Almost from the beginning of his musical studies, Hollander Ton Koopman – conductor, harpsichordist, organist, and musicologist – was fascinated with authentic instruments and a performance style based on sound scholarship. This fascination with the Baroque era led him in 1970, at age 25, to establish his first Baroque orchestra and, in 1979, to found The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra. Kooman appears on Sony Classical with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Yo-Yo Ma on two discs featuring the music of J.S. Bach and Luigi Boccherini: Simply Baroque (SK 60680) and Simply Baroque II (SK 60681). The latter will be available in August 2000.

In addition to his own Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir, Ton Koopman also is chief conductor of the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra. With this orchestra he performs works from the repertoire dating from up to about the middle of the nineteenth century.

His awards for conducting and performing are many, including the Prix “Hector Berlioz” in 1996, the Deutsche Shallplattenpreis “Echo Klassik 1997,” and 1997 nominations for both the Grammy and Gramophone Awards.

Ton Koopman publishes regularly, is professor of harpsichord at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and is Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music in London. In March 2000 he received an Honorary Degree from the Utrecht University for his scholarly work on the Bach cantatas and passions.