Nicholas Kraemer

“Kraemer underlined a few harmonic hairpin turns in the first movement and brought crackling verve to the blistering fugue.”

Chicago Tribune

Music of the Baroque’s principal guest conductor since 2002, Nicholas Kraemer 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. His repertory widened in the 1970s, taking in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as well as the Baroque. In 1978, he formed Raglan Baroque Players.

Nicholas Kraemer has held the positions of artistic director of the Irish Chamber Orchestra, the London Bach Orchestra, and the Bath International Festival; 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.

Appearing worldwide with many prestigious ensembles, Nicholas Kraemer has conducted the Berlin Philharmonic; Rotterdam Philharmonic; Bergen Philharmonic; BBC Philharmonic; BBC National Orchestra of Wales; The Hallé Orchestra; Gothenburg Symphony; City of Birmingham, Detroit, Toronto, West Australian, 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 the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, London Mozart Players, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, and Ensemble Kanazawa (Japan). He will conduct the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a program of baroque masterpieces in March 2020.

Nicholas 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’ Ariadne auf Naxos; Britten’s Albert Herring, Noye’s Fludde, and Paul Bunyan; and Stephen Oliver’s Tom Jones. 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 Jephtha at English National Opera, Agrippina for Theater Aachen, Le nozze di Figaro for Den Nye Opera, Idomeneo for Grange Park Opera, La finta giardiniera at the Buxton Festival, and Ariodante for Scottish Opera.

Among his recordings are several discs of Vivaldi concertos with City of London Sinfonia for Naxos; Locatelli concerti grossi, Tartini violin concertos, and concertos by Durante, Pergolesi, and Leo with Elizabeth Wallfisch and Raglan Baroque Players for Hyperion; Handel’s Rodelinda for Virgin Classics; Handel Great Oratorio Duets with Carolyn Sampson, Robin Blaze, and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment 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.

Join Principal Guest Conductor Nicholas Kraemer in the 2023-24 season: Viva Vivaldi! on October 15 & 16 and Birds, Frogs, Crickets, & Dogs on April 14 & 15.