The Reykjavik International Baroque Orchestra
The Reykjavik International Baroque Orchestra
The Reykjavík International Baroque Orchestra (RIBO) is comprised of excellent musicians from around the world, most having studied at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague in the Netherlands, one of the leading academies in historically informed performance.
Since their graduation, members of the orchestra have established themselves as highly sought-after musicians all over the world, regularly performing with leading ensembles and orchestras that specialise in historically informed performance such as Les Arts Florissants, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Bach Collegium Japan, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Collegium Vocale Gent, and with world-renowned conductors including William Christie, Ton Koopman, Masaaki Suzuki and Philippe Herreweghe.
The members of RIBO have been frequent guests in Iceland ever since they came together for the first time to participate in the performance of Bachs’s Christmas Oratorio in the Friends of the Arts Society’s Christmas Music Festival in Hallgrímskirkja in 2004 and again in 2005. The group performed at the Festival of Sacred Arts in 2005, 2007, 2015 and 2019, and played in the Motet Choirs’s 30th and 35th anniversary concerts.
Last 2 concerts with RIBO took place in Eldborg Harpa- the lauded performances of the Christmas Oratorio with the Motet Choir conducted by Hörður Áskelsson in Harpa November 2021 and the Messiah 40 years anniversary concert of the Motet choir and The Reykjavík Friends of the Arts Society November 20th 2022.
The orchestra has received great reviews for its performances and has played an invaluable part in introducing the instruments of the baroque and historically informed performance practice in Iceland. About a third of the members of the orchestra are Icelandic musicians that have specialised in the performance of early music. Concertmaster of the orchestra is the Finnish violinist Tuomo Suni.
The orchestra’s founder and conductor is Hörður Áskelsson.