Andrea Marcon

Andrea Marcon stands out as a multifaceted presence in Italy’s Baroque landscape, where he works simultaneously as organist, harpsichordist, conductor, and researcher while also exploring mainstream repertoire and accumulating an extensive recorded catalog on prominent labels.

Born in Treviso on February 6, 1963, he sang as a boy chorister at the city’s cathedral. The dense presence of historic instruments there first drew him to the organ; he began lessons with Vanni Ussardi and continued his training in Castelfranco Veneto. Between 1983 and 1987 he attended the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, completing studies in organ, harpsichord, early music, and performance practice under Jean-Claude Zehnder, Jesper Christensen, and Jordi Savall. In his opening year at the school he assembled the period-instrument group Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca, which won immediate recognition and continued performing until 1997. Additional guidance came from Ton Koopman, Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini, and Hans van Nieuwkoop. Marcon claimed a prize at the 1985 International Bach-Handel Competition in Bruges, Belgium, then captured first place at both the 1986 Paul Hofhaimer Organ Competition in Innsbruck, Austria, and the 1991 Bologna Harpsichord Competition.

He launched his recording career in 1992 as one of several organists featured on Koch Schwann’s Festal Music for Three Organs and Organ Four Hands. Two years later Divox issued his first solo album, Alessandro Scarlatti: Opere per Organo e Cembalo. The follow-up release, The Heritage of Frescobaldi (1995), also on Divox, drew widespread praise and collected multiple awards.

As conductor, organist, and harpsichordist, Marcon established the Venice Baroque Orchestra in 1997 and has led it ever since; the ensemble has restored neglected Italian Baroque operas and produced well-received accounts of Vivaldi staples. In 2009 he assumed direction of Basel’s historic La Cetra Baroque orchestra, recording several projects for Deutsche Grammophon while retaining the post. Guest engagements have taken him to the Berlin Philharmonic, the Bavarian Radio Symphony, and the Munich Philharmonic. In 2017 he led Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans at Carnegie Hall for the work’s tercentenary. Marcon and La Cetra returned to Deutsche Grammophon in 2022 with a new reading of Monteverdi’s Christmas Vespers. He teaches at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and conducts master classes across European cities.