Apollo's Fire

GRAMMY-winning ensemble Apollo’s Fire is praised as “the USA’s hottest baroque band” (Classical Music Magazine, UK). Led by award-winning harpsichordist and conductor Jeannette Sorrell, the period-instrument orchestra is dedicated to the baroque concept of moving the passions of the listeners.

Apollo’s Fire has performed six European tours, with sold-out concerts at the BBC Proms in London, Madrid’s Royal Theatre, Bordeaux’s Grand Théàtre de l’Opéra, St Martin-in-the-Fields, the Heidelberg Spring Festival, the National Concert Hall of Ireland as well as venues in Germany, France, Italy, Austria, and Portugal. Chosen by the Daily Telegraph as one of London’s “Best 5 Classical Concerts of the Year,” Apollo’s Fire’s 2014 London performance was praised for “superlative music-making... combining European stylishness with American entrepreneurialism.”

North American tour engagements include Carnegie Hall (twice); the Tanglewood and Ravinia festivals (several times); the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City (several times); the Boston Early Music Festival seriesl; the Aspen Music Festival; Library of Congress; the National Gallery of Art; and major venues in Toronto, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Apollo’s Singers have twice performed with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Jeannette Sorrell, winning rave reviews.

“Sorrell and her dazzling period band… are incandescent.” —The Sunday Times, London

At home in Cleveland and Chicago, Apollo’s Fire enjoys sold-out performances at its series, which has drawn national attention for creative programming.

With nearly 16 million views of its YouTube videos, Apollo’s Fire has released 32 commercial CDs and won a GRAMMY award in 2019 for the album Songs of Orpheus with tenor Karim Sulayman. Eleven of the ensemble's CD releases have become best-sellers on the classical Billboard chart, including Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Monteverdi Vespers, Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, and Sorrell’s crossover programs including Sacrum Mysterium: A Celtic Christmas Vespers; Sugarloaf Mountain: An Appalachian Gathering; Sephardic Journey: Wanderings of the Spanish Jews; and Christmas on Sugarloaf Mountain.

Jeannette Sorrell, Artistic Director

GRAMMY-winning conductor Jeannette Sorrell is recognized internationally as one of today’s most compelling interpreters of Baroque and Classical repertoire. She is the subject of Oscar-winning director Allan Miller’s documentary, Playing with Fire: Jeannette Sorrell and the Mysteries of Conducting, commercially released in 2023.

Bridging the period-instrument and symphonic worlds from a young age, she studied conducting under Leonard Bernstein, Roger Norrington, and Robert Spano at the Tanglewood and Aspen music festivals and studied harpsichord with Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam. She won First Prize in the Spivey International Harpsichord Competition, competing against over 70 harpsichordists from four continents.

As a guest conductor, Sorrell made her New York Philharmonic debut in 2021 to rave reviews and quickly returned in 2023. She has repeatedly conducted the Pittsburgh Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Utah Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque in San Francisco, and New World Symphony and has also led the Philadelphia Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center, Houston Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Opera St. Louis with the St Louis Symphony, the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa), Calgary Philharmonic (Canada), Royal Northern Sinfonia(UK), and Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León (Spain), among others.

In 2024, she makes debuts with the Baltimore Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, the Orchestra of St Luke’s at Carnegie Hall, and the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center.

As founder and conductor of Apollo's Fire, she has led the renowned ensemble at London’s BBC Proms, Carnegie Hall, and many international venues. Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire have released 30 commercial CDs, including 11 bestsellers on the Billboard classical chart and a 2019 GRAMMY® winner. Her CD recordings of the Bach St. John Passion and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons have been chosen as best in the field by the Sunday Times of London (2020 and 2021). Her Monteverdi Vespers recording was chosen by BBC Music Magazine as one of “30 Must-Have Recordings for Our Lifetime” (2022).  

With nearly 16 million views of her YouTube videos, Sorrell has attracted national attention and awards for creative programming. She received an honorary doctorate from Case Western Reserve University and an award from the American Musicological Society.

Bios in various lengths for both Apollo's Fire and Jeannette Sorrell may be downloaded via the link in the sidebar. Please do not edit bios.