FINAL CONCERT - Barricades mystérieuses

Les Jardins chorégraphiques is a dance company specializing in historical dances, drawing inspiration from the repertoire of the 16th to the 18th century to create boldly contemporary works with audacity, humor, and imagination. Co-directed by Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière, a choreographer, dancer, and stage director, and Stéphanie Brochard, a contemporary and baroque dancer and choreographer, Les Jardins Chorégraphiques carve out a unique place in the realm of dance and early music in Quebec, Canada, and internationally.

Flirting with eras and aiming to create, renew, and share historical dance with whimsy and finesse, Les Jardins Chorégraphiques are recognized for the originality and diversity of their creations. The company works closely with numerous musical ensembles to create original productions or works from the repertoire. Among its valued collaborators are Clavecin en Concert, Les Boréades de Montréal, Toronto Masque Theatre, Nouvel Opéra, Les Idées Heureuses, and Opéra de Montréal. The company is also invited to several festivals, including the Montreal Baroque Festival, Prangins Baroque,  the Saint-Riquier Festival (France), and Early Music Alberta. Among their achievements, Les Jardins Chorégraphiques have created ballets such as Stravinsky's "Pulcinella," Geminiani's "The Enchanted Forest," and Lully's "The Royal Ballet of Impatience" (world premiere), Rebel's "Les Élémens," Handel's "Apollo and Daphne," and Grétry's "Zémir et Azor," as well as original creations like "Les Indes Galantes ou les automatons of Topkapi" and "La veuve Rebel Rebel." The artistic co-directors continuously seek to renew their approach to historical dance and do not hesitate to create bold, resolutely contemporary projects that are accessible to all. The shows "Écoute comme je danse" and "De la  Pavane au Swing" reflect this desire to innovate, as well as the amazing young audience show " Viva les quatre saisons – une abeille en mission." Les Jardins Chorégraphiques have also created several digital productions, including "Triptyque 19" and "À Table!" in collaboration with Les Boréades de Montréal, presented at the Montreal Baroque Festival.




La Bande Montréal baroque brings together some of Montreal’s finest early music per- formers. The ensemble was created especially for the Montreal Baroque Festival, which is held in June since 2003 in Old Montreal. An initiative of cellist and gambist Susie Nap-
per, the Festival offers a unique opportunity to hear music of the 17th and 18th centuries, performed by Canadian and international celebrities, in appropriate and unusual settings. 




The Cape Town Baroque Orchestra (CTB) is the leading South African baroque ensemble playing on period instruments. It was founded by violinist Quentin Crida in July 2004 as Camerata Tinta Barocca. As of July 2021, the ensemble has adopted the name Cape Town Baroque Orchestra, carrying it into a new age of growth and artistic excellence. Members include some of South Africa’s finest musicians who embrace a historically informed performance approach. Mostly playing music from the 18th century, CTB has worked with international leaders in their respective fields, such as baroque violinists Antoinette Lohmann and Pauline Nobes; soprano Stefanie True; countertenors Lawrence Zazzo, Christopher Ainslie and Clint van der Linde; male soprano Philipp Mathmann; recorder players Stefan Temmingh, Erik Bosgraaf and Anna Fusek; baroque oboist and recorder player Carin van Heerden; traverso player Matthias Maute; and mandolin player Alon Sariel.

Apart from CTB’s annual concert series in St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Cape Town, the ensemble regularly accompanies opera and oratorio performances, performs in festivals throughout South Africa and has an active outreach and education programme. CTB’s concerts have been broadcast on Fine Music Radio and kykNET, and have received critical acclaim in the Cape Times and Die Burger.

Since 2011 CTB has gradually moved towards playing on period instruments. Currently, CTB is the only period ensemble in South Africa that regularly plays in orchestral format, performing all its annual concerts on period-appropriate instruments. CTB, in collaboration with the Cape Consort, gave the first South African period performance of Handel’s Messiah in 2013. During November 2016 CTB played for Cape Town Opera’s first production with a period instrument orchestra,  Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, directed by Jaco Bouwer and conducted by Erik Dippenaar. In 2017 CTB launched the annual Cape Town Baroque Festival. CTB’s Handel at Home concert programme was awarded a Woordtrofee in 2022, as well as a kykNET Fiësta award in 2023. Members of the Cape Town Baroque Orchestra will make their Canadian debut as part of the Montreal Baroque Festival in June 2024. Dr Erik Dippenaar was appointed as Artistic Director of CTB in 2015.



In 2003 Erik Dippenaar obtained the degree BMus (cum laude) from Stellenbosch University and was awarded a MMus (with distinction) by the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London in 2007. The following year he completed an Artist Diploma in Performance at the RCM. His teachers included Margaret Phillips (organ), Robert Woolley, Terence Charlston and Jane Chapman (harpsichord) and Geoffrey Govier (fortepiano). From 2005 to 2011 Erik was based in London, where he worked on a regular basis with Florilegium, The London Handel Players, English Touring Opera, the Little Baroque Company and Ensemble Serse. Erik was one of the official accompanists for the annual London Handel Singing Competition and during 2008/2009 he was appointed as Mills/Williams Junior Fellow at the RCM.
Erik is currently Artistic Director of the Cape Town Baroque Orchestra, Artistic Director of the annual Cape Town Baroque Festival, and an adjunct lecturer in organ and harpsichord performance, as well as Western music history and historical performance practice, at the University of Cape Town (UCT). His conducting highlights include the first South African period performance of Handel’s Messiah in 2013, as well as Cape Town Opera’s first production to use a period instrument orchestra: Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo in 2016. Erik has recently been awarded a PhD in music by UCT, with a dissertation focussing on the role historical domestic keyboard instruments played in the colonisation process in Southern Africa.