is a unique and much loved part of the British Early Music movement. Formed in 1982 by a group of early music enthusiasts in the front room of a house in Linden Gardens, Chiswick, (London) it combined the talents of a band of music students, young professionals and talented amateurs. Many of the original members now have prominent careers in the early music field and many of the dilettantes are still playing with the band.

It was one of the only 'original instrument' orchestras at that time to offer the opportunity of amateurs and professionals playing together; the newly emerging Early Music field had few boundaries and rules and everybody learned together how to tame their instruments and develop the performance styles.

Linden Baroque has kept true to its roots and to this day provides a very useful experience for many types of player; the advanced baroque instrument student from the colleges or from private teachers - we usually have at least one student from abroad (Israel, USA, Croatia, Spain, Argentina, Italy etc) playing with us -, the 'modern instrument' professional player making the transition to the baroque playing style, young professionals gaining experience 'between jobs' and talented dilettantes. We always play under an established leader and continuo player and many well-known professionals happily give up their time to play with Linden Baroque either as soloist or within the orchestra. The mixture of personnel within the band ensures that its spirited performances are always of high quality.

From its early days the director was Paul Goodwin, the famous baroque oboist and conductor. In 1996 as his international conducting career intensified, Paul became President and Walter Reiter, the well-known baroque violinist became musical director. In 2004 Steven Devine took over as Musical Director. Steven is a well-known harpsichordist and directs with great dynamism from the keyboard. After winning the 1993 Broadwood Harpsichord Competition he has established himself as one of our leading harpsichordists. He now combines a busy performing career with the post of Assistant Curator to the Finchcocks Collection - one of the principal collections of historical keyboard instruments in Europe. He has appeared on over 30 discs, played with most of the leading baroque orchestras and directed operas for Opera Restor'd and New Chamber Opera. He is Associate Musical Director of Opera Restor'd, Professor of Fortepiano at Trinity College of Music, London, and a member of the staff at Dartington International Summer School.

The orchestra has played at venues stretching from Norfolk to Rome (where it gave the first performances there of Purcell's King Arthur) and has a wide-ranging repertoire ranging from the familiar to the unheard. Together with the Linden Baroque Choir (founded in 1993) they gave first complete performances in this country of music by Jean Gilles and several first modern performances of music by J.F. Fasch. They issued a CD on the Meridian label of music by Fasch, which was well received and has recently been played on Radio 3.

The instruments are either 18th century originals or modern copies - some made by the players themselves and we play at “baroque pitch” of 415Hz. The instruments are at a lower tension than modern concert pitch and their design and set-up means they sound much softer and more subtle than today’s steel-strung and multiple-keyed successors, allowing the music to be heard closer to the way it was when it was composed.

Linden Baroque promotes several of its 'own' concerts each year and at other times is hired to play for choral societies to give them the chance to perform 18th Century music with a 'period instrument' orchestra. We also play at music festivals. In 1998/9 Linden Baroque was in receipt of a National Lottery Grant.

Linden Baroque is a registered Charity (No 1014921) and is self-supporting. The constitution can be viewed here. We are always looking for sponsorship for individual events or series.