An outstanding English harpsichordist and conductor. At 19, he entered the Royal College of Music in London, where he took courses in organ and later harpsichord. While still a student, he organized the Gailliard Harpsichord Trio (1966). He also toured Europe with the Academy of St Martin-in-the Fields. In 1973 Trevor Pinnock founded the English Concert, an ensemble devoted to the performance of early music of the 17th and 18th Centuries on original instruments. Through numerous tours and recordings, his ensemble acquired an international reputation, but most importantly have won a huge international following for the exceptional quality and the irresistible enthusiasm of their concert performances. Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert toured North America for the first time in 1983. In September 1988, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in New York conducting Giulio Cesare. In 1989 he founded the Classical Band of New York, which he led in performances of the Classical repertoire from Haydn to Mendelssohn on period instruments. In the years 1991–96 Pinnock was artistic director and principal conductor of the National Arts Centre Orchestra (NACO) in Ottawa, he was made an honorary Doctor of Music at Ottawa University (1993). Trevor Pinncok has recently appeared with Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, NACO, Mozarteum Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie and the Vienna Philharmonic. As a distinguished harpsichord virtuoso, Trevor Pinnock recorded the complete works of Rameau, Scarlatti sonatas, Handel’s harpsichord suites and Bach’s Goldberg Variations and complete partitas. As a soloist he has recorded the Bach harpsichord concerti and the Haydn Piano Concerto directing The English Concert. He also recorded Francis Poulenc Harpsichord Concerto with Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. His recordings as a director of the English Concert include also Handel’s Messiah, and the complete symphonies of Mozart. In 1992 he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Trevor Pinnock is a member of an international group of musicians who, from the 1960’s onwards, have worked to establish the artistic criteria of “historically informed” performance practices, using original editions and modern research facilities to recreate the techniques and performing styles in use when the music was written. He is sharing his experience with young instrumentalists and singers working on the music of Vivaldi, Bach, Mozart and less-well-known composers whose works are now being assessed in the light of Baroque and early Classical performance conventions.