Leonardo García-Alarcón

Conductor, keyboard soloist, and continuo player Leonardo García Alarcón specializes in opera and the vocal and choral music of the Baroque, particularly unfamiliar repertoire. A pioneer in Baroque music performance in his native South America, García Alarcón is also active as a performer and educator in several European countries, with a large repertory covering music of various kinds. García Alarcón was born in La Plata, Argentina, in 1976. Something of a child prodigy, he began giving concerts on the piano at age six. He joined the La Plata ensemble Toccata Instrumentale, and there, at 15, he began to study the art of realizing the continuo, the sequence of harmonies often played by a harpsichord in Baroque music. García Alarcón attended the National University of La Plata, studying conducting, and went on to the Catholic University of Buenos Aires. His interest in Baroque music was stimulated once again when he landed a continuo slot in the Ensemble Elyma, directed by historical performance pioneer Gabriel Garrido, and he became Garrido's assistant. He made his recording debut with that group in 2000, appearing on its album El maestro de baile y otros tonadillas. García Alarcón went to Switzerland to continue his education, taking courses at the Geneva Conservatory and the Centre de Musique Anciennes de Genève. In 1999, he formed the ensemble Cappella Mediterraneo in Geneva; he continues to serve as co-artistic director of the group. As a recording artist, García Alarcón has been active variously as a conductor, keyboard soloist, and continuo player. In 2009, he conducted Belgium's Ensemble Clematis and has served as co-director of that group. The following year, he began directing the Choeur de Chambre de Namur. García Alarcón has guest conducted such major groups as the Freiburger Barockorchester and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. He is a noted musicological researcher who has investigated Latin American Baroque music and the music of the 17th century Portuguese court. His recordings often focus on little-known composers such as Matheo Romero, Giovanni Giorgi, and Michelangelo Falvetti, but he has also recorded Bach and Handel, mostly for the Ricercar and Ambronay labels. For the former, he recorded Handel's Salve Regina with the Millenium Orchestra in 2022. ~ James Manheim, Rovi