Barthold Kuijken

Barthold Kuijken ranks among the foremost interpreters of early music on period instruments. Concert programs frequently unite him with his siblings—Wieland on cello and viola da gamba, Sigiswald on violin, viol, and as conductor—while oboist Paul Dombrecht and harpsichordists Gustav Leonhardt or Robert Kohnen regularly complete the ensemble. Although his core flute and recorder literature belongs to the Baroque, he has also explored Haydn divertimentos and trios, Mozart flute quartets, Schubert violin-and-flute sonatas, and further Classical repertoire. In 2021 he collaborated with Immanuel Davis on the album La Magnifique: Flute Music for the Court of Louis XIV.

Born 8 March 1949 in Dilbeek near Brussels, Belgium, Kuijken grew up as the youngest of three musically accomplished brothers and profited from their guidance and example. His formal training took place at the Bruges Conservatory, the Brussels Royal Conservatory of Music, and the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, where Frans Vester taught him flute and Frans Brüggen taught recorder.

While still a student at the Brussels Conservatory he developed a fascination with the Baroque flute and set about mastering it independently. Once his studies ended he began appearing regularly alongside his brothers and fellow musicians; those engagements eventually expanded into tours across Europe, large parts of Asia, Australia, Israel, and the Americas. When Sigiswald founded La Petite Bande in 1972, Barthold joined as a steady participant. By the closing decades of the twentieth century he had secured a firm place on both concert stages and in recording studios, chiefly in chamber settings yet also within early-music groups such as the Parnassus Ensemble, Collegium Aureum, and La Petite Bande. He took up the baton in 1986 and, in 2002, assumed the roles of artistic director and conductor of the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra.

More than fifty recordings document his work on labels that include Sony Classical, Harmonia Mundi, and EuroArts. Into the twenty-first century fresh releases continued to appear; among them was the 2008 Accent disc French and Italian Flute Music of the 18th Century, featuring his brother Wieland and Robert Kohnen. In 2020 Kuijken both directed and performed as Baroque-flute soloist with the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra on the Naxos album The Colourful Telemann. The following year he rejoined Immanuel Davis for the Naxos issue of La Magnifique: Flute Music for the Court of Louis XIV.

He has maintained his parallel career as a flute instructor at the conservatories in The Hague and Brussels. Kuijken also holds honorary charter membership in the Indyflute organization.