Tuesday, October 3
Croatian National Theatre in Varaždin, Great Concert Hall, 8.00 p.m.

Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
Francesco Corti, conductor and artistic leadership

Georg Friedrich Händel
Three Chandos Anthems

O sing unto the Lord a new song, HWV 249b
Sinfonia
O sing unto the Lord a new song
Declare his honour unto the heathen
The waves of the sea
O worship the Lord
Let the whole earth stand in awe
Let the heav’ns rejoice

As pants the hart for cooling streams, HWV 251d
As pants the hart for cooling streams
Tears are my daily food
Now when I think there upon
In the voice of praise and thanksgiving
Why so full of grief, O my soul
Put thy trust in God

I will magnify Thee, HWV 250a
Sinfonia
I will magnify thee
Ev’ry day will I give thanks unto thee
One generation shall praise thy works unto another
The Lord preserveth all them that love him
The Lord is righteous in all his ways
Happy are the people that are in such a case
My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord

The AD ASTRA Schole Cantorum Basiliensis Orchestra consists of students from the University of Basel who are studying early music at the Schole Cantorum. As a result, this ensemble is both old and a new every year. Depending on the current project, it is led by a different lecturers from the Schole Cantorum. Francesco Corti is the artistic director of this project, and under his guidance, the students will perform at this year’s 53rd Varaždin Baroque Evening.

Harpsichordist and conductor Francesco Corti (Arezzo, 1984) studied organ in Perugia, then harpsichord in Geneva and in Amsterdam. As a soloist and conductor, he has appeared in recitals and concerts all over Europe, in the USA and Canada, in Latin America, in Asia and in New Zealand. He has been invited by festivals such as Mozart Woche and the Salzburger Festpiele, Musikfest Berlin, BachFest Leipzig, MusikFest Bremen, Utrecht Early Music Festival, Festival Radio France Montpellier. He has performed in halls such as Salle Pleyel and Thêatre des Champs Elysées (Paris), Bozar (Bruxelles), Konzerthaus (Vienna), Philharmonie (Berlin and Hamburg), Mozarteum and Haus für Mozart (Salzburg) and Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Teatro Real (Madrid), Palau de la Música Catalana (Barecelona). He’s a member of Les Musiciens du Louvre (Minkowski), Zefiro (Bernardini), the Bach Collegium Japan (Suzuki), Les Talens Lyriques (Rousset) and Le Concert des Nations (Savall). Starting January 2023, he is be musical director at the Drottningholm Royal Court Theater, where he has conducted a new production of Purcell’s Fairy Queen in August 2023. He has taught in masterclasses all over Europe, in Latin America and in Asia. Since September 2016, he is professor of harpsichord at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis.