Nicholas Kraemer, a pioneer of historically informed interpretation and now the chief guest conductor of the Chicago-based orchestra Music of the Baroque, has earned an international reputation for leading ensembles specialising in early music. He guest conducts modern orchestras as well (especially in the USA and the UK, but also with the Berlin Philharmonic, for example), putting his knowledge of informed interpretation to use. Although music of the Baroque is his main specialisation, his repertoire spans from Monteverdi to the present.
He began his career as a harpsichordist, but he soon changed over to playing basso continuous in front of an orchestra. He conducts from the harpsichord to this day, as the Prague public witnessed in January 2024 at his Czech Philharmonic debut. He bases his carefully considered interpretations on historical knowledge of great depth, as he demonstrated in one of the mainstays of his broad repertoire, Handel’s oratorio Messiah. The performance’s authenticity and its lively character were appreciated by the audience, and a critic called Kraemer’s concert one of the season’s highpoints.