Biography

Andrea Marcon is a versatile figure, central to the Baroque music scene in his native Italy as an organist, harpsichordist, conductor, and scholar. He has also performed standard repertory and has a substantial discography, some of it on major labels. Marcon was born in Treviso on February 6, 1963. He was a boy singer at the Treviso Cathedral. His first professional interest was the organ, stimulated by the large concentration of historical organs in that city, and he took lessons with Vanni Ussardi and went on to the Castelfranco Veneto. From 1983 to 1987, Marcon studied at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, graduating after studies in organ, harpsichord, early music, and performance practice. His principal teachers were organist Jean-Claude Zehnder, harpsichordist Jesper Christensen, and viol player Jordi Savall. During his first year in Basel, Marcon formed an early music ensemble called Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca; it earned plaudits and remained in existence until 1997. He had further instruction from Ton Koopman, Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini, and Hans van Nieuwkoop, among others. Marcon was a prize winner at the 1985 International Bach-Handel Competition in Bruges, Belgium, and took first prizes at the 1986 Paul Hofhaimer Organ Competition in Innsbruck, Austria, and the 1991 Bologna Harpsichord Competition. In 1992, Marcon made his recording debut with other organists on the Koch Schwann album Festal Music for Three Organs and Organ Four Hands. His solo debut came two years later on Divox with the album Alessandro Scarlatti: Opere per Organo e Cembalo. His next album on Divox, The Heritage of Frescobaldi (1995), earned wide critical acclaim and won several prizes. Marcon has been active as a conductor, organist, and harpsichordist. He founded the Venice Baroque Orchestra in 1997 and remains its conductor; under his leadership, the orchestra has revived several unknown works of Italian Baroque opera and has made popular recordings of several Vivaldi favorites. In 2009, he became conductor of the venerable La Cetra Baroque orchestra in Basel, Switzerland; he has made several recordings with that group for the Deutsche Grammophon label and remains conductor of that group as well. Marcon has been a guest conductor with major symphony orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Bavarian Radio Symphony, and the Munich Philharmonic. In 2017, he conducted Vivaldi's oratorio Juditha Triumphans at Carnegie Hall in New York on the 300th anniversary of the work's premiere. In 2022, Marcon and La Cetra released a new recording of Monteverdi's Christmas Vespers on Deutsche Grammophon. He is on the faculty at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and gives master classes in various European cities. ~ James Manheim, Rovi