GRAMMY®-winning conductor and harpsichordist Jeannette Sorrell is recognized internationally
as one of today’s most compelling interpreters of Baroque and Classical repertoire.
She studied conducting under Leonard Bernstein and Roger Norrington at the Tanglewood and
Aspen music festivals; and studied harpsichord with Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam. She won
both First Prize and the Audience Choice Award in the Spivey International Harpsichord
Competition, competing against over 70 harpsichordists from Europe, Israel, the U.S., and the
Soviet Union.
She is the founder and artistic director of APOLLO’S FIRE, and has led the renowned period
ensemble in sold-out concerts at many of the world’s major concert halls, from Carnegie Hall
and London’s BBC Proms to the Tanglewood and Ravinia festivals. She and her ensemble have
built one of the largest audiences of any baroque orchestra in North America. Sorrell and
Apollo’s Fire have released 26 commercial CDs, including 8 bestsellers on the Billboard classical
chart and a 2019 GRAMMY®-winner. Her recordings include the complete Brandenburg
Concerti and harpsichord concerti of Bach; Bach’s St John Passion; Handel’s Messiah; and the
Monteverdi Vespers, among others.
In demand with symphony orchestras and period groups alike, Sorrell makes debuts this season
with the New York Philharmonic (Handel’s Messiah) and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
(Bach’s St John Passion). She has repeatedly conducted the Pittsburgh Symphony, St Paul
Chamber Orchestra, Utah Symphony, and New World Symphony, and has also led the National
Symphony at the Kennedy Center, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Symphony,
Opera St Louis with the St Louis Symphony, Philharmonia Baroque (San Francisco), the Florida
Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, North Carolina Symphony, and the Royal Northern Sinfonia
(UK), among others.
Sorrell is the subject of the 2019 documentary by Academy award-winning director Allan Miller,
titled PLAYING WITH FIRE. She has attracted national attention and awards for her creative
programming, which has brought many new listeners to early music through the use of
contextual and dramatic elements. She received an honorary doctorate from Case Western
University and an award from the American Musicological Society.
