival.