For over twenty years, since making their debut at Handel’s parish church, St. George’s Hanover Square, as part of the London Handel Festival in 2000, the London Handel Players have thrilled audiences across the world with their performances and recordings. Praised by the New York Times for their “soulful depth” and their “consummate skill and musicianship”, the ensemble appears regularly at major venues and festivals both around the UK and internationally, specialising in baroque chamber music and concertos and collaborating with some of the world’s leading singers.
Recent tours have taken the London Handel Players to Northern Ireland, Spain, Turkey, Canada and the USA. The ensemble is particularly active in North America, where they have performed at venues including the Frick Museum, Carnegie Hall and the Bourgie Hall in Montreal. In the 2023-24 season they will return to Wigmore Hall, London, with a selection of Bach Cantatas, multi-instrument concertos by Bach, Vivaldi and Telemann, and a Handel/Vivaldi programme with the exciting young countertenor, Alexander Chance.
Two new recordings, one of Bach Sonatas for keyboard and violin and one of Handel aria arrangements called ‘Total Eclipse’, were released by Somm Recordings in 2023. The group's highly acclaimed discography also includes four editions of Handel chamber music: his two sets of trio sonatas Op.2 and Op.5, his complete works for solo violin and a disc entitled ‘Handel at Home’. Additionally, they have recorded the complete Op.1 sonatas of Francesco Geminiani, and a two-disc set of J.S. Bach’s flute sonatas interspersed with some flute arias from his cantatas, sung by Elizabeth Cragg, Charles Daniels and Peter Harvey. Future releases will include a recording of Vivaldi flute and recorder concertos.
The members of the group pursue busy solo, directing and conducting careers, work with many of the major early-instrument ensembles in the UK and abroad, and are professors at the conservatoires in London. Committed educators at every level, the London Handel Players also give numerous masterclasses and workshops for students, keen amateurs and children.
For individual biographies please click on the names in the side panel.
OUR MUSICIANS
Rachel Brown flute and recorder
Adrian Butterfield violin
Oliver Webber violin
Rachel Byrt viola
Gavin Kibble cello and viola da gamba
Cecelia Bruggemeyer double bass
Silas Wollston harpsichord and organ